Rugby Championship: South Africa v Australia match preview
Last Updated: 27/09/14 8:14am
Australia will look to end their 22-year Cape Town jinx when they tackle South Africa in the Rugby Championship on Saturday.
The Wallabies last tasted victory at Newlands in 1992 when David Campese and Paul Carozza (2) scored in the 26-3 win over the Springboks.
Since then the hosts have won six matches at the venue, including a 28-8 rout there last season.
"The Springboks always rise to another level when playing at home and we are under no illusions as to the challenges ahead,” said Australia coach Ewen McKenzie.
"But we are looking forward to those challenges, in South Africa and in Argentina, as we continue evolving and improving our game."
Australia did register a 24-23 win over the Boks in Perth earlier in the tournament – and coach Heyneke Meyer knows his side will have to be at their best if they are to avenge that loss.
Tough
"This will be a tough outing and we have to fire on all cylinders for the full 80 minutes," said Meyer.
"It is great to be back in South Africa after three tough games on the road and we are looking forward to playing in front of our supporters.
"We have had a couple of great training sessions and there is a definite resolve to improve the quality of our performance on Saturday."
South Africa have made two changes for the match, with scrum-half Francois Hougaard and new cap Teboho Mohoje replacing the injured Ruan Pienaar and Francois Louw.
Australia, themselves, have made three changes with Adam Ashley-Cooper, Joe Tomane and Saia Fainga'a coming into the line-up – while on the bench there is a recall for Benn Robinson.
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Jan Serfontein, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handrè Pollard, 9 Francois Hougaard; 1 Tendai Mtawarira, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Victor Matfield, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 7 Tebo Mohoje, 8 Duane Vermeulen.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Bakkies Botha, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 JP Pietersen
Australia: 15 Israel Folau 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 1 James Slipper, 2 Saia Fainga'a, 3 Sekope Kepu, 4 Sam Carter, 5 Rob Simmons, 6 Scott Fardy, 7 Michael Hooper (c) , 8 Ben McCalman.
Replacements: 16 James Hanson, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Ben Alexander, 19 James Horwill, 20 Scott Higginbotham, 21 Nic White, 22 Kurtley Beale, 23 Rob Horne.
Watch South Africa v Australia on Saturday live on Sky Sports 2 HD from 3:45pm