The Springboks will be going for their seventh straight win over the Wallabies on Saturday.
Cape Sports Hub editor Ian Smit and rugby writer Wynona Louw have compiled a list of what they would like to see at Loftus...
Don’t play it forward, Wayne Barnes
Everybody has his kryptonite, and this man’s is clearly “missing” forward passes. Now, I don’t know if he reserves his contentious forward-pass rulings only for All Black matches, but we can’t afford one of those at Loftus on Saturday. Yeah, it’s not a World Cup quarter-final, but it’s still an important match, even if it is just to salvage some pride (for both sides).
Poor Wales were also the victims when they faced New Zealand earlier this year and Barnes “missed” a forward pass that led to a try by Waisake Naholo. I really hope we don’t see any of that on Saturday. It will be heartbreaking to see a try scored from a forward pass (or disallowed, even when it wasn’t forward - yeah, he does that too). The last thing I want to deal with is post-match moping over one of Barnes’ discrepancies. Spare me that, please. - Wynona Louw
Be the rebel, Eben
Eben Etzebeth hasn’t been bad this season but because the Boks have been struggling, he hasn't really been able to impose himself on the opposition like he normally does.
My favourite Eben moment of 2016 actually has a strong Aussie flavour to it. Against the Rebels in Melbourne, he collected a kickoff close to his 22, stormed 40 metres down the field in thrilling fashion, and then stole a Rebels lineout after a magnificent Jean-Luc du Plessis touchfinder to crash over for a wonderful try. More please, Ebie! - Ian Smit
Lambie at 15, Boks at 80
Pat Lambie’s inclusion at fullback was a real shock yesterday. Seems like nobody saw that coming. Now another surprise I would like to see is a full 80-minute performance by the Boks, instead of runnning out of gas in the second half.
Or, maybe I should say I would like to see them EXPLOIT the Aussies for a full 80 minutes. Like try and disrupt their lineouts or halfback pairing maybe? Oh, and now that David Pocock is unavailable, target the back three as well; at least there is only a Michael Hooper to focus on (until Sean McMahon proves otherwise). - Wynona Louw
So smile on us, weather prophets!
The conditions on the Highveld are about as difficult to predict as whether Quade Cooper will cook or crack. There is a 60% chance of thundershowers forecast for on Saturday, and we know that the water can come down heavily in Pretoria. Just think back to the 2014 “Big Bath at Loftus”, where you sometimes battled to even see the Boks and Los Pumas in the driving rain.
Point is, rain takes away a lot of the skill factor in rugby. I would like to see two teams matching their skills, not slipping and sliding all over the shop. - Ian Smit
A victory, I’d like to see a Springbok victory
There's obviously nothing tangible that can come from a Bok win on Saturday, unless it’s a victory that lifts their spirits so much that one can literally grab onto the feelings of relief in the Pretoria air.
Nonetheless, they need this. As much as I want to see a revamped Bok game plan, I’m not going to ask for attacking mastery or anything like that, I just want to see all the selected players do whatever they can to win.
The Boks want a win and the Wallabies want a win. I just want to see the Boks do more than the Australians to get that win. - Wynona Louw
Cape Times