The rugby championship marks the next phase of the Wallabies redemption arc | Australia Rugby Union Team

TThe Wallabies will turn to the past against the Springboks world champion by deploying two 35 -year -olds in the halves to open their campaign in the rugby championship, the most prestigious trophy in the southern hemisphere which now also appears on its last legs.

The conflict on Saturday in Ellis Park, was introduced on the east coast of Australia early Sunday morning, marks the next phase of the Wallabies redemption arc which has resurrected from the exit of the 2023 World Cup stadium, to the valiant defeat of the British & Irish Lions Lions of this year and to an inclination to the webb Ellis web cup Ellis in 2027.

After pushing the lions and prevented a clean scanning in a memorable series which ended two weeks ago, the Wallabies appear on the UP. But South Africa – where tourists have not won since 2011 – offers a sudden test against the best in the world.

This required programming with a short -term orientation. The injury in the halves forced coach Joe Schmidt to first ask No 9 Nic White to delay his international retirement after the Lions series, then parachute half of the James O’Connor fly in a Wallabies jersey for the first time since 2022. The side of departure is otherwise unchanged from the victory over the Lions of Sydney.

“Our initial thought was to go with Ben Donaldson, who had spent more time with us and played the last 50 minutes of this third test against the British and Irish lions,” said Schmidt. “But we estimated that James was better served, and the team was better served, by James obtaining enough representatives during the week and spending time in the saddle.”

We don’t know exactly what Schmidt has against Donaldson, the playmaker who dropped in the hierarchical order behind the first Noah Gosio, then Tom Lynagh, and now a player who only played 377 minutes of Super Rugby this year and went to Leicester. In the end, Donaldson stopped in training at the end of the week with an injury, leaving the presence of O’Connor, as Schmidt described “fortuitous”.

The couple of the return halves are appropriate for the start of a competition – known as sorting nations until Argentina joins in 2012 – which could soon have to be put in grazing. Although a new international trophy will probably bring Ireland and France to Australia as part of a standard seven house test program next year which could also include traditional Wallabies rivals, the rugby championship will not be held.

New Zealand and Springboks prefer to go on a horseman alone and organize an all-black extensive tour in South Africa. Beyond that, the 2027 World Cup will compress the usual international window, and a Springboks tour in New Zealand in 2030 will once again have priority on Australia competition won for the last time in 2015.

But the Wallabies will not have time to check their calendars in Ellis Park on Saturday while they would face the world champions. “I expect them to be very strong in the set,” said Schmidt. “Their launch game will be very strong. On any turnover or any space they get, they have fatal finish.”

South Africa has beaten Italy and Georgia in warm -up matches, marking more than 40 points per game. They have only lost twice since the rise of the 2023 World Cup – defeats at one point against Ireland and Argentina – winning 14 tests during this period to confirm their place at the Rugby Union summit. Last year, two of them came to Perth and Brisbane, when the world champions humiliated the hosts by a combined score of 63-19.

But after slippery conditions during the Lions series, the Wallabies are looking forward to the afternoon ride in downtown Johannesburg. “We have not seen a very dry and fast bridge for several weeks,” said the back Tom Wright. “So it’s something to hope for.”

This is a strange thing to say since Australia did not win in Ellis Park, the stadium of the center of Johannesburg which was the site of the final of the 1995 World Cup, since 1963. However, times have clearly changed, and criminal concerns and very at priced tickets feared that the rugby championship is no longer largely filled for another competition Rugby is no longer wide – another international competition.

“You hear about these dates, and it can be the elephant in the room, right?” Wright said about the sterile racing of Wallabies in Ellis Park. “It was therefore spoken in terms of cool it would be to be able to break this drought. But, as, is it more special than any other game for which we are preparing? Not particularly, no.”