All Blacks great claims Wallabies could ‘tip’ the Springboks after Rassie Erasmus ‘mucked around’ with Italy ‘guinea pigs’

All Blacks centurion Mils Muliaina has predicted that the Wallabies will give the Springboks a run for their money after their performance in the second British and Irish Lions Test.

Australia came so close to levelling their series with the famous touring side, but narrowly succumbed 29-26 in Melbourne on Saturday.

They were excellent at the MCG, particularly in the first half, but ultimately came up just short after the Lions launched an impressive comeback.

Joe Schmidt’s men will be looking to end the campaign on a high before they head into the Rugby Championship where South Africa lie in wait.

Improving Wallabies

Muliaina was very impressed by what he saw from the Wallabies at the weekend and insists that they have the capabilities of upsetting the Boks away from home.

“This Rugby Championship is going to be awesome,” he said on The Breakdown.

“You’ve got Aussies going over to South Africa and the way they’re playing at the moment, if they bring that intensity over there, they could tip the Springboks.”

South Africa have prepared for the upcoming tournament with games against Italy and Georgia, where they looked to innovate.

In the second Test versus the Azzurri, Rassie Erasmus pushed the boundaries with his tactics, but Muliaina did not seem that impressed by what they did.

“The Springboks won’t [like that] but I like what’s coming out of Aussie. If you think about the two preparations, you can’t train intensity. The Springboks have mucked around and used other teams as guinea pigs,” he said.

You’ve got an Aussie team that’s come off the back end of a Lions series. If they win this one [in Sydney], I just think it leads really nicely into South Africa.”

Springboks the ‘benchmark’

Fellow All Blacks Rugby World Cup winner Stephen Donald joined Muliaina on the panel and claims that the Springboks remain the “benchmark”, but reckons it could be a hotly contested title race.

Donald is certainly wary of the threat Argentina and the Wallabies can bring if they are able to string together a series of excellent displays.

The Springboks are the benchmark for the world right now and the results say that, but there’s some genuine excitement when you go into this,” he said.

When you see what’s ahead, the easy Tests have gone now. You walk into this championship and if there’s consistency from Argentina and Australia, this is going to be one hell of a championship.”