The Springboks made a relatively surprise selection decision of their own at flyhalf earlier this week when they picked Manie Libbok to start at 10 against the Wallabies this Saturday.
However, according to reports from Australia, Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt will go one better by backing 35-year-old James O’Connor – who last played for the Wallabies in 2022 – to wear the No 10 jersey against the Springboks.
According to The Roar, the veteran playmaker will make his shock comeback to Test rugby ahead of Ben Donaldson, who is likely to be on the the bench.
Schmidt is otherwise expected to go into the Rugby Championship opener with a similar matchday squad to the one that ended the British & Irish Lions series with an impressive victory.
The Wallabies are set to publicly reveal their team on Thursday.
HOW THE SPRINGBOKS WILL LINE UP AGAINST THE WALLABIES
Springboks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Siya Kolisi (captain), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit , 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Canan Moodie, 23 Damian Willemse.
Head-to-head v Australia:
Played 95; Won 52; Lost 40; Drawn 3; Points for: 1 923, Points against: 1 672; Tries scored 227, Tries conceded 171; Highest score 61-22 (Pretoria, 1997); Biggest win 45 points (53-8, Johannesburg 2008). Win % 54.7%.
Miscellaneous:
- Should the Springboks win, it will be the first time they have won five successive Tests against the Wallabies in more than half a century (they won seven matches in a row against Australia between 1969 and 1971).
- Eben Etzebeth will extend his record as the most capped Springbok of all time to 134 Test matches when he takes the field. He will also move past Conor Murray as the 11th most capped men’s player in rugby history, which will see him level with Gethin Jenkins in joint-10th place on the list.
- Springbok captain Siya Kolisi’s starting berth will see him strike 94 Test caps, meaning he will only require six more Test appearances to become the ninth player in South African rugby history to earn 100 Test caps.
- A victory for the Springboks will see them extend their unbeaten run against the Wallabies at Ellis Park to seven matches. They have never lost a match against Australia at the iconic stadium.
- The Boks have won six of their last 10 matches against the Wallabies – a track record they will be determined to improve on this weekend. Their last defeat against the Wallabies was in Adelaide in 2022.
- The average caps per player in the backline are 26, the forwards 68, while the players on the bench average 39.
- The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up are 725.
- There are 180 caps in the backline, with 545 caps amongst the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 312 caps.
What is your score prediction?
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