Key events
1 min: South Africa knock on the bar of soap straight from the kick-off. Going to be one of those nights.
Kick-off!
We’re under way at the Perth slin-n-slide. Who will handle the conditions the better?
It’s so wet in Perth, Bobby van Jaarsveld looked like Rishi Sunak calling the British general election when he sung the South African national anthem. Then when the camera went along the line of Wallabies the fat droplets on the lens turned the scene into a magic eye picture. Slog ahoy!
And out they come, Australia in gold, South Africa in green, through a haze of smoke and pyro, and onto the sodden Optus Stadium turf. It looks grim out there.
The final high-fives, back-slaps and butt-pats are taking place in the changing rooms of Optus Stadium. Both sets of players are wearing their wet-weather anthem jackets for the pregame formalities.
Here’s more on the All Blacks continuing their extraordinary record at Eden Park against Argentina.
New Zealander Paul Williams is elevated from assistant referee in Brisbane to whistleblower in Perth.
Schmidt identified some specific areas of improvement.
I think a scrum has got to start better. It allowed them to release and get into our half or put big pressure into our corner. I thought our lineout defence in the maul was better. They got a try from a special move and I felt our defensive effort in the second half was better as well after we leaked points in the first half. The simple things are that we’ve got to be better at the contest, in the air and on the ground. And we gotta be able to get our spacing to be consistent defensively.
Joe Schmidt has just had a few words with the host broadcaster, starting with the conditions in Perth.
“Somewhat damper. Certainly arriving at the field today, some damp patches but a lot of very fast patches as well. It’s a little bit inconsistent and I’d say that’s probably similar to our performance last week. I felt we at least fought our way back into it in the second half – 12-7 second half – as opposed to letting them get away from us in the first half. We love to start well and keep a little bit of pressure on them and as long as we hang tough in what could be difficult conditions, then you’re always in with a shout.
Elsewhere in The Rugby Championship, the All Blacks rebounded strongly to last week’s upset, exacting revenge on Los Pumas at Eden Park.
The volume of green jerseys and South African accents in Brisbane made a mockery of Suncorp Stadium’s status as Australia’s fortress. And there are like to be even more Springbok supporters in Perth, a city where there is a strong migrant presence.
As expected, Erasmus is preparing his charges for a very different style tonight in wet and windy WA.
South Africa XV
In a sign of his confidence in the Springbok system, Rassie Erasmus has made 10 changes to his starting line-up including first starts for scrum-half Morne van den Berg and lock Ruan Nortje. Aphelele Fassi comes in at full-back, part of a back three that also includes Cheslin Kolbe and Makazole Mapimpi. Jesse Kriel keeps his place at outside centre and will partner Lukhanyo Am, who gets a rare run in the No 12 jersey.
“We made it clear from the outset this season that one of our main goals is to build squad depth with an eye on the next Rugby World Cup here in Australia,” Erasmus said, “and we feel there is no better way to test some of the younger players and assess where we are as a group against a top-tier nation, especially away from home.
“We have a group of about 45 players that are part of our wider squad this season and we’ve seen what most of these players can do. We have full faith in the younger generation of players coming through, and we feel this is the right time to test them against an Australian outfit that will be desperate to bounce back strongly from last weekend.”
15. Aphelele Fassi, 14. Cheslin Kolbe, 13. Jesse Kriel, 12. Lukhanyo Am, 11. Makazole Mapimpi, 10. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9. Morne van den Berg, 8. Elrigh Louw, 7. Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6. Marco van Staden, 5. Ruan Nortje, 4. Salmaan Moerat, 3. Thomas du Toit, 2. Johan Grobbelaar, 1. Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Replacements: 16. Malcolm Marx, 17. Ox Nche, 18. Vincent Koch, 19. Eben Etzebeth, 20. Kwagga Smith, 21. Grant Williams, 22. Manie Libbok, 23. Handre Pollard
Australia XV
Marika Koroibete is the big inclusion for the Wallabies, coming in for the injured Filipo Daugunu. Under-fire Noah Lolesio retains his place at five-eighth but he has a new halves partner in Nic White. Angus Blyth replaces Nick Frost as lock, while there are two changes to the front row with Angus Bell and Josh Nasser replacing Isaac Kailea and Matt Faessler.
Joe Schmidt has brought the hyped 19-year-old Max Jorgensen onto the bench from where he is likely to make his Test debut, alongside fellow greenhorn Seru Uru.
1. Angus Bell, 2. Josh Nasser, 3. Allan Alaalatoa (c), 4. Angus Blyth, 5. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 6. Rob Valetini, 7. Carlo Tizzano, 8. Harry Wilson, 9. Nic White, 10. Noah Lolesio, 11. Marika Koroibete, 12. Hunter Paisami, 13. Len Ikitau, 14. Andrew Kellaway, 15. Tom Wright.
Replacements: 16. Billy Pollard, 17. James Slipper, 18. Zane Nonggorr, 19. Tom Hooper, 20. Seru Uru, 21. Tate McDermott, 22. Ben Donaldson, 23 Max Jorgensen
Improbably for Perth the weather is dreadful. It’s been raining and blowing a gale all day and there are a couple of puddles on the field. There’s every chance South Africa return to type this evening and eschew the free-flowing running ruby of last weekend.
Today’s expected walkover for the Springboks had to be revised during the week when Rassie Erasmus announced a virtual ‘B’ team would sing the South African national anthem.
Angus Fontaine reflects on last week’s shellacking at Suncorp.
They strutted in but staggered out. With an unbeaten record under new coach Joe Schmidt and a formidable history at Fortress Suncorp, Australia was quietly confident of flexing its newfound muscle in a clash with the world champion South Africans. But the near-complete 33-7 annihilation by the Springboks will leave serious scars for the Wallabies.
Impotent in attack, dismantled in defence and embarrassed at set-piece, the Wallabies got a painful lesson in rugby basics from Rassie Erasmus’s Springboks and looked every inch the No 9-ranked contender against rugby’s heavyweight champs. Worst of all, the scoreline flattered neither side, with South Africa far from their clinical best.
Premable
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of Australia v South Africa in round two of the 2024 Rugby Championship. Kick-off at Optus Stadium in Perth is 7.45pm AEST (5.45pm local).
This evening’s clash took on a whole different complexion around this time last weekend, when the Springboks were celebrating their one-sided victory in Brisbane. South Africa were awesome, demonstrating a new-found love for taking risks and broken field play. The Wallabies, meanwhile, were awful. Bullied at set pieces and disjointed in possession, Joe Schmidt’s first defeat was a serious wake-up call.
Irrespective of the outcome of today’s clash, Schmidt must get more out of his key performers. A two-thirds changed front-row should help, but the No 10 jersey remains problematic. Everyone needs to take responsibility for the myriad skill errors and breakdown penalties.
Theoretically, a stronger-looking Wallabies should close the gap on a weaker-looking Springboks with South Africa naming an experimental matchday 23. If they don’t, the already difficult task facing Schmidt will become monumental as he prepares Australia for next year’s Lions tour and the 2027 World Cup.
If you’d like to get in touch while I’m on, please fire all communication to jonathan.howcroft.casual@theguardian.com.
