The Boks have a poor record in Australia, but on Saturday they have a good chance of winning Down Under for the first time in nine years.
There are only four players in the current Springbok squad who have tasted success in Australia. Captain Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Duane Vermeulen and Willie le Roux — the latter has been left out of Saturday’s squad.
Instrumental players are on the sidelines. Quade Cooper sustained a season-ending Achilles tendon tear on tour in Argentina, while his inside centre partner Samu Kerevi is also on the sidelines for the rest of the year due to a knee injury sustained during the Commonwealth Games. He represented Australia in the Sevens rugby event.
“When you look at the two teams, you’re looking at two very different groups.
“Dave Rennie is a very good coach. They’ve had relative success. One of the challenges that would be frustrating them is their [lack of] ability to win consistently and to really build an ethos around winning within the team,” said Wessels. “If you look at some of the players they have playing overseas — the Arnold brothers, Will Skelton, Kurtley Beale, Adam Coleman, Liam Gill, Sean McMahon — they’ve got some really talented players that are not all eligible to be in the mix, which is different to the position the Springboks are in.
“Some of the AFL [Australian Football League] clubs have 100,000 members; it’s got a long waiting list for membership. So, rugby union is in a competitive landscape. Rugby league is a massive sport, in terms of viewership it is bigger than rugby union. The competition for talent is really significant.
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