Australia are looking for a lift and have turned to Quade Cooper to provide guile from number 10 against South Africa as the Rugby Championship resumes.
Three weeks on from the second round of games, Australia and the Springboks go head to head, and New Zealand tackle Argentina, with both games being played on Sunday at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast.
The Wallabies took a Bledisloe Cup drubbing at the hands of the All Blacks, losing all three games in that series, with two of those forming part of this tournament, so they are looking for a spark and will hope Cooper, making his first international appearance in over four years, can provide that.
The 33-year-old last featured, briefly, against Italy in June 2017 and now plays for Japanese team Kintetsu Liners.
His career looked to be in steep decline at one point, as Cooper lost his place in not only the Australia squad during Michael Cheika’s reign as coach, but also fell out of favour with the Queensland Reds.
Now he is set for a 71st Test appearance, having been originally beckoned into Dave Rennie’s squad as a training player.
South Africa make seven changes to their starting XV for the match, with number eight Duane Vermeulen selected to make his first appearance for the Boks since the 2019 World Cup final after recovering from ankle surgery.
There are changes afoot for New Zealand too, with lock Brodie Retallick named captain for the clash with Argentina as Ardie Savea sits the game out after taking a knock to the head last week.
Ahead of the crunch double-header, the third of six rounds of games in the championship, Stats Perform looks at the key Opta facts.
NEW ZEALAND v ARGENTINA
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The All Blacks are inevitably on a high after crushing the Bledisloe Cup aspirations of their trans-Tasman rivals and duly making a strong start to the championship. They have full-back Jordie Barrett available despite his red card against Australia last time out after the punishment was rescinded on appeal in midweek.
New Zealand have won their last seven men’s Tests on the bounce by an average margin of 40 points per game. The last time they won more in succession was a nine-game streak from November 2017 to September 2018 which included a 46-24 win over Argentina.
They have not always had it easy against the South American powerhouses, though. Their clashes in last year’s Tri-Nations were memorable, with Argentina scoring a stunning 25-15 win over the All Blacks on November 14, 2020, only to then lose 38-0 when they met again a fortnight later. New Zealand have won 29 of their 31 Tests against Argentina (D1, L1).
New Zealand have had just 12 minutes and 53 seconds of possession per game in this year’s Rugby Championship, the lowest of any team in the competition. Despite this, they lead the competition in metres gained (615), clean breaks (15), and points scored (48) per game.
Argentina’s two defeats to South Africa in the opening two rounds suggest they might find the going tough this weekend.
Ones to watch
Blindside flanker Akira Ioane has crossed the gainline on 17 of his 18 gainline carries for New Zealand in the competition so far. His 94 per cent rate is the highest of any player to have made at least 10 gainline carries in this tournament.
Retallick will carry the responsibility of leadership after he was favoured ahead of Beauden Barrett who, at fly-half, was judged to have enough going on without having to issue orders.
Coach Ian Foster said of Retallick, who has returned to Test action this year after a spell in Japan: “He’s back, he’s confident, he’s got the smile on his face, and that’s part of the biggest thing with Brodie. When he’s settled and he loves the environment, then he can go out and express himself.
“And I don’t want a lot to change with that captaincy band. It’s one of the challenges of giving it to someone like Brodie, do you force him into someone that he’s not? But I’m really comfortable. He knows his role, he’s clear and the boys certainly want to follow him.”
Discipline will be important for both sides, with Argentina having received six yellow cards and one red card in their last six men’s Tests, including two yellow cards against the Boks last time out. They had received only one yellow card and one red card in their previous 25 Tests.
SOUTH AFRICA v AUSTRALIA
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After the tussle between the All Blacks and Pumas, perhaps this can be considered the headline match of the weekend, an embattled Australia facing World Cup winners who are aiming for a statement victory.
For COVID-19 reasons, Queensland is staging the remainder of this tournament, and Australia coach Rennie will look for a response from his players to their sequence of losses.
The three-in-a-row streak is a concern, and the last time the Wallabies lost more in succession was a four-game stretch from June to August in 2018. They lost twice to Ireland and twice to New Zealand before ending that losing run with a 23-18 success against South Africa.
Australia have won 19 of their last 24 men’s Tests at home against South Africa, logging just three defeats in that span (D2). They are undefeated in their last five such fixtures (W4, D1), yet each of those games has featured a margin of fewer than seven points on the day.
It could be tight again, with South Africa having won 15 of their 18 Tests since the beginning of 2019. They have won their last four on the bounce, and their 83 per cent win rate since the beginning of 2019 is the best of any top-tier team in that time.
South Africa defeated Argentina 29-10 in the second round, while Australia went down 38-21 to New Zealand in Perth.
The Springboks have missed the fewest tackles per game (16) so far in the championship and have the highest tackle success rate (89 per cent) of any team. Australia’s tackle success rate of 82 per cent is the lowest of the four sides, but the context is that they were facing the All Blacks.
South Africa have created 20 mauls throughout this tournament, which is twice as many as any other team and five times as many as Australia (4); the Springboks have gained 56 metres and scored one try from those mauls.
Ones to watch
Australia scrum-half Tate McDermott has beaten nine defenders in this year’s Rugby Championship, the second-most of any player (Akira Ioane – 12). He beat seven defenders against the All Blacks in the last round, and only twice in the last decade has any scrum-half from a tier one nation made more (Antoine Dupont 9, Francois Hougaard 8).
He therefore has a pivotal role to play, and how he combines with Cooper will be keenly observed.
Rennie said he was “thrilled” to be able to be giving Cooper another chance to show his quality at this level, and it remains to be seen whether this is a one-off comeback or something that might have longer-term legs.
Michael Hooper will match George Gregan’s record of 59 matches as captain of Australia as he wins a 112th cap, and there are other landmarks set to arise. Reece Hodge, who starts on the bench, and Allan Alaalatoa will each win 50th caps.
Rennie described the match as “a huge occasion” for Hooper, hailing his longevity as “testament to his leadership and resilience”.
Boks coach Jacques Nienaber said of the occasion: “Australia pose a strong threat with their running rugby and they like to keep the ball in play. They will also be playing in front of a charged-up home crowd, so it will be good to have these experienced players back as they know what it takes to perform in big matches.”
South Africa have won their last two Tests on the bounce against Australia, as many as they had won in their eight encounters prior (D2, L4). The last time they won more successive games against the Wallabies was a three-game winning stretch from September 2012 to September 2013.
MY ACCOUNT
