Springboks, Wallabies have playmakers who can turn on the charm

As much as Eddie Jones' return to the Wallabies job has been trumpeted as rugby's version of the Second Coming, it is his past that he has found difficult to escape this week.

His team takes on the Springboks at Loftus Versfeld, the same venue where he made his Wallabies coaching debut in 2001, and it is hard to see Saturday's game charting a different course.

Jones back then inherited a much decorated Wallabies team on the crest of the wave. They were the World Champions and they had just seen off the challenge of the British & Irish Lions in a thoroughly thrilling series under his predecessor Rod Macqueen.

If Jones was driven to make a lasting first impression then, the objective this time with just a handful of Tests before the Rugby World Cup, is to launch with a bang!

Mind you, the Boks too have reason to hit stratospheric levels but ultimately as Jones reminded, the match is less about process as it is about getting the right result.

In 2001 the Boks and the Wallabies took lumps out of each other in a slugfest in which neither side wanted to accept defeat. Though Braam van Straaten and Matthew Burke went toe-to-toe off the kicking tee, it was a try by Bobby Skinstad that helped settle the affair 20-15 in the Boks' favour.

But as much as this match too will be driven by the desire not to lose, with statement taking a back seat, in flyhalves Manie Libbok and Quade Cooper, the Springboks and the Wallabies respectively have playmakers who can turn on the charm.

Libbok, playing in just his fourth Test and making his first start, will certainly invite much of the Wallabies' focus. He is up against a player who has gone through all of rugby's vicissitudes but has found ways to land on his feet.

Both are gifted with a killer pass, but it is the right boot that will likely do most of their talking.

Inside Libbok, Cobus Reinach will be burning to advance his cause within the RWC context. He hasn't been in the starting line-up since the Boks agonisingly lost 27-26 to Jones' England at Twickenham in 2021.

He may well be the Boks' standout backline player on Saturday.

Of course Libbok is yet to start a Test with Reinach. That unfamiliarity though the different combinations is a theme that runs throughout the Bok selection. “There are some new combinations but this squad came a long way,” stand-in captain Duane Vermeulen sought to quell fears. “We've had three weeks of camp. The guys have been working together quite well.”

That synergy will have to be at play up front where the Boks will have to beat down the challenge of the re-energised Wallabies pack. Jones now is in tighter embrace of the concept that size matters and in Will Skelton and substitutes Richie Arnold he has behemoth locks that, as visitors to Loftus, for once will tower over their hosts.

You might argue the big men may dictate the way they play but with Jones and the Wallabies, one can't jump to conclusions.

The Boks, Vermeulen insists, have to plan for all eventualities.

“We have to be adaptable,” said Vermeulen. “We have our plan, and they’ll have theirs, but we’ll have to see how things play out and make plans accordingly. It will come down to us stopping what they bring.”

Teams

South Africa — Willie le Roux; Canan Moodie, Lukhanyo Am, André Esterhuizen, Kurt-Lee Arendse; Manie Libbok, Cobus Reinach; Duane Vermeulen, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Marco van Staden; Marvin Orie, Jean Kleyn; Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Steven Kitshoff. Substitutes: Joseph Dweba, Thomas du Toit, Vincent Koch, RG Snyman, Evan Roos, Deon Fourie; Grant Williams, Damian Willemse.

Australia — Tom Wright; Suliasi Vunivalu, Len Ikitau, Reece Hodge, Marika Koroibete; Quade Cooper, Nic White; Rob Valetini, Michael Hooper, Tom Hooper; Will Skelton, Nick Frost; Allan Alaalatoa, David Porecki, James Slipper. Substitutes: Jordan Uelese, Matt Gibbon, Zane Nonggorr, Richie Arnold, Pete Samu; Tate McDermott, Samu Kerevi, Carter Gordon.

Kickoff: 5.05pm

Referee: Ben O'Keefe (NZ)

Assistant Referees: Paul Williams (NZR), Andrea Piardi (FIR) TMO: Brendon Pickerill (NZR)

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