RG Snyman: Joe Schmidt’s influence on Ireland assists Springboks’ Australia prep

Springboks lock RG Snyman believes their two-Test series against Ireland provided the ideal preparation for the team’s Rugby Championship opener with the Wallabies.

The 29-year-old featured against plenty of familiar faces in that epic series as he played for Munster in recent seasons and will be moving to Leinster ahead of 2024/25.

However, his focus is currently on the Rugby Championship and their Round One meeting with Australia in Brisbane, a task Snyman insists they are battle-hardened for.

Well prepared

“I don’t think we could have had better preparation than facing Ireland going into the Rugby Championship, and we certainly learned a few things in those matches which we would like to carry into this competition,” he explained.

“Ireland prepared us really well for playing against Australia because they’ve a lot of systems that Joe Schmidt set up during his time there.

“There will be some differences stylistically between the two teams but in a lot of ways there will be similarities come set-piece time but we are looking forward to that challenge.”

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The Springboks touched down on Australian soil on Thursday, August 1, over a week before the showdown at Suncorp Stadium, which has had several benefits.

“Arriving in Australia the week before the Test was beneficial because it allowed us more time to overcome the jet lag, and especially outside of the Test week itself as well,” said Snyman.

“The guys are now well settled into the time zone, and we are training full-out and feel good, so we are excited about Saturday’s match.”

The Rugby Championship again takes on a different feel this year in that the sides don’t have the huge knowledge of each other due to South Africa’s exit from Super Rugby.

Their clubs’ move to the URC and EPCR competitions means there is less familiarity in terms of teams’ playing styles and the individual battles, something Snyman notes.

“It’s certainly different prepping against them having not faced the guys throughout the season it is a little bit different in that way,” he explained.

“There has been a lot of extra work going into this week with, watching player profiles and seeing who’s going to play and studying up on guys and past games here previously we would have seen that during the Super Rugby season.”

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