{"id":88670,"date":"2025-08-22T23:44:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T23:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/88670\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T23:44:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T23:44:08","slug":"can-australia-beat-south-africa-again-yes-if-they-do-these-five-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/88670\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Australia beat South Africa again? Yes \u2013 if they do these five things"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Johannesburg, the Springboks retained five of their 11 contestable kicks, all from halfback Grant Williams.<\/p>\n

\"Corey<\/p>\n

Corey Toole will start for the Wallabies against South Africa.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

With 82-Test veteran Handr\u00e8 Pollard returning at No.10 for his first start against Australia since 2022, expect more pressure on the Wallabies\u2019 back three, including winger Corey Toole on debut<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii looms as Australia\u2019s best weapon in the air \u2013 particularly at short kick-offs, where he can reclaim possession.<\/p>\n

Start faster, start harder<\/p>\n

If the Wallabies fall behind early by 20 points again, as they did last week, they will be punished. The Springboks won\u2019t squander a head start twice.<\/p>\n

According to stats guru Kate Lorimer, South Africa led the Rugby Championship last week in gain-line dominance: 58 per cent of their carries crossed the advantage line and 22 per cent were dominant.<\/p>\n

The Springboks also racked up 205 post-contact metres \u2014 more than the Wallabies, All Blacks and Pumas combined. Off the back of a loss, they could be even more physical.<\/p>\n

The good news? This week\u2019s Test is at sea level, making it much easier for the Wallabies\u2019 players to breathe than on the Highveld.<\/p>\n

Prescribe a clinic from the Scrum Doctor <\/p>\n

With James Slipper back in Australia nursing a concussion, Tom Robertson has been promoted to start at loose-head prop, with Angus Bell on the bench.<\/p>\n

\"(Left)<\/p>\n

(Left) Wallabies prop Tom Robertson.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Once nicknamed the \u201cScrum Doctor\u201d while juggling rugby and his medical studies, Robertson must live up to the title against Springboks tighthead Thomas du Toit if Australia are to compete at scrum time.<\/p>\n

Expect Bell to enter the fray early if things go awry. South Africa enjoyed a perfect scrum record in Johannesburg, and the Wallabies know they need at least parity.<\/p>\n

Unleash Toole<\/p>\n

Corey Toole is Australia\u2019s fastest rugby player and needs to get the ball in parts of the field where he can be at his damaging best.<\/p>\n

He scored 11 tries in Super Rugby this year and has 28 overall. Toole has also played at this venue before, in sevens in 2022, which should help him settle the nerves.<\/p>\n

With a bit of fancy footwork and a license to roam, Toole is a pivotal figure if he can get enough ball. Max Jorgensen, fresh from a dazzling solo try last week, will also be a closely guarded man.<\/p>\n

Be better with the boot<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s goal-kicking could be better.<\/p>\n

The Wallabies have lost plenty of Tests in the past decade due to their sub-par efforts off the tee.<\/p>\n

Their 66.6 per cent success rate last week was the worst of any side in round one of the Rugby Championship. It didn\u2019t matter in Johannesburg, but it could in Cape Town.<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

James O\u2019Connor missed two conversions, one out wide in the 30th minute and another late when the game was already won. In tighter contests, those misses cost matches.<\/p>\n

Australia kicked at 69 per cent (9 from 13) during the Lions series.<\/p>\n

There are other non-negotiables, like putting pressure on South Africa at the lineout and breakdown. If Nick Frost and Fraser McReight can have the same impact in those key areas, the Wallabies will be cheering.<\/p>\n

A second Australian victory \u2014 still improbable despite last week\u2019s heroics \u2014 would be a priceless boost for the code with home fixtures against Argentina and New Zealand to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Johannesburg, the Springboks retained five of their 11 contestable kicks, all from halfback Grant Williams. Corey Toole…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88671,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-88670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}