By Lucky Vince Pienaar
Traditionally, the Wallabies are known to favour a running game, particularly when playing on home soil, but this time, a lightning-fast Springbok side may just run them off their feet.
It’s been coming for some time, and on Saturday, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu will run onto the field in Brisbane with the number 10 on his back. And why not? He has passed every test thrown at him with flying colours.
“Test matches are close, and we need every point we can get,” said coach Rassie Erasmus about his team selection.
Clearly, he is talking about Mngomezulu’s kicking accuracy, and indirectly, he might be telling us something about Manie Libbok’s future. Handré Pollard, not Libbok, is on the bench.
The smart money was on Grant Williams for scrumhalf, but Cobus Reinach may be the better choice now. His service to the flyhalf is always excellent, and while he is incredibly fast, he uses every opportunity to score himself.
Willie le Roux will be expected to create opportunities for Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse. Expect a lot of action down the sidelines.
While the Springbok tight forwards are as solid as they’ve ever been, the inclusion of Elrich Louw as the eighth man clearly indicates that we can expect open, loose forward play.
This is the time, if a Springbok team is ever ready, to break the Brisbane curse. The Wallabies have won 12 of the last 13 matches against South Africa at the Suncorp Stadium.
Joe Schmidt has done a good job so far, but the Australian team is far from complete; strangely, the “Brisbane curse” may work against them and caring about the statistics may put some unnecessary pressure on them.
While no test match is a certainty, only a total collapse can cost the Boks victory.
Forwards: Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Eben Etzebeth, RG Snyman, Siya Kolisi (c), Pieter-Steph du Toit, Elrigh Louw
Backs: Cobus Reinach, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Damian de Allende, Jesse Kriel, Cheslin Kolbe, Willie le Roux
Bench: Malcolm Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp, Vincent Koch, Ben-Jason Dixon, Marco van Staden, Kwagga Smith, Grant Williams, Handré Pollard
Australia v South Africa Saturday 6.30am Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane.
Pictured above: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
