Springboks to come out ‘all guns blazing’ against Wallabies at Loftus

The Springboks will be aiming to come out all guns blazing when they take on the Wallabies in their Rugby Championship opener at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday night.

It is the start of a massive international season for the Webb Ellis Cup defending champs as they compete in a shortened Rugby Championship, followed by three warm-up games and then the World Cup in France where they will attempt to defend their title.

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The enormity of the occasion was not lost on Bok assistant coach Deon Davids, who admitted at a press conference on Monday that they were targeting a win to get their season off to the perfect start.

“We want to have a good start because that goes a long way to determining the outcome of the Rugby Championship. The players are focused on that, they know that it has to be all guns blazing. Every game counts. This year is about building momentum towards the end goal (the World Cup),” explained Davids.

Different challenge

It is however a different challenge for the Boks that what they are used to as they are splitting their squad with a huge encounter against the All Blacks in New Zealand following next weekend.

So around 15 players will be departing South Africa on Tuesday or Wednesday so that they can get over jetlag and be better prepared for that game, but despite that Davids believes that preparations for the Australian game have been going well.

“It is a different preparation but at this point, our focus is very much on Australia. While we have been training in the two groups, each group knows that this week is about getting the team to play Australia as ready as possible. Next week the focus shifts to New Zealand,” said Davids.

“You can never just expect a good start to a season but what you can control is pitching up with the right mindset and intensity. It is difficult to be 100 percent at the start of a season but you have to make sure you learn on the run and that you build your innings nicely over the season.”

Unpredictable Eddie

The Boks also have to be prepared for the un-predictableness of Wallabies coach Eddie Jones, who will be eager to make a major statement on his return to coaching Australia, after he was unceremoniously dumped by England late last year.

“Eddie is a coach who understands the importance of set piece dominance in Test rugby. So, it will be a titanic battle in the set pieces, scrums, and mauls.

“It will also be important for us to play in the right areas of the field and execute our kicking game and defensive plan well.

“They’ll be up for this challenge, and looking at their team they have a good balance of experienced and talented young players.”