SOUTH AFRICA will look to end a record five-match losing streak against an Australia team who in turn will be seeking a first win at Loftus Versfeld in six attempts in their Rugby Championship Test in Pretoria today.
“We’ve only won one out of our last eight matches against Australia which is simply not good enough. That can never be acceptable and this team has now inherited that record so it’s our job to rectify that,” South Africa captain Jean De Villiers told a news conference in Johannesburg yesterday.
The Wallabies have won their last two matches in South Africa, including a 41-39 triumph in Bloemfontein on the high veld in 2010, and they have set their sights firmly on winning again at altitude at Loftus Versfeld.
“Every Rugby Championship match is a big weekend but the context of this game is that it’s a great opportunity to change history. We’ve waited a long time to win in Pretoria and that’s something we look forward to,” Australia captain Nathan Sharpe said.
Both teams have endured a troubled year, with new Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer gaining two wins over England but just a solitary Rugby Championship victory, against debutants Argentina in Cape Town.
Wallaby coach Robbie Deans, at the helm of the team for a fifth year, has two Rugby Championship wins over Argentina and South Africa at home to his credit, but his continued failure to engineer victory over his home nation New Zealand has put him under increasing fire in Australia.
De Villiers said the Springboks were desperate to go out and win the test for Meyer.
“We really believe we’ve improved over the last two matches, we just haven’t been able to get the result we wanted. We really believe we’re on the right track and we want to win more than anything for the coach, to take pressure off him and the rest of the management,” the centre said.
Both under-performing teams have chosen outhalves who will start for the first time in the number 10 jersey at Test level.
Deans is hoping former fullback Kurtley Beale will spark the Wallabies on attack in the absence of the injured Quade Cooper, whose social media attacks on the coach have provided an unnecessary distraction.
“Kurtley is one of the better kickers in our side and I have no concerns over his capacity to do what we want him to do.
“He’s played a lot of flyhalf alongside scrumhalf Nick Phipps at the Melbourne Rebels, so it’s an established combination.
“If you look at both backlines, the match should clearly be a good spectacle, I expect both sides to be positive and because of the conditions, it’s likely to be pretty expansive,” Deans said.
Meyer has chosen 20-year-old Johan Goosen, who has shown a willingness to attack with the ball in hand during his two appearances off the bench, in place of the experienced Morne Steyn, who has suffered a dramatic loss of form with the boot.
Francois Steyn has been withdrawn from the Springbok team after rolling his ankle earlier in the week and De Villiers will replace him at inside centre, with debutant Jaco Taute wearing the number 13 jersey.
SOUTH AFRICA: Zane Kirchner; Bryan Habana, Jaco Taute, Jean de Villiers, Francois Hougaard; Johan Goosen, Ruan Pienaar; Tendai Mtawarira, Adriaan Strauss, Jannie du Plessis, Eben Etzebeth, Andries Bekker, Francois Louw, Willem Alberts, Duane Vermeulen. Replacements: Tiaan Liebenberg, Pat Cilliers, Flip van der Merwe, Marcell Coetzee, Elton Jantjies, Juan de Jongh, Pat Lambie.
AUSTRALIA: Berrick Barnes; Dominic Shipperley, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Pat McCabe, Digby Ioane; Kurtley Beale, Nick Phipps; Benn Robinson, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Ben Alexander, Kane Douglas, Nathan Sharpe, Dave Dennis, Michael Hooper, Radike Samo. Replacements: Saia Faingaa, James Slipper, Rob Simmons, Scott Higginbotham/Mike Harris, Liam Gill, Brett Sheehan, Anthony Faingaa.
