Springboks can expect new Wallabies leader to still ‘be a pest’ in Rugby Championship rematch

Australia openside flanker Fraser McReight has revealed that he will not change his approach to the game despite being named as his side’s new captain ahead of this weekend clash with South Africa.

He takes over the leadership position from his good friend Harry Wilson, who is sidelined after sustaining a knee injury in last weekend’s corresponding Rugby Championship fixture in Johannesburg.

McReight is set to become the the 91st player to skipper his country when the Wallabies take on the Springboks at the DHL Stadium.

‘Very proud to be part of a special club’

“I feel very privileged and honoured to get the nod of captain this week and first and foremost I’d probably say I’d much rather be playing with Harry and for him to be leading us out, but I also feel very proud to be part of a special club,” he told reporters in Cape Town.

The Springboks will be out for revenge in Saturday’s eagerly anticipated Rugby Championship rematch as the Wallabies clinched a shock 38-22 win in last weekend’s corresponding fixture.

That result was a significant one for Joe Schmidt’s troops as it was the Wallabies’ first triumph over the Springboks in 12 years and their first victory at Ellis Park since 1963.

McReight was one of the Wallabies’ star players in that encounter as he came to the fore with a splendid all-round performance where he was brilliant on either side of the ball.

Although he has been saddled with the extra responsibility of captaincy, the 26-year-old said he will not change his style of play.

“It probably won’t change too much from what I’d be doing if Harry (Wilson) was playing – let the game drivers do their thing, and I’ll let my game do most of the talking, try to get to the ref when I can, but just do what I normally do, not much changes,” he said.

“My role… as a number seven, is be a good defender, be a pest, have a high work rate, that’s what I try to do.

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‘I try to stay quiet, head down and bum up’

“We’ve got such great leaders in this team… typically, I try to stay quiet, head down and bum up.”

Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus responded by initially making 10 changes to his starting line-up after his side suffered that shock defeat to the Wallabies before Willie le Roux was forced to withdraw due to a niggling injury.

That saw Aphelele Fassi being recalled to the run-on side to replace the veteran full-back.

McReight said the world champions’ sweeping changes was not something which was a big discussion topic in the Wallabies camp as they focused mostly on improving on the slow start which they made in Johannesburg.

This, after the Boks raced into a 22-0 lead midway through the opening half of that encounter.

“It’s not really dominated too much, to be honest,” said McReight.

“We know that the Springboks have a lot of quality players, and they tend to use them all – even last week, we didn’t know who they were going to play because of the depth.

“That first 20 (minutes) we played, it was pretty poor and we want to try to rectify that.

“For us, it’s a lot about us, we’re looking in the mirror, what can we do better throughout the week?

“We have plans and an idea of what they’re going to try to do, but we could plan for that and then on the weekend, they do something completely different so I think that’s why a lot of the focus is on us and controlling what we can control.”

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