Image source: Alamy Stock Photo
2024 Rugby Championship
Australia v South Africa
Optus Stadium
Perth, Australia
Saturday, 17 August 2022
Kick-off is at 11h45
South Africa will have a much-changed line-up when they face Australia in the second round of the
2024 Rugby Championship at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Saturday, August 17.
The Springboks ran out convincing 33-7 victors over the same opponents at the Suncorp Stadium in the opening match of the annual Southern Hemisphere competition on August 10.
Rassie Erasmus' side scored five tries to pick up a bonus point which took them to the top of the table (5) ahead of Argentina, who recorded a shock 38-30 victory over New Zealand in Wellington.
However, Erasmus has taken a massive gamble by keeping just five players in the team that won in Brisbane last time out. The 2019 World Cup-winning coach is looking to the future as he wants to build squad depth for the 2027 global showpiece.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Elrigh Louw, who were handed their first starts last weekend, will get another chance to impress, but 10 changes have been made to the starting line-up.
"We made it clear from the outset this season that one of our main goals is to build squad depth with an eye on the next Rugby World Cup here in Australia, and we feel there is no better way to test some of the younger players and assess where we are as a group against a top-tier nation, especially away from home, in this match," Erasmus said.
"We have a group of about 45 players that are part of our wider squad this season and we've seen what most of these players can do. We have full faith in the younger generation of players coming through, and we feel this is the right time to test them against an Australian outfit that will be desperate to bounce back strongly from last weekend."
The Wallabies need to improve in all aspects if they hope to put their first points on the board in round 2. The world champions out-ran them (543m to 284m), had more carries (139 to 114) and missed fewer tackles (29 to 18).
Joe Schmidt's side conceded 15 penalties and were dominated in the scrum and lineout, while they also struggled to get going in attack, with scrum-half Jake Gordon and fly-half Noah Lolesio both kicking too early and too often.
Schmidt admits his youthful squad will need to learn on their feet against the vastly-experienced Boks and hopes they will perform at a higher standard this time around.
"That's probably a benchmark for us. We've had three Tests prior to that but that's really a starting point up against the really big boys," he said. "They're at a different stage of their evolution with so much experience and players who've played at the very top level for a long time and successfully.
"We have quite a youthful side and a side that is still coming together but we've got to come together better than we did today and accelerate some of the learning. There's obvious learning from today but you don't suddenly solve the South African conundrum."
Head-to-Head:
Matches - 94
Australia - 40
South Africa - 51
Draws - 3
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