Looking to make amends for their 57-0 hammering in New Zealand, Springbok coach Allister Coetzee has made changes in every row of his scrum in a bid to salvage some pride and hold on to the runners-up spot behind the world champions.
Last weekend’s 27-27 draw with the Australians in Bloemfontein was enough to keep Coetzee’s side ahead of the Wallabies in the table, but if the unchanged Aussies can pick up five points in Argentina they could yet make second place.
The All Blacks have once again been head and shoulders above the other three teams in the tournament and Welsh fans will get their chance to assess the standard of the Wallabies, Al Blacks and Springboks when they travel to Cardiff to play in the 2017 Under Armour Series which starts next month.
Those changes in the South African forwards for this weekend see Lood de Jager earn a start in the second row alongside skipper Eben Etzebeth. That allows Pieter-Steph du Toit to move back a row into the No 7 shirt.
The back row also sees another change from Round 5 with Bath’s Francois Louw switching to No 8 in the absence of Uzair Cassiem, who is out for six weeks with a fractured rib. He could now miss much of next month’s northern hemisphere tour and could be a doubt for the clash with Wales at Principality Stadium on Saturday, 2 December.
In the front row there will be a first Test start for Steven Kitshoff, who comes into the side to replace the unavailable Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira. The 95-times capped Mtawarira will miss the match because of family reasons. Kitshoff’s elevation from the bench means the uncapped Wilco Louw joins the replacements.
Rather chillingly, Coetzee put Kieran Read’s into perspective this week when he admitted “they don’t seem to have any weak areas”. What he is looking for is an improvement on the drubbing in Albany, so we will have to show that we’ve learnt from our experience in Albany. Saturday is another huge opportunity for us to continue to grow as a team and build on our cohesion.”
They meet Ireland in Dublin on 11 November, France in Paris a week later and then Italy in Padova before heading to Cardiff for their final Test of the year. In 2016 Coetzee’s side lost all three games on tour, to England Italy and Wales.
They improved this year with a 3-0 whitewash of France on home soil, followed by two wins over Argentina and a draw with Australia. Then came the beating by the All Blacks before a second draw with the Wallabies to make it five wins, two draws and one loss to date for the year.
Just how much they have improved will be revealed by their performance this weekend against a New Zealand side that would have appeared to taken a step forward since their drawn series with Sam Warburton’s British & Irish Lions earlier in the year.
Steve Hansen rested five players in Round 5 and they – Sam Whitelock, Liam Squire, Sam Cane, Ryan Crotty and Lima Sopoaga – are all named in the All Blacks 23. Other changes from last week’s Test against Argentina see Nehe Milner-Skudder come onto the right wing and Tawera Kerr-Barlow come onto the bench in place of TJ Perenara.
Having won their last five games against the Springboks, and wrapped up the Rugby Championship title with a game to go, Hansen’s men will be expected to make it a clean-sweep in Cape Town.
Meanwhile, Wallabies coach Michael Cheika made a host of changes ahead of his side’s draw in with the Boks in Bloemfontein, but has kept faith in last week’s starting debutants Izack Rodda, Jack Dempsey and Marika Koroibete. It means he has kept the same starting XV for the first time this year.
The Wallabies are Wales first opponents in the Under Armour Series. They have one more game to go before heading to the Welsh capital with the third Bledisloe Cup tie with the All Blacks to come on 21 October in Brisbane.
The Rugby Championship – Round 6
South Africa v New Zealand – Newlands, Cape Town (16:05 kick-off BST)
Argentina v Australia – Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza (23:40 kick-off BST)
Notes on the Springboks
South Africa: Andries Coetzee; Dillyn Leyds, Jesse Kriel, Jan Serfontein, Courtnall Skosan; Elton Jantjies, Ross Cronje; Steven Kitshoff, Malcolm Marx, Ruan Dreyer, Eben Etzebeth (captain), Lood de Jager, Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Francois Louw
Reps: Chiliboy Ralepelle, Trevor Nyakane, Wilco Louw, Franco Mostert, Jean-Luc du Preez, Rudy Paige, Handré Pollard, Damian de Allende
- The total Test caps in the Springbok starting line-up is 331.
- There are 102 caps in the backline and 229 caps amongst the forwards, with a further 136 caps amongst the replacements.
- The average caps per player in the backline is 15, the forwards are 29 and the 17 caps.
- The average age of the starting 15 is 26 years.
- Elton Jantjies needs nine points to reach 200 points in Tests for South Africa.
- Handré Pollard needs 12 points to reach 200 points in Tests for South Africa.
- After a record 18 Tests as a substitute, Steven Kitshoff will on Saturday finally make his first start in a Test match.
Notes on New Zealand
New Zealand: Damian McKenzie; Nehe Milner-Skudder, Ryan Crotty, Sonny Bill Williams, Rieko Ioane; Beauden Barrett, Aaron Smith; Kane Hames, Dane Coles, Nepo Laulala, Sam Whitelock, Scott Barrett, Liam Squire, Sam Cane, Kieran Read (captain)
Reps: Codie Taylor, Wyatt Crockett, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Patrick Tuipulotu, Matt Todd, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Lima Sopoaga, David Havili
- The All Blacks and South Africa have played each other 94 times, with 56 wins to the All Blacks, 35 to South Africa and three draws.
- It will be the 10th time the All Blacks have played South Africa at Newlands, Cape Town. The last match there was in 2008, which the All Blacks won 19-0. South Africa have won eight of their last 10 Tests there.
- David Havili’s debut try last weekend was the 100th Test match try converted by Beauden Barrett. As well, Barrett has already equalled his last year’s Rugby Championship record of 23 conversions for the season. The all-time record for the All Blacks is 27.
- Barrett and his teammate Damian McKenzie have each made 57 carries this campaign, more than any other player at the tournament.
- The All Blacks have scored 49 tries this year – it is 10 years since any other team has reached 50 tries.
Notes on Australia
Australia: Israel Folau; Marika Koroibete, Tevita Kuridrani, Kurtley Beale, Reece Hodge; Bernard Foley, Will Genia; Scott Sio, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Sekope Kepu, Izack Rodda, Adam Coleman, Jack Dempsey, Michael Hooper (captain), Sean McMahon
Reps: Stephen Moore, Tetera Faulkner, Allan Alaalatoa, Rob Simmons, Lukhan Tui, Nick Phipps, Samu Kerevi, Henry Speight
- Australia has won 14 of its last 15 games against Argentina, including each of the last five clashes.
- The Wallabies have now gone three games without loss (W1, D2), the last time they went longer undefeated was in 2015 with a run of seven straight victories that included the Rugby World Cup.
- Australia hasn’t won any of its last four games away from home (D1, L3), the last time it went longer without an away win was a five-game drought from 2008 to 2009 (L5).
- Australia has scored 14 second-half tries so far this campaign, more than any other team in the competition.
- Israel Folau has matched his total of five tries in the Rugby Championship from 2013 and is the tournament’s leading scorer this season.
Under Armour Series 2017 – BUY TICKETS HERE
WALES v AUSTRALIA – Saturday, 11 November 2017 (17:15)
WALES v GEORGIA – Saturday, 18 November 2017 (14:30)
WALES v NEW ZEALAND – Saturday, 25 November 2017 (17:15) SOLD OUT
WALES v SOUTH AFRICA – Saturday, 2 December 2017 (14:30)
