Always a threat… Wallaby fullback Israel Folau.
The Springboks will look to “cut off supply” to Israel Folau to continue a remarkable 90 per cent success rate on the road for the past two years.
The Wallabies fullback was the only bright spot in Australia’s 51-20 hammering at the hands of the All Blacks in Auckland last month.
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Folau never said die, scoring a consolation try in the 61st minute and making the length-of-the-field break in the first half that was turned over a couple of phases later to end up with Julian Savea scoring in the opposite corner.
And while South Africa sit at the top of the Rugby Championship table, with an eight-match winning streak to their name and nine wins from 10 Tests on the road, they are still wary of the Wallabies’ attacking power.
Springboks defence coach John McFarland said containing Folau was crucial to making it 10 from 11 away from home.
“It’s obvious that the All Blacks did a few things against him that worked for them and they kept him quiet,” McFarland said.
“He’s a game breaker, a guy with X-factor, and the biggest thing is to cut off his supply lines, don’t let him get into the game with his strengths.”
The Springboks arrived in Perth on Sunday fresh off a three-day staging camp in Johannesburg and buoyed by – if not confident in – their record on the road.
“Every Test is the same, it’s a one-off,” McFarland said.
“The Wallabies were rolling on well, they’d won eight or nine on the bounce and then they hit the All Blacks, who played really well that day. That’s the same for us.
“I would say the one thing when you’re away from home, you tend to have a lesser percentage of the ball. So you have to do more in defence. Last year in Brisbane [a 38-12 thumping] we made 220-odd tackles to win that game.”
Two tight wins against Argentina have put the heat on the side’s scrum, which came up short against Los Pumas in Pretoria and Salta.
Argentina matched the No.2 ranked international side try for try in Salta, taking a leaf from the All Blacks’ book and punishing their rival’s mistakes with lethal counter attack off turnover ball.
But as McFarland said of his side that , unlike Australia, managed to guts out a victory: “There were mistakes made but the great thing is that it’s always easier to correct them if you win than if you’ve lost.”
The Wallabies have no such luxury, and were put on notice about their poor maul defence and the one that got away in Sydney.
“There were tries [in Auckland] that were scored from line out drives, which is one of our strengths and one of the things we’ll look to do,” McFarland said.
“And then there were two or three long-range tries from turnover ball, and it was the same with us in Salta – it’s very hard to get a defensive line in place when you’ve got that sort of broken field and turnover ball.
“But they could have just as easily beaten the All Blacks – and probably should have done – in Sydney.”