Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt credited the Springboks for looking impressive in the July internationals, but added that the world champions “get a bit of luck” with contentious officiating decisions.
Schmidt’s Wallabies will host the Springboks in two Tests in Brisbane and Perth as the Rugby Championship gets underway on Saturday.
The Springboks go into Saturday’s clash on back of a drawn home series with Ireland and a big win with a rotated side against Portugal.
Meanwhile, the Wallabies are unbeaten under Schmidt, who replaced Eddie Jones after a disastrous World Cup pool exit and has taken Australia to a series victory over Wales and a hard-fought win over Georgia.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s Rugby Championship opener at Lang Park, where the Boks have not won since 2013, Schmidt admitted the world champions appear to be in fine fettle, but added that he feels they got a bit of luck against Ireland.
“South Africa, they look pretty impressive. The level and intensity of that Irish series, it was entertaining,” Schmidt said. “I think most people would have been entertained by the one-score results, and particularly Ciaran Frawley nailing those two late drop-goals to win the second Test.
“There was a bit of controversy with James Lowe’s try being disallowed. It’s not the first time for South Africa, they tend to get a bit of luck from that perspective.
“They don’t need too much luck to fall their way, they make a lot of their own luck with the quality of player and the connectedness they have.
“They have guys who have played a lot of Test match footy together and that breeds confidence and almost an unspoken trust among players – they know what each other are going to do.
“They have an expectation of them doing it well and I think based on the way South Africa have played, they’ve done things well.”
Schmidt has plenty of experience of coaching against the Springboks in his previous roles as Ireland head coach and All Blacks assistant coach.
However, he said that he would have preferred to have a bit more time with his Wallabies players before tackling the Boks.
“I’d like to have had more time, to be honest. It’s very much been a sprint so far,” he said.
“There are six new players in, that I haven’t spent time with before. Connecting it all up is a real challenge.
“But I’ve coached against most of (the Springboks) over several years. I probably know them better than I know us, but we’ve got a great bunch of young men who are committed to trying to make sure they are as competitive as possible on Saturday.”
Photo: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images
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Src: sarugbymag.co.za
