Wallaby Allan Alaalatoa dismisses Springbok legend’s ‘pressure’ claim

Allan Alaalatoa has dismissed former Springboks captain Jean de Villiers' claim that the Wallabies are under “massive pressure in Australia” ahead of their Rugby Championship opener in Brisbane on Saturday afternoon.

De Villers, 43, explained on a recent episode of Boks Office that the Springboks “have everything to lose” when they take on the Wallabies. South Africa are widely considered the favourites but Australia has a history of success at Suncorp Stadium.

South Africa hasn’t beaten Australia at the world-famous sports venue in more than a decade, with the hosts winning the last four matches between the sides in Brisbane. The Aussies won 30-17 the last time these sides met in the River City three years ago.

@boks_office ‘I really want Australia to be strong’ #rugby #boksoffice ? original sound - Boks Office

But a lot has happened since that clash in 2021. South Africa were already the defending Rugby World Cup champions then but went back-to-back at the sport’s showpiece event in France last year. They’re world champions and there’s a sense of expectation that comes with that status.

As de Villiers said, the Springboks “are expected to win.” But the Wallabies aren’t feeling any extra pressure going into this highly anticipated clash as they look to extend their unbeaten run under coach Joe Schmidt to four Tests.

“Nah, not really. I think there’s always pressure going into a Test match,” Australia captain Allan Alaalatoa told reporters at Suncorp Stadium on Friday morning.

“We’ve always, as a group and with our coaching staff, have brought the focus back to ourselves – understanding the good things that we’ve displayed in the July series and the reasons why we won those games.

“Those are the things that we want to continue to build on.

“It’s probably the best arena to put that to work tomorrow against South Africa. I think there’s always pressure leading into Test matches but to relieve that, we’ve got to prepare really well and I think the boys have definitely done that this week.”

The Wallabies have a renewed sense of confidence about them ahead of The Rugby Championship fixture following a winning start to the Joe Schmidt era. Australia beat Wales twice and survived a scare against Georgie to go three from three in July.

But it’s no secret that their next challenge is a big step up. For a team that continues to rebuild in the wake of last year’s Rugby World Cup disaster, the Aussies now have a chance to test themselves against the world’s top-ranked side.

South Africans will obviously want to see the Springboks win this weekend, but away from this Test, pretty well everyone wants to see Australian rugby return to its former glory. Schalk Burger expressed that point during that episode of Boks Office.

“I don’t think I’ve ever said this or wished it but I want Australia to be stronger,” Burger insisted. De Villers shared a similar view but was quite clear that Schmidt won’t lead the team back to the top on the back of the organisation’s struggles.

There’s been some criticism of Schmidt since taking over this job, as there is with pretty well every other head coach in international rugby from time to time, but the Wallabies themselves are confident that ‘Joe’ is the right man for the job.

“Internally, the boys have so much respect for Joe (and) the experience that he has and the way that he carries himself around the group. The boys have really gotten around him,” Alaalatoa said.

“Especially the coaching staff as well, we all know the rugby IQ and the knowledge that our coaching staff has. Being part of that as players, we’re grateful to be a part of a group that has that knowledge on board so we can continue to learn.

“Especially guys who are leaders who have been around for a while, still learning, still growing. That’s exactly what you want.

“Internally, there’s a lot of belief in our coach and we don’t really listen to what other people have to say.”