Wallabies star: ‘A lot of teams envy what the Springboks have’
Springboks forwards Marco van Staden, Ox Nche and Wilco Louw with an inset of Wallabies lock Nick Frost.
Wallabies lock Nick Frost says the Springboks won’t be too concerned about the injuries in the squad, considering their vast depth.
Australia stunned the Springboks 22-38 at Ellis Park on Saturday, with injuries to the likes of Siya Kolisi, Edwill van der Merwe, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Pieter-Steph du Toit only rubbing salt into the wounds.
Kolisi sustained a knee injury and will be sidelined for four weeks, according to head coach Rassie Erasmus.
In his absence, centre Jesse Kriel will captain the side in Cape Town, while Jean-Luc du Preez has been named in the number eight jersey, filling the double World Cup winner’s void.
Springboks’ depth
While Frost says that Kolisi will be missed for his leadership, he states that the Springboks‘ depth is the envy of teams around the world.
“Well, it is a loss for them not having their leader, but we’ve seen over the years that the amount of depth they have in each position is second to none in the world,” he told reporters.
“I think a lot of teams envy what they have. So, there’s got to be a quality, quality player stepping into his position, definitely.
“Maybe they lose some of that leadership, but they’ve got plenty of other leaders and plenty of other experience on the field to fill their shoes.”
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Australia have suffered setbacks of their own from the victory, with winger Dylan Pietsch and prop James Slipper returning to Australia, with the former breaking his jaw and the latter sustaining a concussion.
“So we’ll miss some experience there, but other than that, for this week, the squad that we have here, everyone’s fighting for selection,” Frost added.
Wet and windy weather is predicted for the clash in Cape Town on Saturday. The Wallabies do have experience of playing in such weather this year, as they defeated the British and Irish Lions under similar circumstances in the third Test.
Wallabies confidence
That result gives the Wallabies belief, according to winger Andrew Kellaway, who expects the Springboks to be a real challenge in the conditions.
“We certainly feel confident in how we prepare for that,” he said. But that being said the preparation is different every week for every opposition. What we do know this week is that the Boks are going to respond. So, we need to prepare ourselves physically for that.
“We know they’re the benchmark globally for that type of game. So, we’ll get that right.”
He added, “We’re very blessed. We’ve got a fantastic coaching staff, strategy and tactics-wise and guys like James O’Connor and Nic White, who can also add a bit of IP there.
“So we’ll leave the strategy and that sort of stuff to those guys, and the rest of us will get ready for a big Test match.”
