Despite the odds being stacked against them, Joe Schmidt says the Wallabies are carrying some confidence into the Rugby Championship opener against the Springboks.
The Wallabies will take on the two-time defending world champions under their third head coach in three years, with a side with half the Test caps of their opponents.
Brisbane has not been a happy hunting ground for the Springboks, who have won just one of their 12 Tests at the Suncorp Stadium since 1965, with their previous victory coming in 2013.
Aiding the Wallabies’ quest is that they will be playing in front of over 52,000 supporters on Saturday, with the Suncorp selling out on Wednesday morning.
“I think one of the things that gives us confidence is that we’re not guided by the belief that’s external but it’s fantastic to have the support, even around the city,” Schmidt said.
“Walking back from a function yesterday, people in the street saying, ‘Good luck, good luck on Saturday.’
“I haven’t spent a huge amount of time in the rugby community here but there seems to be a real support going into the weekend which is, it’s sort of swings both ways for us.
“There’s an expectation that we have to try to live up to but there’s a support that we want to keep earning.”
Schmidt says the key to matching the Springboks is to front up at the scrums, but is also wary of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s ability to speed up the Bok attack.
“With regard to that, I think we’ve got to make sure that we match up at set-piece because whatever you do against South Africa, you’ve got to be able to match up at set-piece because that’s where the whole thing starts.
“They really stressed Ireland going side to side. The width of their attack, and I think with Sacha (Feinberg-Mngomezulu) being preferred over Handre (Pollard), he’s going to bring some tempo. Whether it’s Cobus (Reinach) or Grant Williams, they’ve got incredibly quick nines.
“Even around those fringes and then the edges, a lot of what they bring we’re going to have to be ready to match up for.
“Then on our side, we just have to make sure that we’re really accurate.
“A quarter of the tries that they’ve scored over the last year have been from turnover and if you give them that oxygen and allow them to breathe on the edges of through in behind you. It is quite intimidating if you consider their personal but at the same time, it’s never just individuals who can win you a game.
“We’ve got to collectively build a Wallabies team, squad and belief, and hopefully there can be a little bit of a look at that on Saturday.”
Photo: Jono Searle/Getty Images
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