The Springbok pack needs to produce a dominant all-round performance against the Wallabies if there is to be a rare win in Australia on Saturday, writes CRAIG LEWIS.

At the heart of the Boks’ success so far in 2017 has been the industrious efforts of a pack that’s impressively punched above its weight.

The Boks enjoyed the ascendancy up front during the June series against France, while after two rounds of the Rugby Championship, they boast a 100% scrum success and 97% lineout success.

Although the Wallabies’ lineout functioned efficiently against the All Blacks, they will now have to do without the dead-eye throwing of veteran hooker Stephen Moore, who is unavailable due to paternal duties.

The Wallabies were also targeted at scrum time by the All Blacks, with the Aussies returning just an 88% scrum success rate after two Tests, while they conceded a number of infringements at this set piece.

It’s an area that the Boks can certainly look to target, with stalwart Beast Mtawarira impressively executing his primary role at the scrums, while Coenie Oosthuizen is playing some of the best rugby of his life at tighthead prop.

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While the Springboks will miss the lineout influence of Franco Mostert – who has been rested for this game – they will gain the added physicality of Pieter-Steph du Toit, who will start his first Test of 2017.

Interestingly, the Boks have also had a few tricks up their sleeve when it’s come to their lineout drive, and they should once again look to deploy their maul against an Australian pack that they can best.

If the Boks can achieve ascendancy up front, while winning the breakdown battle, they should be able to prevent the Wallabies from enforcing their high-tempo attack off front-foot ball.

Australia have averaged 4.6 tries scored per game so far in 2017, and in Will Genia, Kurtley Beale and Israel Folau, they have serious attacking danger men.

Indeed, once the Boks have won the forward battle, it will come down to the effectiveness of their much-improved defence, which has been a feature of their play so far this year.

The Wallabies are the sort of team that will stretch the Bok defence and present threats that they have yet to face, with the likes of Folau and Tevita Kuridrani boasting both speed and size.

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Australia may look to target the Boks’ diminutive back-three with contestable kicks for their sizeable outside backs to chase, while Wallabies flyhalf Bernard Foley will aim to pick out Folau with accurate cross-kicks.

The Boks don’t have a happy record in Australia, where they have managed only four wins over the past 21 years, but they have shown enough encouraging signs this season to suggest that they should still be highly competitive in Perth.

The Wallabies will be smarting after blowing a golden match-winning opportunity against the All Blacks in Dunedin, but they are now set to come up against a Bok team that is riding a wave of confidence and momentum.

The key for the Springboks will be to ensure they aren’t drawn into a fast and loose affair against the dangerous Wallabies. Instead, they need to play to their strengths of a superior pack, while ensuring that their defence is organised and effective.

The return of Ross Cronjé will also boost the Boks, while Elton Jantjies must maintain the dominant form that he has displayed at the start of the Rugby Championship.

With home-ground advantage, the Wallabies will be regarded as favourites on Saturday, but the Boks do possess the sort of forward firepower to lay the platform for an upset.

Stats and facts

• Each of the last six Tests between these teams has been won by the home nation on the day, including an 18-10 win for the Springboks when they last met.
• The Wallabies have won seven of their last eight games when hosting the Springboks, including their last three; though, they’ve not scored more than 26 points in such a fixture since 2011.
• This will be the second-ever Test played at nib Stadium in Perth after the Wallabies beat Argentina 36-20 there in last year’s Rugby Championship.
• South Africa will be searching for back-to-back wins away from home for the first time since a brace of wins against England and Italy in 2014 (excluding 2015 World Cup).
• Each of these teams have played 101 games in The Rugby Championship for 42 wins, two draws, and 57 losses, while only one point separates them in defence, with the Wallabies (2,472pts conceded) edging the Springboks (2,473).
• Australia have averaged 4.6 tries scored per game so far in 2017, their best figures in a calendar year since posting 5.8 tries per game in 1985.
• Australia have rallied to score four tries in the final quarter of their games already this tournament, more than any other team in the competition.
• The Springboks are the only team yet to concede a try in either the opening or closing quarter of games this tournament.
• Eben Etzebeth (8) has won more lineouts than any other player this tournament, with two of his wins coming on the opposition’s throw.

Wallabies – 15 Israel Folau, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Reece Hodge, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 Sean McMahon, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Scott Sio.
Subs: 16 Jordan Uelese, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Jack Dempsey, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Samu Kerevi, 23 Curtis Rona.

Springboks – 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Raymond Rhule, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Ross Cronjé, 8 Uzair Cassiem, 7 Jaco Kriel, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth (c), 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Trevor Nyakane,19 Lood de Jager, 20 Jean-Luc du Preez, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Damian de Allende.

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