Springboks vs Wallabies – who will win?

The Springboks will host the Wallabies in Cape Town after defeating the Australians 38-12 a few weeks ago in Brisbane, but both teams will have a renewed outlook if they’re to each finish the last stretch of their Rugby Championship campaigns on a high.

The Springboks are undoubtedly the favourites going into Saturday’s match, following an unconvincing 14-13 performance by the Wallabies against Argentina, and South Africa testing the All Blacks, despite the controversy and loss.

The Springbok team sees two changes, with Adriaan Strauss moving into the starting lineup, along with Fourie du Preez who makes his return.

This means that Bismarck du Plessis and Ruan Pienaar move to the bench.

Du Plessis and Steyn will become the 25th and 26th Springboks to play in 50 Tests for South Africa. Steyn also needs two points to move to 600 Test points for the Boks – he is currently on 598 in his 49 Tests to date.

The Wallabies will be happy with the return of their captain, James Horwill, following his injury layoff.

Horwill slots straight back into the second row, while Brumbies outside back Tevita Kuridrani gets the number 13 jersey, with Adam Ashley-Cooper sliding onto the wing in place of James O’Connor, who has been dropped completely following his off-field incident.

Joe Tomane then fills the other wing position, while Israel Folau drops to fullback, a position he’s much more comfortable in.

The playmaking pairing of Quade Cooper and Nic White proved relatively effective against the Pumas, however, not much came of the two and they’ll have to work even harder to get one up on the Boks.

Rugby Informer’s take: the Wallabies will not be the same shambled team that they were in Brisbane, and will put up a bigger fight thanks to the leadership and motivation of Horwill’s return. However, the Bok pack knows the Wallabies’ weaknesses and should outmuscle them to gain the upper-hand. Springboks by 10.

Springboks: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Willie le Roux, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Flip van der Merwe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Juandré Kruger, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.

Wallabies: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Christian Leali’ifano, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Nic White, 8 Ben Mowen, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper.
Subs: 16 Saia Fainga’a, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Sitaleki Timani, 20 Ben McCalman, 21 Will Genia, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Chris Feauai-Sautia.