Williams pinpoints set-piece battle as Wallabies plot Springbok upset in Perth

Wallabies lock Jeremy Williams has put the set-piece front and centre of Australia’s preparations for Sunday’s Test against the Springboks in Perth, warning his side must “nail their plan” to trouble the world’s top-ranked team.

Williams, one of the more experienced locks in Australia’s recent squad rotation alongside Josh Canham, Lachlan Shaw and Miles Amatosero, spoke to reporters this week about the specific challenges South Africa’s forward pack presents. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto has also been recalled to the squad under new head coach Les Kiss.

“We need to nail our plan, first of all. We’ve obviously got a plan going into the game,” Williams said. “Then double down on the things that we’re good at. That’ll be the plan going into it. At lineout time we want to put aerial pressure on and also focus on defending their mauls, and at scrum time as well, they’ve got a quick pack that engages quickly. We’ll do our processes to try and nullify that.”

The comments follow prop Taniela Tupou’s assessment earlier in the week that the Springboks set the standard for set-piece rugby — a view backed up by South Africa’s recent form. The Boks won three of four Tests against New Zealand in what Williams described as a “real physical series”, before travelling to Australia’s east coast ahead of the Perth fixture.

South Africa will field an experienced second row in Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert, with two-time Rugby World Cup winner Lood de Jager providing cover from the bench — a formidable combination that underlines the scale of the task facing the Wallabies.

Assistant coach Tom Donnelly acknowledged on Friday that internal competition for lock positions has sharpened Australia’s lineout and scrum into genuine strengths, offering Williams and his teammates a platform to compete.

The Wallabies have shown they can live with the Springboks in recent memory, staging a comeback victory at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg last August before losing a thriller the following weekend in Cape Town. However, South Africa’s overall dominance of the recent rivalry — including a 2-0 series sweep in Australia — and their status as two-time defending world champions make them heavy favourites heading into Sunday.

With the 2027 Rugby World Cup now just a year away, the stakes extend well beyond a single Test result.

“The Springboks are a really experienced team and been such a successful team,” Williams said. “It’s going to be awesome for us and our pack to go up against them. Every Test match is physical and we’re under no illusion that it’s going to be physical and upfront in the forwards.”