It may have been just a coincidence that Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus changed his stated plan to field a young team against the Wallabies after the first test, but the British and Irish Lions series is undeniably adding some interest to Australia’s forthcoming visit to South Africa.
The Boks start the defence of their Castle Lager Rugby Championship title by hosting the Wallabies in two home test matches, one in Johannesburg on 16 August and the other in Cape Town on 23 August. The Australians never travel well to South Africa, least of all to the highveld, and last year’s easy wins on Australian soil with experimental teams might have led to a feeling that the Boks at home could take on the team from Down Under blindfolded and still win.
Erasmus told a press conference in Nelspruit when he named his team for the Georgia game that he would rest several of his more experienced players in the first phase of the Championship, but after the regulation win over the Eastern European team at the Mbombela Stadium the message was that he would “dial back on experimentation” against the Aussies.
Sure enough, that is what he did when he whittled the squad down to 37 players last week for the three week camp building up to the Johannesburg game that started on Monday and it is understood that there were some players called up who weren’t expecting to be involved now.
We may hear more from Erasmus on this as there is a Bok press conference scheduled for later on Tuesday, but there wasn’t much in the Nelspruit game to cause alarm for the Boks as they posted more than 50 points and won by a margin of 45 for a second week in succession. If there was a change of plan it may have happened earlier in the day when the Wallabies fought back well in the first test against the Lions in Brisbane. In coming back so strongly, they may have sent an inadvertent warning to their next opponents.
MELBOURNE PERFORMANCE WAS A STRONG MESSAGE
That view would have been increased by the Wallabies’ much improved performance in Melbourne in the second test, with the addition of the massive La Rochelle lock Will Skelton and Rob Valentini making a big difference, and the emphasis is on the word ‘big’ when it comes to Skelton in particular, to the Wallabies’ ability to match fire with fire with the Lions pack.
After 30 minutes the Wallabies led 23-5 and it was clear that this was a day where the Aussies had turned up. The Lions then launched an epic fightback that saw them snatch victory from the claws of defeat with just one minute to go through a try to fullback Hugo Keenan that was hotly disputed by the Australian camp.
So it’s been 27-19 and 29-26 to the Lions across the first two games, and although that means the Lions have clinched their first series win since they were last in Australia in 2013, the games have been closer, and the Wallabies more competitive, than many of us would have expected. After all, Australia have tumbled on the world rankings since they failed to get out of the Pool phase at the last World Cup in France, and at the time they played them Argentina, who won the exhibition opening game of the Lions tour in Dublin on the eve of departure, were ranked higher.
But while the Wallabies have been more competitive, perhaps a proper idea of how stiff the opposition will be from them when they come to South Africa can only really be gained after the series concludes in the third test in Sydney on Saturday. The Australian team was always going to punch above its weight when the series was on the line playing in front of a record 92 000 crowd at the MCG.
They did that in the first half, but what about the second half, when the Lions dominated just about every aspect of the game? And how good are the Lions really? Even their own media were reluctant to draw comparisons between Andy Farrell’s squad and previous Lions squads to leave the UK and Irish shores.
LIONS SERIES SWEEP WILL CHANGE PERSPECTIVE
A 3-0 series series sweep, which hasn’t happened since 1927 (the 1974 Lions did win 3-0 in SA but that was in a four game rubber), was what the Lions set their sights on before the tour and if they achieve it they will rightly regard themselves as history makers. Conversely, the Australians will be making history for all the wrong reasons.
While the scores have been close, there was a wide chasm between the teams in the first 50 minutes of the Brisbane game and in some senses the eight point losing margin flattered Australia. And in Melbourne the Lions showed later in the game what might have happened had they got the bit between their teeth at the off.
The tourists finished with momentum and with the Wallabies having expended so much effort in this latest game and still come short, it might be hard for them to get up in Sydney. A big Lions win there and a 3-0 series win could paint an entirely different outlook for the Wallabies as they head to Emirates Airlines Park, which probably ranks as the venue on the world circuit they are most intimidated by.
Even now it is clear stark improvements will be needed in certain areas, with the Lions’ scrumming depth having exposed the Wallabies over the full 80 minutes last week with Farrell’s clever bench selections, while young Tom Lynagh still has some way to go before he can be regarded as the real deal as an international flyhalf.
The Wallabies are a better team than they were a year ago. And they will be battle hardened by the Lions series. But the remaining game in the series will tell us just how credible a threat they will be to the Boks next month.