Springboks v Wallabies: Five talking points ahead of the Bloemfontein clash
By Keith Moore
Last Updated: 29/09/17 2:47pm
Five talking points as South Africa host Australia in Bloemfontein in the Rugby Championship on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Action from 3.30pm.
Will the Boks bounce back?
Springbok captain Eben Etzebeth was spared somewhat in the aftermath of his side's 57-0 loss to the All Blacks two weeks ago, being subjected to just one question - what was it like playing the game?
"Very disappointing, but me and my guys will come back from this one," Etzebeth responded. "We're looking forward to going back to South Africa for the two home games. I'm still very proud of this bunch of guys behind me."
Allister Coetzee said after the loss that there were a "lot of positives that I can still take out of this game."
Quite where Coetzee finds the positives only he knows, but his troops are quickly becoming a team who for whom every game is a game that will define them.
After six unbeaten games in 2017 the South Africans were heralded as having shaken off the horror show of 2016, but many believed the All Blacks would give them the real litmus test of where they were. And the Boks didn't just lose the game in Albany, they were hammered, so where are they in their development?
Last time the sides met in Bloemfontein
In 2010 the Wallabies headed to South Africa in search of their first win in Bloemfontein since 1933, and what played out was a thriller.
The visitors got off to the perfect start, with Kurtley Beale, James O'Connor, Stephen Moore and Rocky Elsom crossing for tries to hand Australia a 31-6 lead after 25 minutes - Morne Steyn offering a pair of penalties in response.
The Springboks hit back shortly before half-time through Jaque Fourie, and following the break Gurthro Steenkamp and Jean de Villiers dotted down to bring the Boks to within one point of the visitors.
With Steyn in metronomic form with the boot, the Boks took a 36-31 lead into the final ten minutes before Drew Mitchell notched a converted try for the Aussies.
Steyn once again nosed his side ahead with a 76th-minute penalty, and South Africa looked to have closed the game out before Flip van der Merwe gave away a penalty in the dying seconds of the match, leaving Beale with a chance to snatch the win…
Back row battle
It's a case of youth against experience in one of the back row battles on Saturday.
Francois Louw, whose No 7 jersey makes him a blindside flanker in the Bok team, makes his return to the starting side to plug the gap left by the injured Jaco Kriel.
Louw's 52 Bok caps will be pitted against Jack Dempsey, who makes his first ever start for the Wallabies in Bloemfontein. The 23-year-old Australian has been introduced to bring some hard-nosed disruption to the game, according to Michael Cheika.
"The eyes roll in the back of the head with Jack, if you know what I mean," said Cheika. "He gets very aggressive and that's what I like. I like that. You have to have one or two of those guys in your pack."
If Dempsey is successful in patrolling the ruck it could go a long way to dictating the outcome of the game, but if Louw can boss the tackle area the Wallabies may struggle to stamp their mark on proceedings.
Set piece showdown
The traditional strength of the South Africans over the years has been their set piece, but it completely deserted them against New Zealand last time out.
There was one dominant scrum early on, but thereafter the Bok pack was shoved around at will by the hosts, while hookers Malcolm Marx and Bongi Mbonambi lost four lineouts between them.
Conversely the Wallaby scrum was in complete control against the Pumas in a reversal of roles from previous years. The Australian forwards drew several penalties from their opponents as well as a yellow card, and very nearly claimed a penalty try - as well as losing just one lineout on their own thrown in Canberra.
If the Boks are to get back to winning ways they will need to rediscover their authority in the set piece, and Allister Coetzee said that has been the Boks' focus in training.
"The loss to New Zealand was a horror experience and we hope to be more accurate in our execution this week," said Coetzee. "We've prepared massively on our set pieces and the team has worked very hard this week.
"We want to turn it around, so let's leave our talking for the field on Saturday."
Kicking game
Elton Jantjies made his name as a running fly-half with the Lions, but appears to have been told by Allister Coetzee to employ a kicking game for South Africa.
In Perth the No 10 kept kicking to the Wallaby back three, and though the Boks were not made to pay as they walked away with a 23-23 draw, it's unlikely that the triumvirate of Israel Folau, Marika Koroibete and Reece Hodge would allow South Africa to get off lightly a second time.
At altitude the ball travels further and therefore the kicking game needs to be even more pin-point, but on the other hand the Wallabies may end up with depleted attacking resources if asked to counter-attack from deep time after time in the Highveld.
Either way Jantjies - and any other Springbok who kicks out of hand - will need to do so with purpose and accuracy.
Tactical kicking requires a good chase and an effective defence line in order to work, so a team coming off the back of a 57-0 loss which saw eight tries scored against them and 32 missed tackles need to kick accurately and defend frugally if they want to avoid egg on their face for a second week in a row.
South Africa: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronje; 1 Tendai Mtawarira, 2 Malcolm Marx, 3 Ruan Dreyer, 4 Eben Etzebeth (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 6 Francois Louw, 7 Siya Kolisi, 8 Uzair Cassiem.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Jean-Luc du Preez, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 Damian de Allende.
Australia: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Marika Koroibete, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Reece Hodge, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia; 1 Scott Sio, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 3 Sekope Kepu, 4 Izack Rodda, 5 Adam Coleman, 6 Jack Dempsey, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 8 Sean McMahon.
Replacements (one to be omitted): 16 Stephen Moore, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Lukhan Tui, 21 Ned Hanigan, 22 Nick Phipps, 23 Samu Keveri, 24 Henry Speight.