The Bledisloe Cup battles between New Zealand and Australia may have been the stand-out games in the opening two rounds, but it won’t have been lost on the wily Gatland and his coaching team that the South Africans completed a handy double over Argentina and go into their third round tie against the Wallabies in Perth looking more than capable of mounting a title challenge.
All three teams are on the fixture list for Wales in November’s Under Armour Series and Gatland will be hoping to add to his southern hemisphere scalp collection when he returns to Wales coaching duty in the wake of his highly successful British & Irish Lions sojourn. Wales beat the Springboks in Cardiff last year, but haven’t beaten the Aussies in the last 12 meetings and have to go back to 1953 for the last victory over the All Blacks.
That’s what makes the 2017 Under Armour Series such a huge opportunity for Gatland hand his players, a number of who helped the Lions draw the series in New Zealand this summer. But while all the talk has been about All Black resilience and Wallaby magic from their epic clash under the roof of the Forsyth Barr Stadium, the Boks have been building in the background.
That’s why this weekend will give Welsh fans the chance to run the rule over Allister Coetzee’s green giants as they drag themselves out of last year’s doldrums. One thing is certain, wherever they finish in the Rugby Championship table this year they will be returning to Cardiff for their final Test of the season seeking revenge for their defeat last time out.
Coetzee has chosen to keep changes to a minimum with Ross Cronje back from injury to take his place at scrum-half and Pieter-Steph du Toit restored to the second row after sitting on the bench for the last five internationals.
The Wallabies have yet to register a win in the quadrangular tournament having lost both Bledisloe Cup games against the All Blacks, while South Africa actually sit top of the standings on points difference from the All Blacks after doing the double over Argentina.
Wallaby coach Michael Cheika has made four changes to the side that were pipped in Dunedin despite leading for most of the game, three of which come in the pack. There are two new faces in the starting front-row with Sekope Kepu and Tatafu Polota-Nau replacing Alan Alalaatoa and Stephen Moore, who misses the game to attend the birth of his third child, while home-crowd favourite Adam Coleman returns to the second row. In the backs, a season-ending bicep injury to Dane Haylett-Petty opens the door for Reece Hodge on the right wing.
The reigning world champions, New Zealand, meet Argentina at the Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth on Saturday night and Steve Hansen has made a number of changes to the side that beat Australia 35-29 in a last-minute thriller in Dunedin two weeks ago.
Blockbusting loose forward Vaea Fifita comes in at blindside flanker, lock Luke Romano gets his first start of 2017 and Nehe Milner-Skudder returns to the wing after a near two-year absence. Anton Lienert-Brown lines-up alongside Sonny Bill Williams in the midfield.
The Pumas have never beaten New Zealand, with the All Blacks having won 23 of the 24 games played with one draw. After seeing his side lose twice to South Africa, Argentina coach Daniel Hourcade has made wholesale changes to his team.
Tomas Lavanini is one of seven players to lose their place in the starting XV following his dismissal against South Africa a fortnight ago, with Hourcade opting to pick Guido Petti over him. Veteran back-rower Juan Leguizamon is another high-profile casualty in the wake of the disappointing home loss to the Springboks, the 34-year-old losing his place to Benjamin Macome.
The other changes in the pack come at tight-head, where Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro steps in for the injured Ramiro Herrera, and on the flank, with Javier Ortega Desio getting the nod ahead of Tomas Lezana. Behind the scrum, Nicolas Sanchez returns at outside half in place of Juan Martin Hernandez and Matias Moroni and Santiago Cordero come into the threequarters.
The Rugby Championship – Round 3 Fixtures
New Zealand v Argentina – New Plymouth
Australia v South Africa – Perth
Round 1 Results
Australia 34, New Zealand 54
South Africa 37, Argentina 15
Round 2 Results
New Zealand 34, Australia 29
Argentina 23, South Africa 41
Under Armour Series 2017 – BUY TICKETS HERE
WALES v AUSTRALIA – Saturday, 11 November 2017 (17:15)
WALES v GEORGIA – Saturday, 18 November 2017 (14:30)
WALES v NEW ZEALAND – Saturday, 25 November 2017 (17:15)
WALES v SOUTH AFRICA – Saturday, 2 December 2017 (14:30)
