CAPE TOWN Sept 24 AAP – The Wallabies are bracing for a South African onslaught in their Test on Saturday with the home side eyeing a bonus point win at Newlands.
The Springboks need to win well to keep alive their hopes of beating New Zealand to take the Rugby Championship title.
The All Blacks are currently four points clear of South Africa and are tipped to pick up a bonus point themselves against Argentina on Saturday.
South Africa were convincing 38-12 winners over Australia in their first meeting this year in Brisbane, scoring three tries in 10 minutes in a second half burst.
The Springboks have proven their willingness to throw the ball around this year, already scoring 32 tries in seven Tests this year compared to 23 in 12 Tests last year.
While rain is forecast, their coach Heyneke Meyer says he’s hoping for a dry track at Newlands to get his backline involved.
“This is a must-win game. We gave ourselves the opportunity to still win the championship but we are going to have to play two great games,” Meyer said.
“We want to play positively and attack and score tries.”
Backrower Ben Mowen, who captained Australia in their hard-fought win over Argentina in the absence of injured skipper James Horwill, said the Springboks’ strength was still their forwards but they had the ability to run the ball.
“I certainly think they’re more balanced and they showed us in Brisbane they can score tries on you quite quickly,” Mowen said.
“They’ve always had a potent backline they probably haven’t played to it as much as they would have liked.
“I don’t think the balance has shifted too far away; they’re a physical side and they know that’s a huge part of their game.
“They’ve got their eye on the Rugby Championship so they’re talking bonus points so we’ll see how that pans out.”
Mowen is set to relinquish the captaincy to Horwill, who has overcome a hamstring injury, to add some more grunt to the Wallabies pack.
“I really enjoyed it and I enjoyed the fact that we got the win because it was a really important period for the team.
“I thought we were deserving of the result but he’s been a really good leader and he’ll just slide back in.”