Wallabies brace for air and ground battle against Boks
South Africa's forward pack will be fearsome, but the Wallabies are also bracing for an intense battle in the air when they attempt to take down the two-time defending World Cup winners in Perth on Sunday.
The world No.1 Springboks arrive in Perth full of confidence following their 3-1 series win over New Zealand.
The Springboks have always been renowned for possessing an unmatched physical intensity, especially at the scrum.
But Wallabies winger Harry Potter says South Africa's aerial game is also going to be a huge threat after watching them use it to great effect against the All Blacks.
New Zealand winger Will Jordan committed a series-high 24 turnovers against the Springboks as the All Blacks struggled under the high ball.
New Wallabies coach Les Kiss is set to switch outside centre Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii to the wing in a bid to nullify South Africa's aerial game.
"Their wingers, fullback - they're slightly different personnel this week, but (Ethan) Hooker and (Edwill) van der Merwe are both good in the air.
"We think we've been doing quite well in that area as well. We probably had an off game, some off games, against Argentina.
"Certainly South Africa are going to be an even bigger threat. It's going to be a step up this week in the air."
South Africa have won five of their past six Tests against Australia, but the Wallabies pulled off a famous 38-22 win in Johannesburg last year after coming from 22-0 down.
Kiss will unveil his team on Friday, and all eyes will be on whether star back Jordan Petaia will be named for his first match since the 2023 World Cup.
Petaia's NFL dream was quickly crushed last year due to a hamstring injury, but a stint in France reinvigorated him, and he is fit and raring to go for a Wallabies return.
South Africa raised eyebrows on Tuesday when they made 13 changes to their starting line-up for the one-off Test at Optus Stadium
That included sending veteran duo Pieter-Steph du Toit and Damian de Allende home so they could spend time with family.
5News aggregated this summary from the outlet’s public feed. The full article, with all the context, is on www.perthnow.com.au — the content belongs to PerthNow.
