Wallabies up for set-piece war
Comments
0
Wallabies prop James Slipper is gearing up for a massive challenge in the set-pieces when his team meet the Springboks in Perth despite the Boks' poor showing against Argentina.
The Springboks were shown up in the scrums against their South American rivals, especially in the Salta match which saw the Boks marched back 10 metres at one stage.
Another aspect, which is usually strong for the South Africans, the line-outs, have been poor over the first two matches with a true No.5 lock sorely missed in the current set-up.
However, Slipper is expecting a massive backlash from the Boks in these two departments as they prepare for the Test in Perth on Saturday
"It would be childish of us to go in there thinking we are going to physically bash the Springboks up," Slipper told the Australian Associated Press.
"With their performance against the Argentines in the set-piece, I'm expecting them to improve out of sight and really come at us there.
The Boks are notorious is Australia for their size and physicality with the Wallabies preparation always aimed at trying to at least match the physical play.
"They're always the biggest team running around," Slipper continued.
"You always know it's going to be a hard battle.
"They'll be keen to get out there and assert their dominance on us, and we'll be trying to do the same."
The Springboks also seem set to recall line-out master Victor Matfield, but Slipper has said their team would be prepared for what the lock might bring to the game.
"We all know what Matfield can do and how he picks apart other teams' line-outs," Slipper said.
"There's no doubt we'll be working really hard there and coming up with a few different tricks."
AAP
ADVERTISEMENT
