The Springboks are aiming to deliver greater urgency on defence in anticipation of a ball-in-hand onslaught from the Wallabies this Saturday, writes CRAIG LEWIS in Bloemfontein.

The Bok defence – and by association, assistant coach Brendan Venter – received high praise heading into the Test against the All Blacks in Albany, with clear improvements in this aspect of play over the first six Tests of the year.

However, in a brutal display play of relentless rugby, the All Blacks tore the Boks apart on their way to a 57-0 win that included eight tries, with the visitors ultimately missing as many as 33 tackles.

For the Boks, those figures should still be stinging, while they would have also resonated with Venter, who will have been working feverishly to identify whether the cause was related to systematic errors, individual mistakes or the sheer brilliance of the All Blacks. Ultimately, it was probably a combination of all three.

The Boks’ defensive response will be as telling as any other this Saturday, with the Wallabies having already demonstrated some of their considerable attacking threats by racking up 17 tries over four matches in the rugby championship.

Bok coach Allister Coetzee said they were certainly under no illusions as to the sort of approach the Wallabies would look to adopt on Saturday.

‘If you look at what the Aussies are really doing, and are good at, we can expect them to come with a ball-in-hand kind of game. They may still fancy their chances here at altitude, and they certainly have good backs.

‘Their strength is a good set piece, and good, hard running backs. They try and use that for momentum and to get quick feed for running the ball. They’ll look to take it through the phases, it’s their strength to look after the ball and play with continuity.’

WATCH: Key Wallabies against Boks

As ever, Israel Folau will be a key danger man for the Wallabies, with the fullback currently having made the most metres of any player in the rugby championship, while he also ranks third for defenders beaten, second for offloads and second for clean breaks.

‘The Folau factor is always there with him joining the line,’ Coetzee acknowledged. ‘We will definitely have to be better defensively, but I think we have good plans going forward for this weekend. We might have been a bit passive [against the All Blacks], so we need a bit more urgency.

‘In that Albany game, the collisions were still unbelievably strong and there were some great tackles, but we have to continue to do it for 80-plus minutes,’ he added. ‘That is why there is no time to lapse at all in the next two Test matches, and certainly the one against the Aussies, because they have enough quality and world-class backs and players in their side.’

This week, the Boks have also spoken of their desire to protect possession and build their attack through the phases, such continuity with ball-in-hand having been sorely missing against the All Blacks.

And if the Wallabies alter their tactics at all and look to target the Boks with contestable kicks, assistant coach Franco Smith said they’d quite happily see it as an opportunity to launch their own attack.

‘If we field the high ball, it creates an opportunity for us to play, when previously all we wanted to do was make sure they [the opposition] didn’t get the ball.

‘Now if we get it, we can play with it. We hope they give us a lot of high ball because if we manage it properly, we’ll score more tries. That is how we’re approaching things from now.’

The Bok team to face the Wallabies will be named at 14:00 on Thursday.

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