Profit season shows AI's arrival. Middle Australia is right to worry
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IOL News
an hour ago
- IOL News
I still have a good body and lungs to fight for the Springboks, says Siya Kolisi
Springboks captain Siya Kolisi will captain the Springboks for the 63rd time in their Rugby Championship match against the Wallabies. Image: Backpagepix Springbok captain Siya Kolisi is expecting a 'desperate' Wallabies team to fight to the last second of Saturday's Rugby Championship opener at Ellis Park. But the Springboks are equally fired up to perform after what Kolisi describes as indifferent form in their last four matches. 'We have a big game on Saturday. We know what Australia wants to do to us. We have been in their position before,' Kolisi said. 'We would be foolish if we did not understand how desperate they are, how much they want to beat us.' By the same token, the captain stressed that the Boks are disappointed that they haven't fired on all cylinders this year. 'We look at our last four games, and we are disappointed,' he said. 'We were supposed to have an extra week of holiday, but we felt that we had not hit the standards that we set, and so we trained instead. 'We know we have played far better than what we have so far delivered. The big thing for us is that we haven't been physical enough. 'At the Springboks, everything else can go wrong as long as our physicality is at the level we set for ourselves.' The Australians might read these words with dread. And another warning fired off by Kolisi is his team's goal of ruling the world not just at World Cups but in between. That is something that has eluded previous Springbok teams. 'It is very important to us to do well between Cups,' Kolisi said. 'That is why you see so many players getting opportunities because, unfortunately, injuries occur. We need our greater group to be the best it can be. 'Our mindset is to win every single game but also to build squad depth because the two go hand in hand. 'To that end, our training sessions have been much tougher this year. I would say they have been brutal, especially the forward sessions. 'We want to be the best in the world all the time. It has never been our goal just to focus on World Cups, because anything can happen in a World Cup. Also, being No. 1 in the world makes a difference when it comes to the World Cup pools.' On Saturday, Kolisi leads the Boks for the 63rd time as captain, but he says he is not about breaking records.
The Citizen
2 hours ago
- The Citizen
Wallabies bring in flyhalf cover to restore 5–3 bench split
The Wallabies' starting flyhalf has not played Test rugby since 2022. His replacement only has one Test cap. The Wallabies have made a late change to their matchday 23 to face the Springboks in the opening Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park on Saturday (kick-off 5.10pm). The injury-beset Australians announced on Friday that flyhalf Tane Edmed will replace loose forward Nick Champion de Crespigny on the bench. This was after No 10 Ben Donaldson suffered an injury in training right before coach Joe Schmidt's team announcement on Thursday. Schmidt decided to name James O'Connor – who hasn't played Test rugby since 2022 – in the starting XV. The Wallabies initially had no flyhalf or goal-kicking cover for O'Connor, and Schmidt said Nic White or Andrew Kellaway would do so if needed, though his plans might change on Friday, which they did. Wallabies captain: Edmed 'first class' Now that Edmed is in the wings, Wallabies fans will feel relief with a specialist kicker on the bench, even if he only has one Test cap under his belt. That came in the final Test of 2024 against Ireland. He did, however, play for the AUNZ team that lost 48–0 against the British & Irish Lions two weeks ago. 'We've got a lot of confidence in him, he's been around the group now for a little while and what he's put in on the training park has been first class,' Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said. 'We really enjoy having him around the group. He's training consistently well, which should give him a lot of confidence to go out there and do the job.' This came as the Springboks also made a late change to their side. Prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels was injured in training on Wednesday and was replaced by Boan Venter, who made his Test debut against Georgia last month. This means both sides have 5–3 bench split. Springboks starting XV: Aphelele Fassi, Edwill van der Merwe, Jesse Kriel, André Esterhuizen, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Manie Libbok, Grant Williams, Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Marco van Staden, Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth, Wilco Louw, Malcolm Marx, Ox Nche. Bench: Bongi Mbonambi, Boan Venter, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Franco Mostert, Kwagga Smith, Cobus Reinach, Canan Moodie, Damian Willemse. Wallabies starting XV: Tom Wright, Max Jorgensen, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Dylan Pietsch, James O'Connor, Nic White, Harry Wilson (c), Fraser McReight, Tom Hooper, Will Skelton, Nick Frost, Taniela Tupou, Billy Pollard, James Slipper. Bench: Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Angus Bell, Zane Nonggorr, Jeremy Williams, Langi Gleeson, Tane Edmed, Tate McDermott, Andrew Kellaway.
IOL News
3 hours ago
- IOL News
Rassie Erasmus' highly motivated Springboks should have too much firepower for the Wallabies
Unlikely mountaineer Ox Nche used a climbing analogy to aptly describe the importance of Saturday's Rugby Championship opener for the Springboks against the Wallabies at Ellis Park. The rotund loosehead prop asked the press: 'How do you climb a mountain?' There was no answer from the assembled hacks. 'You don't look at the summit, you look at the first step in front of you, and you make sure you make strong, solid strides,' Nche explained. In other words, the Boks are desperate to start the Rugby Championship with a statement win over the Aussies, and back it up next week in Cape Town. That would ensure they confidently travel to Auckland for the cliffhanger Test against the All Blacks, and the sequel the following week in Wellington, The excitement in New Zealand is building. Reports from the Land of the Long White Cloud are that the min-series is being seen as a mini-World Cup, but for the teams to live up to that hype, the Boks must first subdue the plucky Australians, and the Kiwis must overcome the unpredictable Pumas in Argentina. You would think that a correctly-focused Springbok team, playing at their spiritual home, would have too much firepower for a Wallabies team that, while battle-hardened after the series against the British and Irish Lions, is only a year into its journey as a new team, while the Boks are miles down the road. They have been building under Rassie Erasmus since 2018. Funnily enough, it was at Ellis Park that the Boks kicked off under Erasmus. They played Eddie Jones' England and at one stage were 20 points behind before rallying and sealing a heroic win in the end. The bottom line is that Ellis Park is a difficult place for visiting teams to win matches. The Wallabies did it in 1963, but never again. The Australians fare badly on the Highveld, full stop. The last time they won in the rarified atmosphere of the South African hinterland was in Bloemfontein in 2010, when a last-minute Kurtley Beale penalty stole the spoils. Erasmus's Boks have taken a contrasting road to Saturday's game compared to their opponents. While the Wallabies were on a super highway, fighting for their lives in a hugely hyped series with the Lions, the Boks were on a country road, warming up against bumpkins in the Barbarians, Italy, and Georgia. As Erasmus said, 'Are the Wallabies battle-hardened or punch drunk?' We will see on Saturday. 'For us, we had a three-week training camp in which we trained probably at a higher intensity than a match, while in the four-match incoming series, we were tested physically but not tactically. 'But playing the teams we did allowed us to grow some nice depth ahead of the Rugby Championship. 'We have never won the Championship or the Tri-Nations (as it was called in the past) back-to-back. We have never done it, going back to the start in 1996. That is how difficult this tournament is,' Erasmus said. 'We have also never in history beaten Australia five times in a row, and they have never won at Ellis Park in the modern era.' The Wallabies have lost ten of 11 matches played at the Boks' Johannesburg fortress, and only the most passionate Aussie will predict the drought ending on Saturday. Teams South Africa — 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Siya Kolisi (c), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche Bench: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Canan Moodie, 23 Damian Willemse Australia — 15 Tom Wright, 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Dylan Pietsch, 10 James O'Connor, 9 Nic White, 8 Harry Wilson (c), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Tom Hooper, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Billy Pollard, 1 James Slipper. Bench: 16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Nick Champion de Crespigny, 22 Tate McDermott, 23 Andrew Kellaway.
