The Wallabies didn’t just defeat the Springboks last weekend, they humiliated them. Now comes the reckoning. The bear has been poked, the Springbok spit-roasted. South Africa’s coach Rassie Erasmus has swung the axe with 10 changes to the side that coughed up a 22-0 lead and allowed 38 unanswered points inside an hour.
The widely held view is that rugby’s world order will be brutally restored in this weekend’s return Test in Cape Town. The two-time world champions will crush their impetuous rivals and resume their mantle as rugby’s No 1 team after last week’s boilover saw them slip down the rankings to No 3 below New Zealand and Ireland.
But that presumption discounts the brilliance and character of the Australian victory. Full of brio and battle-fit after smashing the Lions in Sydney earlier this month, Joe Schmidt’s men dismantled South Africa in the final hour of the first Test. Not only did the Wallabies stay calm to reel in the home side’s big lead, they romped away in imperious style, with sidesteps and short balls. Fitter, faster, full of belief.
And while Erasmus has awesome depth to draw on, Australia will field arguably a stronger side for the rematch. Their most dynamic ball-runner, Rob Valetini, returns and Super Rugby’s fastest man, Brumbies flyer Corey Toole, will debut on the wing setting up a tantalising duel with South Africa’s own pocket rocket Cheslin Kolbe.
Toole’s time in sevens rugby has given him an ability to improvise akin to Kolbe’s. And with veteran halves James O’Connor and Nic White having ignited the Wallabies’ attack and Brumbies teammates Len Ikitau and Tom Wright in career-best form, the 25-year-old could prove a weapon every bit as potent as fellow wing Max Jorgensen.
Conversely, South Africa will run out new halves, centres and wing pairings. Grant Williams survives to link with Handre Pollard as the new 9-10, with Kolbe and Canan Moodie the new wingers and 100-Test fullback Willie le Roux recalled. At inside centre Damian de Allende returns to partner new captain Jesse Kriel.
“We know where we went wrong,” Erasmus said, shrugging off the loss of captain Siya Kolisi (knee) and Pieter-Steph du Toit (concussion). “So we made a few changes that we believe will offer us what we need for this game. We let ourselves and the country down, so we have all the motivation we need to make things right.”
With captain Harry Wilson’s dicky knee not risked and frontrow generals James Slipper and Allan Alaalatoa also sidelined, Australia also have a new skipper in Fraser McReight. The flanker’s steal in the 18th minute halted the Springbok’s first Test onslaught, steadying the ship to allow the Wallabies’ own guns to blaze. And blaze they must again on Sunday.
No Australian side has won at Cape Town in seven Tests across 33 years. But McReight’s men have the chance to echo the deeds of the fabled 1963 Wallabies captained by John Thornett who won at Johannesburg and Cape Town to consign the Springboks to their first consecutive defeats at home since 1896.
Like Schmidt’s men, that 1963 Wallabies side was a team emerging from a dark era. The 1950s were a low ebb for Australian rugby, as rugby league boomed worldwide. The 1951 Bledisloe Cup drew 22,000 across three home games in Australia while 67,000 leaguies flocked to a single Test in the Kangaroos’ series against France.
Thornett’s side returned rugby to relevance by first beating England – Australia’s first win over a major nation at home in 29 years. Then came their ambush on the Veldt. Smashed 14-3 in Pretoria and derided as “incompetents”, the Wallabies roared back with a 9-5 win in Cape Town that Thornett called “the greatest day of my life”, a claim usurped the very next week at Ellis Park, when they swept to a historic 11-9 triumph.
Then as now, South Africa considered themselves the greatest rugby team on Earth. And the shame the nation felt at the capitulation in Johannesburg – even Erasmus’s mother texted him to say ‘My kid, I still love you’ – will fuel their fire for Cape Town. Australia are rising fast and fizzing with talent but this is their greatest challenge yet.
If the Wallabies are serious about winning the Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup this year and ultimately, the 2027 World Cup at home, it starts in the early hours of Sunday morning Australian time. To be the best they must beat the beast. Back-to-back wins over the world champions at their fortresses sends a mighty statement - one to send shockwaves through the game.
