The Springboks will look for only their second ever victory over Australia in Brisbane when they face the Wallabies at the Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.
The Boks have only won one out of 10 Tests against Australia at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, a stat that will need to change if they want to go into the clash against the All Blacks with momentum and confidence.
The Wallabies have scored 264 points compared to the Springboks’ 137, meaning that the average score at the stadium between the two teams is 26-13.
The Springboks also suffered one their heaviest defeats at Suncorp in 2006, when Jake White’s team got hammered 49-0. That is still South Africa’s worst defeat to Australia and their third-worst against any country.
Their only victory there against Australia was when Heyneke Meyer’s team scored four tries to nil to secure an emphatic 38-12 victory in 2013
Captain Siya Kolisi, Willie le Roux, Beast Mtawarira, Francois Louw and Eben Etzebeth are the only survivors from that famous win. Duane Vermeulen also played in that win, but he is not in the squad due to Japanese club commitments.
The Springboks have gone on to lose the next two Tests in Brisbane since that famous victory. Both defeats have been by less than seven points.
It is not only the Springboks that struggle at Suncorp: Since 2013, South African teams have tasted victory only twice in 11 matches in Brisbane.
* The Springboks defeated Samoa 60-10 at the Suncorp Stadium in the 2003 World Cup.
Photo: Paul Faith/AFP
