Harry Potter believes the Wallabies can benefit from the Springboks’ early team announcement, barring any late changes.
Rassie Erasmus named his side on Tuesday for Sunday’s Test in Perth, making 13 changes to the starting XV that beat the All Blacks in Baltimore to win the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series 3-1.
The Wallabies, meanwhile, are only scheduled to reveal their match 23 on Friday.
Asked whether knowing the Bok lineup so early gave Australia an advantage in their preparations, Potter joked, “Well, we’ll wait for the 23 to be absolutely confirmed.
“But I suppose it allows you to know your opposition and get a bit of an idea of what we’re coming up against.
“There’s been a lot of focus on ourselves as well. We’ll be working on ourselves and making sure we come out firing.”
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Erasmus has regularly named his teams early this season, although late changes have been made.
Ahead of the second Test against the All Blacks in Cape Town, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Handré Pollard were initially selected to start before Cheslin Kolbe and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu took their places. Erasmus also switched his starting and replacement front rows just before kick-off.
Despite the sweeping changes for Perth, Potter has no doubt the Boks selected a side capable of retaining the Mandela Challenge Plate.
“I’d say they picked the team to win the game. I haven’t counted them, but there are certainly plenty of World Cup winners in that team,” he said.
“They’ve had a big four weeks, and they’ll be picking a team, I suspect, that is a bit fresher and has a good bench as well, and they’ll come out firing.
“So yeah, I think they picked a very good team and certainly plenty of experience.”
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Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
The post Wallabies wing waits for final Bok 23 appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Harry Potter believes the Wallabies can benefit from the Springboks’ early team announcement, barring any late changes.
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