Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt has followed Rassie Erasmus in tweaking his team on the eve of the Rugby Championship opener.
Erasmus was forced into a late change following an injury to utility front-row forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels, with one-cap prop Boan Venter drafted onto the bench.
Schmidt, who initially selected a 6-2 split on his Wallabies bench, has tweaked his replacements with Waratahs fly-half Tane Edmed replacing loose forward Nick Champion de Crespigny.
Springboks and Wallabies make late changes
Earlier in the week, the Springboks head coach hinted that he could change the make-up of his bench if the Wallabies opted to select a 6-2 split, with Erasmus naming a 5-3 with Cobus Reinach, Canan Moodie and Damian Willemse covering the backline positions.
“If you look at the split of their squad there is a lot of forwards in there,” he said.
“If they go 6-2 we might change on Thursday or Friday and bring in RG Snyman but if they go standard 5-3 this will pretty much be our team.”
Schmidt also stated that he may change tack after the coaching staff were rushed into their decision on who to include on the bench after Ben Donaldson sustained an injury in the last few minutes of training, just an hour before the team announcement.
Rassie Erasmus makes late tweak to Springboks team for Wallabies showdown
“Our original split was 5-3 but Ben Donaldson pulled out right at the end of training today,” he explained.
“He’s currently out of the mix, so we’ve adjusted it to what we think now, but we could adjust again, just because it’s only just happened. We have a lot of faith in Nick Champion de Crespigny; he had a very good game in the first Test against the British and Irish Lions, and he is certainly one option.
“To get our coverage in the back line is another option for us; we’ve got a couple of options there. Carlo Tizzano is another guy who was part of a 6-2 split against the Lions.
“It was literally a 5-3 split on the bench until the second-last play in training today.”
The initial call to include Champion de Crespigny left the Wallabies with just one out-and-out fly-half option in James O’Connor, who at the age of 35 would be expected to play the entire 80 minutes, at altitude, in his first Test match since 2022.
However, the confirmed change suggests that Schmidt felt that was far too much of a gamble against the world champions.
Joe Schmidt wants ‘recordings’ of Rassie Erasmus’ innovative Springboks coaches meetings
Updated Wallabies team to face the Springboks
Wallabies: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Dylan Pietsch, 10 James O’Connor, 9 Nic White, 8 Harry Wilson (c), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Tom Hooper, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Billy Pollard, 1 James Slipper
Replacements: 16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tane Edmed, 23 Andrew Kellaway
Date: Saturday, August 16
Venue: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 17:10 local (16:10 BST, 15:10 GMT)
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)
Assistant referees: James Doleman (NZR), Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)
TMO: Tual Trainini (FFR)
FPRO: Richard Kelly (NZR)
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