{"id":16176,"date":"2025-08-16T15:00:55","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T15:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=16176"},"modified":"2025-08-16T15:00:55","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T15:00:55","slug":"south-africa-v-australia-rugby-championship-test-live-rugby-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=16176","title":{"rendered":"South Africa v Australia: Rugby Championship Test \u2013 live | Rugby Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Australia are looking for their first win in Johannesburg since 1963.<\/strong><\/p>\n

They have an aggregate score of 201-107 against in the City of Gold from their six games there in the professional era. Their most recent visit ended with a 35-17 defeat in the first round of the 2019 Championship.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, the Boks had the same midfield combo that game, had the same second row combo , played an attacking fly-half (Elton Jantjies) and had Cobus Reinach coming off the bench alongside two other backs.<\/p>\n

Hey, if it ain\u2019t broke.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s easy to forget that the Wallabies were in the doldrums back in September 2023.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The pasting they received at the hands of Fiji at the World Cup meant they failed to get out of their group. Eddie Jones inevitably got the sack and there were questions over whether the code had a future at all.<\/p>\n

This redemption narrative isn\u2019t complete, but it\u2019s on track.<\/p>\n

The team is on the up. Fans are returning. Interesting is rising. The Rugby Championship is another opportunity to keep the fire burning.<\/p>\n

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Wallabies team<\/h2>\n

The 35-year-old James O\u2019Connor has been picked at at fly-half, playing his first game for Australia in three years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If the veteran can get the ball out wide the Aussies will be in business with the combative Dylan Pietsch and the slippery Max Jorgensen waiting in the trams.<\/p>\n

First, O\u2019Connor will need front foot ball and here is where the game will be won and lost. The back row of skipper Harry Wilso, Tom Hooper and Fraser McReight will need to boss their sphere of influence. Keep an eye out for the cameo of Langi Gleeson off the bench.<\/p>\n

Wallabies: <\/strong>1 \u2013 Slipper, 2 \u2013 Pollard, 3 \u2013 Tupou, 4 \u2013 Frost, 5 \u2013 Skelton, 6 \u2013 Hooper, 7 \u2013 McReight, 8 \u2013 Wilson (c); 9 \u2013 White, 10 \u2013 O\u2019Connor; 11 \u2013 Pietsch, 12 \u2013 Ikitau, 13 \u2013 Suaalii, 14 \u2013 Jorgensen; 15 \u2013 Wright.<\/p>\n

Replacements: 16 \u2013 Paenga-Amosa, 17 \u2013 Bell, 18 \u2013 Nonggorr, 19 \u2013 Williams, 20 \u2013 Gleeson, 21 \u2013 Champion de Crespigny, 22 \u2013 McDermott, 23 \u2013 Kellaway. <\/em><\/p>\n

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Springboks team<\/h2>\n

Rassie Erasmus named his team on Monday and it\u2019s one that promises loads of running.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Manie Libbok at fly-half will be keen to let the ball sing and has a freewheeling scrum-half inside him in Grant Williams, arguably the fastest man among the 46 involved today.<\/p>\n

Siya Kolisi plays at No. 8 and there are five forwards and three backs on the bench, a departure from the Bomb Squad tactic that has brought so much success over the past six years.<\/p>\n

Eben Etzebeth\u2019s battle with Will Skelton in the tight exchanges could swing the contest.<\/p>\n

Springboks: <\/strong>1 \u2013 Nche, 2 \u2013 Marx, 3 \u2013 Louw, 4 \u2013 Etzebeth, 5 \u2013 de Jager, 6 \u2013 van Staden, 7 \u2013 du Toit, 8 \u2013 Kolisi (c); 9 \u2013 Williams, 10 \u2013 Libbok; 11 \u2013 Arendse, 12 \u2013 Esterhuizen, 13 \u2013 Kriel, 14 \u2013 van der Merwe; 15 Fassi.<\/p>\n

Replacements: 16 \u2013 Mbonambi, 17 \u2013 Wessels, 18 \u2013 Ntlabakanye, 19 \u2013 Mostert, 20 \u2013 Smith, 21 \u2013 Reinach, 22 \u2013 Moodie, 23 \u2013 Willemse.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Preamble<\/h2>\n

Daniel Gallan<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a saying in cricket that you can\u2019t judge a pitch until both sides have had a bat. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my equivalent for rugby: You can\u2019t judge the power of a pack until it\u2019s gone toe to toe with the Springboks.<\/p>\n

The Wallabies might have lost the series against the British & Irish Lions, but some of their big boys left with reputations enhanced. Will Skelton, Rob Valetini, Taniela Tupou, Nick Frost, Tom Hooper, Langi Gleeson; where there were concerns about the Aussies ability to mix it with big boys there\u2019s now confidence in the tall timber.<\/p>\n

Well, let\u2019s see how hard they really are. Because bullying the Lions is one thing. Standing firm against the double world champions on their own patch is something else entirely.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll have to do it without Valetini, for my money the most destructive loose forward in the world (Pieter-Steph du Toit fans, I said \u2018destructive\u2019, not \u2018best\u2019). But, with six forwards on the bench compared to the Boks\u2019 five in reserve, Joe Schmidt still has enough to cause a seismic upset. Or does he?<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll find out in a bit when the old frenemies lock horns at the Home of Rugby that is Ellis Park in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n

Get in touch if you want to share something with the group. Reckon the Wallabies have the requisite meat? Will the Boks razzle-dazzle with a zippy backline? Want to pull me up on anything I\u2019ve said already? My door is open.<\/p>\n

Kick-off at 4:10 pm local time, 0:10 am AEST.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Teams and other bits to come.<\/p>\n

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Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Australia are looking for their first win in Johannesburg since 1963. They have an aggregate score of 201-107 against in the City of Gold from their six games there in the professional era. Their most recent visit ended with a 35-17<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[3130,346,717,132,5871,122,76],"class_list":{"0":"post-16176","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-championship","11":"tag-live","12":"tag-rugby","13":"tag-south","14":"tag-test"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}