Wallaby lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto insists South Africa’s mass changes aren’t a slap in the face for Australia ahead of Saturday’s Rugby Championship re-match in Perth.
The Springboks made a whopping 10 changes to the starting side, which walloped the Wallabies 33-7 in Brisbane last week.
Among the players rested this week are captain Siya Kolisi, props Frans Malherbe and Gerhard Steenekamp, hooker Bongi Mbonambi, scrumhalf Cobus Reinach, wing Kurt-Lee Arendse, centre Damian de Allende and fullback Willie le Roux.
Flank Ben-Jason Dixon was ruled out through injury, while RG Snyman will miss with a foot complaint.
Scrumhalf Morné van den Berg and lock Ruan Nortje will earn their first Test starts.
Although the bench is loaded with experience, there are only 30 caps between positions one to five in the starting line-up.
South African coach Rassie Erasmus played down talk that the changes were a sign of disrespect towards the Wallabies, saying he made the move to further develop his squad’s depth ahead of the 2027 World Cup in Australia.
“If you look at this team, there are 14 World Cup winners and only two guys that are new caps,” Erasmus said.
“So this is not disrespect to Australia, and this is not us feeling nonchalant about the game.”
Salakaia-Loto said he and his Wallabies teammates don’t have any issues with the selection overhaul.
“Look, it’s no disrespect at all,” he said.
“They’ve still got 14 World Cup winners in their squad.
“Their depth is a big reason why they’re back-to-back champs.
“The challenge for us is to come in and put in a much better performance than last week.
“Their game plan hasn’t changed over the past eight years. The challenge is how do you stop that, and can you stop that?”
The Wallabies have lost Nick Frost and Jeremy Williams to concussion, while wing Filipo Daugunu is out indefinitely with a broken leg.
Taniela Tupou flew to Tonga for his father’s funeral and is unlikely to face the Springboks.
The Wallabies posted two wins over Wales and a victory over Georgia to start Joe Schmidt’s reign as coach.
But the disappointing result against South Africa in Brisbane brought the squad back to earth, with the players keen to make amends.
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“As players, we weren’t good enough,” Salakaia-Loto said.
“There were some lessons learned. It’s been a tough week for us.
“We’re looking to do more of our game plan this week and put in a performance our fans can be proud of.
“We’ve just got to do our jobs better, individually and collectively.
“The responsibility is on us as players. We’ve got the right framework and game plan to take it to these guys.”
