Adam Peacock: Australian Correspondent on the Rugby Championship clash between the Wallabies and Springboks

The Wallabies kick off their Rugby Championship in a daunting fashion. 

They’re facing the Springboks at Ellis Park, seeking their first win in Johannesburg since 1963. 

Our Australian Correspondent Adam Peacock joins Piney to describe the optimism levels (or lack thereof) ahead of the clash. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport Podcast with Jason Vine
from News Talk zed B.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Has been as we always do it around about this
time on Saturday afternoons our Australian correspondent Adam Peacock to
update us on sporting matters from across the ditch the
Rugby Championship. Adam begins tomorrow morning. Your Wallabies up against
the spring Box and what will no doubt be a
cauldron at Allis Park and Johannesburg. How optimistic or not

(00:32):
do you feel about this?

Speaker 3 (00:35):
Yeah? Not really given the given the venue in South
Africa are pretty you know, ready for it. We're just
had three brutal tests against the lines as well. Who knows,
like that old quote Iron sharpen Zion, that that could
be the determining factor in the Wallabies could really hit
there rhythm straight away or they could be found out
in Yeah, let's face it's a pretty challenging place to go,

(00:57):
giving the opponent, given the crowd and given the altitude
as well. So yeah, there's yeah, like we hope and
it's more about that with the Wallaby still under Joe
Schmith and like we're seeing signs and obviously that last
test and Sydney was brilliant. But this is a different
proposition altogether with this mob. And yeah, they're big pack,
and they're big pack on the bench and they're big

(01:19):
they dig sillers in the crowd willing them on. So yeah, intimidating,
but hope that they can they can serve up a
pretty pretty good performance.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
Now, I thought Nick White had retired, but here he
is number nine on his back and James O'Connor outside
of it. Tin it's bit of a throwback.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
Yeah, so James O'Connor out of necessity, it was like,
and he was in the line squad, so he was
he was a round about But yeah, you're right, Nick White.
I mean, we had a famous singer over here in
John Farnam. He kept on doing farewell to us. He
had about eight and I don't know, I don't think
Dave Nobyn did something similar over there or someone else.
But Nick White just decided two weeks after retiring from

(01:56):
the Wall of Is to play for the Wall of
His Again obviously not his choice, but yeah, I look,
experience will count in an environment like that, so cool head.
It's probably not the place to be plotting someone the
age of twenty two, so we'll see if it works.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yeah, good point. That's early as to tomorrow morning, and
Joe Berg let's go to the NRL Round twenty four,
already delivering the storm, beating the Panthers and Golden Point
to snap Penroth's nine game winning streak. The Rooster's running
over the top of the Bulldogs to move into the eight.
The Warriors squeaking back into the top four. Look, what
is the top four going to be? Do we even
know what the top eight's going to be?

Speaker 3 (02:29):
Yeah, that's the trick at the moment, there's a few
moving parts. The Roosters have come good against expectations, so
that's a bit of a wild card that's going to
upset what we thought was going to happen. Mainly but
the Warriors, I mean everyone presumed that they were going
to drop off, and they puffed it out last night
in Auckland, obviously helped by the fact that Dragons had
three players k including two taking each other out. But yeah,

(02:52):
I just looked at the Warrior's drawer and it's a
good one. So I think Andrew Webster last night wasn't
overly thrilled with the performance that was pretty happy to
squeak out one, but I think there's a bit of
improvement to come with the cattle that they've got left.
The Warriors, yeah, I can see them actually with the
draw that got and the fact that Penrith have to Yeah,
they've got two really tough games I think in the

(03:14):
next couple of weeks. So I think they've got the
Raiders and the Dogs. So yeah, that last fourth position
is going to be tight. I don't think the Broncos
have enough, especially now the top four talking about with
their helve OUTSI yeah, Penrith and Warriors for that top
four and then the top eight. I think the Roosters
go in now after last night that was fantastic against
the Dogs. So yeah, a lot happening in the next

(03:35):
couple of weeks in the lead up to the final and.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
To finish today. Some interesting comments from Cricket Australia chief
Todd Greenberg this week, warning the existing calendar off test
cricket could lead cricket boards to bankruptcy. He's calling for
fewer test matches. What do you make of those comments?

Speaker 3 (03:50):
Yes, it's probably a rational thought and it's taking the
emotion out of it is hard because it is cricket
and seen around for a very long time. But just
be honest, like, look at this calendar. This calendar is
going to look different in the next five years with
cricket because if you bring in a champion for two
twenty and the IPL start picking off franchises around the world,

(04:11):
or ipal owners start picking off franchises right around the world,
what they have with one hundred over in the UK,
it's going to happen to here as a big basher,
say the Indian investments coming as well. This is going
to be a franchise model where you might have five
toulaments through the years that those franchises play. So then
it's the calendar squeeze. And like talking to New Zealand
favorite Australian Brad haddn't about the fact that the West

(04:34):
Indies when he was over there, they just had no
appetise to test cricket. They're players because they they earned
two hundred grand. If they've got a contract playing test
cricket for the West Indies, someone like Nicholas Puran is
on about five million years. I mean, you don't have
to be a master of economics to realize that what
choice the player is going to make. So it's just

(04:55):
going to be exceedingly difficult for these nations to keep
playing Test cricket with their best players, and you don't
want them to play Test cricket without their best players.
So that's I think the balance that they're trying to strike,
and I'm kind of tight. Unfortunately, there's going to be
less Test cricket in the future played, which might crystallize
it a bit and make them more special those Test
cricket events. But yeah, there changing lands agape for sure.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
Yeah I think he said scarce to be better than
quantity or something along those lines. But yeah, we see,
We wait to see how it plays out. Always good
catching up, Adam, Thanks for your wrap of Australian sport.
Will do it again next Saturday.

Speaker 3 (05:25):
Cheers, Fine, have a good one.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
You have a good one too, mate, Adam Peacock Out
of Australia this time or thereabouts every Saturday afternoon.

Speaker 1 (05:32):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to News Talk zed B weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.