THE Wallabies and Springboks are both under immense pressure heading into Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test in Brisbane.
With the help of Fox Sports Lab, we take a look at the stats that matter — including some scary high stakes for Australia.
Wallabies could sink to record low
Michael Hooper’s men are playing for a lot more than pride on Saturday evening at Suncorp Stadium.
The equation is simple — if the Wallabies lose to South Africa they will drop to seventh in then World Rugby rankings, with the Springboks, who are currently seventh, replacing them in fifth.
Australia has never ranked lower than sixth since the ranking system was introduced in 2003.
The Wallabies are without a point in the Rugby Championship after back to back Bledisloe Cup batterings.
Australia has not received the wooden spoon in a Tri-Nations/Rugby Championship season since 2009.
Alarmingly, the current Wallabies slump is statistically their worst in almost 40 years.
They are averaging their fewest points per game (16) in a calendar year since 1979, considerably less than their 2017 average of 31.1.
Springbok Tour Troubles
We’ve got the bad news out of the way — but Australians can take comfort in the poor away record of the Springboks, who have won just three of their last 14 Tests outside South Africa.
Likewise, the South Africans have secured just one victory in their last 10 away matches in the Rugby Championship.
The Wallabies should also feel comfortable in Brisbane with their two biggest victories over the Springboks both coming at Suncorp Stadium — a 49-0 hiding in 2006 and a 32-6 win in 1999.
Outcome
Regardless of the outcome, Saturday’s bout should be a tight contest.
The last four matches between these two proud nations in Australia have been decided by a margin of six points or less.
Similarly, the average winning margin of the last seven Australia-South Africa Tests is just five points and both of last year’s matchups were draws.
To underline the point further, Australia and South Africa are locked together over the history of the Tri-Nations/Rugby Championship, with 22 victories each and three draws in their 47 contests.
by FoxS ports.com.au
