Wallabies can breach Boks by picking outsize locks

With team resources spread across consecutive Rugby Championship matches, the Springbok second row may face a testing time when they clash with the Wallabies at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

With first-choice selections Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager already New Zealand-bound for next week’s Test against the All Blacks in Auckland, it has fallen to debutant Jean Kleyn and Marvin Orie to deny the Wallabies a jump-start under new coach Eddie Jones.

While Orie was a United Rugby Championship winner with the Stormers last season and Kleyn, as well as substitute RG Snyman, achieved the same with Munster in the most recent campaign, the Wallabies have serial winners in their second row.

The Wallabies are well stocked in that department with behemoth French-based locks Will Skelton and Richie Arnold in the mix to run out at Loftus. Skelton is one of just 11 players to win a Super Rugby title and the Champions Cup. He also boasts league titles in France and England.

Arnold won the most recent Top 14 with Toulouse.

It is Skelton, however, who has been identified as a potential pillar for the Wallabies pack.

“Will is important for a lot of reasons,” line-out coach Dan Palmer said of the hulking lock. “He’s got a lot of weight to add in the set pieces. He’s also coming off the back of another successful season with La Rochelle, and he’s a winner. He wins games. He’s been involved in a lot of highly successful teams. That kind of experience coming into this environment is going to be critical.

“He’s very clear on what his role is. He’s obviously got the skill set to deliver it. The conversations he is having with guys in and around training have been top notch. He’s been really impressive,” said Palmer.

Skelton is not known for his prowess in the line-out. Getting upwards of 145kg off the ground takes some doing.

“Maybe some of our guys need to learn how to lift him,” advised Palmer. “I'm happy for him to jump. There is a big difference between lifting 110kg and 150kg, but it’s doable and we’ll see how we go down the track. He jumped for La Rochelle, so it’s not an issue. He can certainly do it.”

The Wallabies are expecting a highly combative Springbok pack. The Boks have assembled a pack with five World Cup winners and a bench that has a six/two split favouring the forwards.

Wallabies loose forward Rob Valetini is bracing himself for some rough and tumble at Loftus. “I think they are going to try to bully us with their pack. They are going to need some reserves to come on. Us as forwards are ready for that. It is going to be an 80-minute game — high pace and a lot of impact.”

In that sense the match may well follow the same course as the clash there in 2001 when Jones made his Test debut as head coach. His team and Harry Viljoen’s Springboks took lumps out of each other in an uninspiring slugfest that ended 20-15 in the Springboks’ favour.