‘This Bok pack, at this ground … it’s our biggest challenge,’ says Wallaby coach

There’s no greater challenge in rugby than taking on the Springboks’ forward pack, especially at Loftus Versfeld, according to Wallabies forwards coordinator Neal Hatley.

The Wallabies square up with the holders of the Webb Ellis Cup on Saturday tonight in Pretoria in the opening game of the Rugby Championship and the men from Down Under will be attempting to get a first win against the Boks at Loftus, where they have fallen short on seven previous occasions.

Saturday’s match will be the first of Eddie Jones’ second term as coach of the Australian national team, and the encounter with the Boks is one that will tell Hatley where his the team are at in this early stage of the international season.

‘Benchmark’

“There are not many places harder in all of rugby to come to than Loftus,” said Hatley on Friday. “I think this match will give us a benchmark of where we are.

“Against the Boks, you have to be aggressive and competitive at the scrum and the lineout and the drive. If you come over here and roll over, you’ll get murdered, so we have got to make sure we are aggressive and competitive in all those aspects.”

The Wallabies, or the forwards to be exact, will have to execute to perfection the aspects Hatley mentions, or it could turn into a long day for the visitors as the Boks, even with some key men missing, will send a powerful pack into action.

“I don’t think missing one or two key players is a big issue for them,” said Hatley about the Bok lineup.

“They have incredible depth, we know from a tight five point of view, we’ve seen it before. They’ve also got the ‘The Bomb Squad’.

“We respect the South African pack immensely, their forward play, that’s why for us it’s an exciting challenge to start with. To play this team, this pack of forwards at this ground (Loftus), it’ll probably be the biggest challenge for us.”

Quade Cooper

From a Wallabies perspective, there are plenty of expectations about debutant loose-forward Tom Hooper, who will start at No 6 and stands at 1,99m tall.

“He’s been unbelievable, we’ve watched a lot of the Brumbies players and Hoops hasn’t played that much rugby, he’s had one or two niggles,” said Hatley when asked about Hooper.

“But, he’s been outstanding since he’s come in; he’s a big lad, really physical, so we can’t wait to see him go. His attitude has been brilliant; he’s really dived into everything.”