The Wallabies and Springboks will open the second block of games of the Rugby Championship on Saturday afternoon, with Adelaide hosting its first Test since 2004 and only the second in its history.
While the Wallabies defeated a combined Pacific Islands team in 2004, it is poor old Namibia who instead live longer in the memory after they were victims of an Australian onslaught one year earlier, as Chris Latham ran in four tries in a 142-0 thrashing in the pool stages of the World Cup.
Now, with another World Cup to be played in Australia, the South Australian government are keen to bring the tournament back to Adelaide and have thus fronted up the cash to host this weekend's Rugby Championship showdown.
The tournament itself is placed on knife's edge, with each of the Pumas, Springboks, Wallabies and All Blacks having once win apiece.
If Australia are serious about pushing for the title this year, Saturday's Test appears a must-win. But it will take a greatly improved showing from the one they dished up in San Juan a fortnight ago.
AERIAL RAID INCOMING
Reece Hodge will play his second Test of the year in the No. 15 jersey this weekend, meaning Australia have changed fullbacks five times in six matches. Tom Wright shifts back to the right wing to accommodate Hodge's recall to the starting side, while Jordie Petaia drops out of the 23 altogether.
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie on Thursday revealed Hodge's selection was as much about handling the Springboks kicking game as anything, with scrum-half Faf de Klerk a noted box-kicker and Handre Pollard also prone to more than just the odd up-and-under. The Springboks chase aggressively, too, meaning Australia face a huge challenge under the high ball on Saturday.
It was one they failed badly in San Juan, with Wright, Petaia and Marika Koroibete all culpable for mistakes that allowed the visitors to get a real roll on in the pursuit of victory.
"We've put a lot of time into it because it wasn't good enough last time out," Rennie said of the expected high-ball assault at the Adelaide Oval.
"So we know the importance of that, they've got a good kicking game and they'll back their D, we've got to make sure that we can win that air battle.
"We thought about starting Kells [Andrew Kellaway], obviously we rate him highly, but the fact he's been away with injury, the fact that we've got a 6-2 split [on the bench], we think it's better managing his minutes off the bench.
"Between Tom and Jordie, both excellent players, but like I said we think Tom's been in the best form in a Wallaby jersey, maybe not as clinical last time out, but we're going to back him to do the job. He's a very good communicator, with Hodgey at the back it gives us a big kicking game, which we reckon will be important this week."
Left out of the squad for the series against England, Hodge's stocks have risen - or at least returned to the levels which made him a high-quality utility option - but if he is to ever nail down a starting position this appears to be a wonderful opportunity to do so.
WE NEED MORE, THOR
One of the great sights from the Wallabies' win over the Boks in Brisbane last year was a surging Taniela Tupou dropping off a no-look pass to Koroibete for a vital five-pointer when the match was in the balance in the final quarter.
At his best, Tupou is among the premier tighthead props in the game, a dominant scrummager and defender, and a ball-carrier who can genuinely change the momentum of a match with one single run.
Tupou, however, hasn't really hit those heights in 2022, while his last outing in San Juan was arguably his worst in the Wallabies jersey to date.
With Allan Alaalatoa fit again Tupou has been moved to the bench, and the Wallabies will be looking for him to make an impact from there.
"We need more out of him, he's well aware of that, he was pretty disappointed with his effort in the second Test," Rennie said of Tupou.
"We know he's very good scrummager but we expect him to dominate with and without the ball as well, he was disappointing in those areas. So I guess the repercussions for that is that he comes off the bench."
With the Boks boasting one of the best benches in the game, their forward replacements dubbed the "Bomb Squad", the Wallabies will need Tupou to resemble the powerhouse prop of 2021, not the intermittent performer of this season.
BOKS HAVE STRUGGLED IN AUSTRALIA
South Africa are world champions, they have recent victories over- and in New Zealand, and they defeated the touring British & Irish Lions last season, but one area where they have struggled in recent times is in Australia.
In 2021, they dropped back-to-back Tests to the Wallabies on the Gold Coast and Brisbane, but their drought on Australian soil actually extends all the way back to 2013. They have had one draw since then, but have otherwise dropped six Tests to the Wallabies.
The games have not been blowouts by any stretch - it took a post-siren penalty from Quade Cooper for the Wallabies to win the first Test last year - but the Boks have been unable to close matches out in Australia.
Perhaps the Adelaide Oval will bring on better luck than Suncorp Stadium, where South Africa was right in the contest last year before a Koroibete double got the Wallabies home.
"I thought we struggled a bit more over here than we did in New Zealand back in the Super Rugby days as well, but I am not sure what the reason was for that," recalled Springboks veteran Frans Steyn said.
"Luckily, we have an opportunity to do something special here this weekend, and hopefully we can achieve that. It certainly would be a big achievement for the team, especially since it hasn't happened often."
LOLESIO CAN MAKE THE 10 JERSEY HIS OWN
Noah Lolesio has already ridden the highs and lows of Wallabies selection - and he is still only 22.
From copping a beating on debut against the All Blacks, to kicking the match-winner against France, being dumped from- and then recalled to- the spring tour squad, being thrown in at the deep end after Quade Cooper went down in the warm-up and then cast aside once more, Lolesio has packed plenty in a three-year Test career.
But following Cooper's season-ending injury, James O'Connor's struggles in San Juan and subsequent omission from the 35-man squad to face the Springboks, Lolesio has the opportunity to make the position his own for the rest of the year - and take a stranglehold on it for the World Cup.
Certainly Lolesio will need to play a different game than he did against England in Sydney, when he slipped too deep in attack and the Wallabies seemed preoccupied by spreading the ball to either wing as much as possible.
No, the young Brumbies 10 must play flatter up at the line and take it on himself, as he did in Perth, but that, too, is only possible if he is afforded a solid platform up front. Given the Springboks' rush defence, the cross-field kick or grubber in behind should also be deployed.
In short, Lolesio needs to show how his game has matured, at least as much as a 22-year-old can.
"Yeah he's trained well, he was disappointed with the third Test against England, he wasn't disastrous, but he certainly wasn't as good as he was Test one," Rennie said of Lolesio.
"So we said we've still got confidence in him; obviously with Quade now out of the picture, James got a crack last time, so Noah's got an opportunity now to try and cement that jersey."
WALLABIES' LATE ARRIVAL FRUSTRATES ONE AGAIN
A first rugby Test at the revamped Adelaide Oval should be quite the spectacle, but it certainly won't be a sell-out just as the season opener against England in Perth wasn't either.
The house-full sign is however likely to go up at Allianz Stadium next week, with punters eager to watch the Wallabies in Sydney's sparkling new venue.
But in non-traditional rugby cities, such as Adelaide and Perth, the point has been made about Australia's lack of engagement with the local community, specifically that the Wallabies haven't been flying in until the Thursday night as opposed to spending the entire week in the city where their next Test was to be played, just as the Springboks have done this week.
Remaining at their Gold Coast base clearly has some tangible benefits when it comes to the Wallabies' preparation, but their lack of visibility during match weeks does little to help market the team nor the game in general.
And it seems as though there is a change coming, with Rugby Australia boss Andy Marinos telling the Sydney Morning Herald that the "Camp Wallaby" Test week plan was under review.
"It was something that the management team felt was important in their preparations for the World Cup next year, replicating and simulating the environment they're going to be in over [in France], as well as giving the coaching team and the players that ability to get through a lot of work in a very short space of time," he said.
"I think it will have served a purpose in that time, but we are aware from a business perspective of the commercial and fan engagement value of having the team 'in market' all week. I've spoken to [team manager Chris Webb] and Dave around that, and we'll certainly be looking to improve that going forward."