‘Follow him into battle’: The Wallabies enforcer inspiring teammates to fight their corner

They say it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. But as they aim to become the first Wallabies side to beat the Springboks in Johannesburg since 1963, the Australian squad are happy they’ve taken dogs with fight and dogs with size.

“You’ve got the Great Dane, Will Skelton, and then you’ve got the little Jack Russell [in Nic White],” Wallabies forward Tom Hooper said.

“Jack Russell is sometimes a little bit more fiery and he’s nipping at the heels of those boys. He loves not taking a backward step. And whoever’s picked in that gold jersey, that’s the kind of spirit that we want to play with going forward. You can see it inspires a 23 on the field.”

The Wallabies will meet the world champion Springboks at Ellis Park on Sunday morning and the scale of the challenge is as steep as it gets, with high altitude to overcome, a fanatical crowd and a rival currently oozing with confidence.

South Africa are so self-assured, coach Rassie Erasmus dropped an alpha move on the Wallabies by naming his team on Monday, a full three days before required; clearly unconcerned by the advantage Joe Schmidt can extract with a few extra days of player-specific preparation. Unwilling to concede that same advantage, Schmidt’s pet hate is his team list getting out earlier than the mandated 48 hours before kickoff.

But the Boks feel strong enough to be open book, and apart from Erasmus’ innovative tricks, don’t hide their basis of their game: an aggressive and combative attitude, particularly in the forwards. That mindset has often seen the Wallabies blown away when playing in South Africa, but the last two Tests against the Lions saw Australia stand up in this very area.

After overcoming a slow start in the Lions series, the Wallabies played with physicality and intent in the second and third Tests and refused to be pushed around. Skelton was at the heart of much of it, and after starting in Sydney, so too was White.

After the Wallabies’ win, the feisty halfback said the aggression shown at Accor Stadium was a “line in the sand” and there should be no backward steps in the future.

“As much as we had a really good fan base back home on home soil, we know out here it’s going to be heavily a green fan base and we’ve got to make sure that the 23 blokes in that circle are looking after each other and we can’t take a backwards step,” Hooper said from Johannesburg.

After initially planning to return to France, Skelton stayed with the Wallabies for his first Rugby Championship games – outside a World Cup year – since 2017.

“Anyone who’s picked in the jersey alongside him will follow him into battle, that’s for sure,” Hooper said.

“He’s an enforcer. That’s what he’s been doing for a long time now in the beautiful sport of rugby. For want of a better word, he loves being that grub. He loves taking it to teams physically. Making the gentlemen’s game a little bit more exciting. We love playing with him. He’s just a physical presence.”

Hooper was man of the match in the third Lions Test playing blindside flanker but would likely relinquish his position if Rob Valetini is fit and returns to the side. But it’s also not out of the question that Schmidt keeps Hooper in the pack and rotates Harry Wilson onto the bench, with the skipper having played every minute in the Lions series.

Having debuted in Pretoria in 2023, Hooper played at the World Cup that year but failed to win many Test caps under Schmidt last year. It helped Hooper make the call to sign for Exeter in the English Premiership, but he also won a recall to the Wallabies based on a career-best season for the Brumbies.

“I love the gold jersey and I love playing in it,” Hooper said. “My decisions to go overseas were definitely to improve myself as a rugby player. I don’t have a crystal ball, unfortunately.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen in my future, but I’ll just keep making decisions based on being a good rugby player and hopefully playing in that goal jersey because I absolutely love it.”

Springboks roll out alpha move on Wallabies by naming team three days early

He doesn’t quite know all their names but Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus is wary of the Wallabies’ threats ahead of the Rugby Championship opener in Johannesburg on Sunday morning.

Erasmus talked up the Wallabies’ scrum and aerial potency after unveiling a strong team for the Ellis Park showdown, and in an unprecedented sign of confidence, named his side on Monday – three days ahead of the deadline.

Most coaches jealously guard their team until forced to name it 48 hours before the Test, to minimise the preparation time for rivals. But in a sizeable flex, Erasmus is not stressed about the Wallabies knowing what’s coming.

There is no Cheslin Kolbe, as he returns from injury, and no bomb squad on the bench – yet – but that’s about the extent of the good news for Australia, with Erasmus rolling out 18 World Cup winners in his 23-man match day squad.

Manie Libbok has been named at flyhalf and captain Siya Kolisi at number eight for the first time.

Scrumhalf Grant Williams is alongside Libbok, with battering ram Andre Esterhuizen at inside centre and Jesse Kriel in the number 13 jersey, with Damian De Allende unavailable with injury. The back three includes fullback Aphelele Fassi, with Kurt-Lee Arendse and Edwill van der Merwe on the wing.

With Jasper Wiese suspended, Kolisi switches to number eight having played much of the recent United Rugby Championship season there for the Sharks, with Marco van Staden and Pieter-Steph du Toit the two flankers. Veterans Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager are the lock pairing, while hooker Malcolm Marx has props Ox Nche and Wilco Louw either side of him.

“We actually changed our mind there,” Erasmus said about Kolisi’s move.

“The more we practised we realised that the only position the guy plays at eight is at scrums, which happens maybe 13 or 14 times a game.

“General play is probably what happens most and having guys like Pieter, Marco and Siya on the field we really feel Australia is a threat at the breakdown. They really fight hard at the breakdown, and those guys clean out well at the breakdown, and we feel we are going to need that.

“It’s just at scrumming where he is eight. I know I said a couple of weeks ago that Siya is a six and not an eight, but we came to the conclusion that we actually need him there and have Kwagga [Smith] on the bench.”

The world champion Springboks are seeking a fifth successive win against the Wallabies.

Eramus lauded the Wallabies form in the Lions series, and said there were threats from Australia across the field and said the high altitude conditions in Johannesburg could prove beneficial to the visitors.

“If you go through, [Taniela] Tupou, [Rob] Valetini and [Will] Skelton, and those three loose forwards, are pretty impressive. They scrummed really well in the second half against the Lions as well but I think there will be an aerial battle,” Erasmus said.

“At altitude the ball flies a mile so distance kicking will be a thing. Also they’ve got great guys in the air; you know [Joseph-Aukuso] Suaalii, the young boy [Max] Jorgensen, the other winger [Dylan Pietsch] is a really fiery winger who is really competitive, the inside centre [Len Ikitau] is really competitive.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a kicking competition but I think the aerial battle will be a vital one.”

The Springboks have earned headlines for rolling on as many as seven forwards from their bench – which is known as the “Bomb Squad” – but Erasmus opted for a traditional a 5-3 split between forwards and backs.

The coach did say he would add another forward if the Wallabies go with a 6-2 split when they name their side on Thursday.

“They [Australia] are a physical and well-coached team, and we’ll certainly not underestimate how much those performances [against the British & Irish Lions], combined with their motivation to bounce back strongly against us after the last few results between the teams, and win their first match ever at Ellis Park, will inspire them,” Erasmus said.

South Africa team: 15. Aphelele Fassi, 14. Edwill van der Merwe, 13. Jesse Kriel, 12. Andre Esterhuizen, 11. Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10. Manie Libbok, 9. Grant Williams, 8. Siya Kolisi, 7. Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6. Marco van Staden, 5. Lood de Jager, 4. Eben Etzebeth, 3. Wilco Louw, 2. Malcolm Marx, 1. Ox Nche

Replacements: 16. Bongi Mbonambi, 17. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18. Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19. Franco Mostert, 20. Kwagga Smith, 21. Cobus Reinach, 22. Canan Moodie, 23. Damian Willemse.

Watch all the action from the 2025 Rugby Championship on Stan Sport.