The Springboks might have opened the door by dividing their squad in two but former Wallabies captain James Horwill says Eddie Jones’ side will be walking into one of rugby’s harshest and most difficult environments.
Horwill knows better than most what it’s like playing on the Highveld.
The former lock played the Springboks six times in South Africa, winning twice. But both victories came in Durban.
His biggest defeat: Johannesburg, 2008 – a 53-8 hammering just a week after winning in Durban.
But the defeat wasn’t his worst on the Highveld. No, that unfortunate day in Super Rugby a year earlier saw his Queensland Reds side cop a 92-3 hammering to the Bulls.
The scoreboard during the Super 14 match between the Blues and Reds at the Loftus Stadium on May 5, 2007 in Pretoria. (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
The embarrassing, record-breaking defeat also happened to be Eddie Jones’ final match in charge of the Reds in what was a forgettable year. A job Jones has since said he wishes he never took given the emotion surrounding his return to the Australian rugby landscape.
“We were walking into an ambush,” Horwill told The Roar.
“They had to win by 60-odd points to host a home semi-final and you could feel there was a real hostility in the air.
“The Bulls play a song in Afrikaans. Every time they scored a try this Afrikaans song came on. I just remember hearing that song so many times. It’s the stuff that gives you nightmares and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
“You knew what was coming in the sheds. We received both barrels. Very rarely did he [Jones] disappoint. It wasn’t positive. It was more about, ‘You’ve got to look at yourself in the mirror and ask what you want to achieve in the jersey.’”
Eddie Jones will coach the Wallabies for the first time since 2005 on Sunday (1:05am). (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Fast-forward to 2023 and Jones will return to Loftus Versfeld – the venue where the Australian coach started his international coaching career back in 2001.
While the Springboks have more than a dozen players heading to New Zealand early to prepare for their second Rugby Championship fixture against the All Blacks in Auckland given the quick turnaround in Tests, the Wallabies have several players who haven’t played in South Africa let alone pulled on the gold jersey.
Horwill said playing at altitude would be an experience they have experienced before.
“I think it affects everyone,” he said.
“Obviously the way that South Africa play is going to be very reliant on the physicality, the battering ram, the bulldozer approach. That’s how they’ve always played. They’ve never shied away from how they play.
“There’s a period where you get to where you just can’t get the oxygen in as much as you generally do. You hit the 15-20 minute mark and you’re looking for your lungs somewhere in the middle of the pitch. It’s a challenge.
“There’s a sign as you walk out the tunnel at Loftus which states how high in altitude you are from sea level [4429ft]. It’s basically saying, ‘You are high and it matters’. It’s the last thing you see.”
James Horwill has backed Will Skelton (L) and Richie Arnold (R) to feature against the Springboks. (Photo: Julius Dimataga/RugbyAU Media.)
The Roar revealed on Wednesday that Jones is set to start La Rochelle-based Will Skelton in the second-row, with Toulouse star Richie Arnold firming for a debut off the bench.
Horwill, who captained the Wallabies at the 2011 World Cup, said he expected the duo to take the field given the lengths Rugby Australia have taken to call them back from France and added it was important to find out if they could feature later in the year.
“I would expect the big guys to play and Willy and Richie in the locks,” he said.
“I think Eddie might match fire with fire and pick quite a big forward pack, a bit more direct. He’s spoken about being a bit more pragmatic as a group and not having to play with the ball too much.
“Being a World Cup year, I don’t envision they’ve just brought them back from France to just hold bags. Particularly a guy like Richie who is new in this environment.
“You’ve got four games to find out whether they’re going to be OK for the World Cup. I expect them to play. You’ve got to find out.”
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