Gutsy Aussies edge hapless Boks
Australia kept their Tri-Nations hopes alive when they came from behind to edge South Africa 14-9 in a tense Test in a wet and windy Durban on Saturday.
Judge us by Saturday, the man said. However you look at it, whatever positives you hope to suck up from somewhere, the fact is that this was a resounding failure for his Springboks, doing serious damage to Springbok morale and another boost for the young, clever, energetic Wallabies. Judge this and you damn the Springboks. Judge this and you laud the Wallabies.
The Wallabies started well, controlled the damage in troubled times, started the second half to great effect and then controlled the game to keep damage far away. They deserved this win. They scored the only try but more than that they were cleverer and more composed when it counted. There is an irony in that because you would have expected the most experienced Springbok team of all time to be composed. You would have expected the young, much less experienced Wallabies to become skittish and error-prone. They had far more strings to their bow than the Springboks. They kicked better and scrummed much better and contested the tackle much, much better. and they fought to the finish.
The Springboks went in for an orgy of substitution early in the second half till they had emptied their bench. The Wallabies played on. The substitute-bedevilled Springboks lost shape. The Wallabies murdered them in three scrums that earned them three points when the score was 11-9 and left the Springboks trying to score tries when they could have been in positions to win with one kick.
People thought the rain would help the Springboks. It came in the last 20 minutes or so and gave them no help at all. And yet it is a game they could have won if they had scored the points on offer when they had their first team playing.
They scored first when Rocky Elsom was penalised for a dangerous tackle of the tip kind and François Steyn, a scrumcap containing his unruly hair, goaled from 45 metres despite the awkward wind. 3-0 after 3 minutes.
(There was another dangerous tackle of the tip kind by Pat McCabe on Jaque Fourie that went undetected. It would be interesting to see if the SANZAR judiciary trouble themselves about these. Elsom’s was on Bakkies Botha. If the dramatis personae had changed roles…..)
The penalty count favoured the Springboks in this half – 7-2, 12-6 over all.
The Springboks were playing with zest, Pierre Spies doing things you had always dreamt he could do. And the Springboks were on top, ending the half leading 6-0 when it should have been many times that.
At 3-0, they eschewed a chance at goal for a line-out but Danie Rossouw knocked on. They did the same thing towards the end of the game when they needed a try to draw but again Rossouw knocked on, though by then he may have been playing injured when there were no replacements left available.
The Springboks were scrumming well before they moved Smit to prop in the second half and they scrummed well after Smit took early retirement. In this first half Sekope Kepu was penalised at a scrum and Butch James kicked the easy kick. 6-0 after 16 minutes.
After Spies had charged powerfully from a scrum, Stephen Moore was penalised and James again had an easy kick. The ball fell off the tee, James got Heinrich Brüssow to steady it and missed. Was the iceman flustered? In this half James also missed a drop attempt from slap in front.
In this half Fourie du Preez kicked little but brilliantly twice. The second time he lobbed a kick down to the right. Quade Cooper ran around in circles, and he and Jaque Fourie contested the ball bouncing high. Fourie touched it down but the TMO ruled that he had knocked on.
The Springboks’ raced in attack down the left with Bryan Habana and Tendai Mtawarira prominent but Mtawarira was tackled close to the line. Something similar happened in the second half, also down the left and this time Mtawarira refused to pass to Jean de Villiers and was tackled. That ended when Jean Deysel knocked on a few metres from the line.
Right on the stroke of half-time the Wallabies had a great attack. Digby Ioane was close and Kurtley Beale closer but they were just too late to keep the guillotine of half-time from falling.
Then came the Wallabies’ purple patch – eight lucrative minutes.
From the kick-off De Villiers knocked on. At the subsequent scrum Mtawarira was penalised and it was easy for James O’Connor to score. 6-3 after 43 minutes.
Adam Ashley-Cooper ran brilliantly down the left in counterattack and the Wallabies went through many phases till McCabe had an easy run-in on the right for a try. 8-6 after 48 minutes.
This was the signal to the Springboks brains trust to flood the pitch with substitutes and now the confident, experienced team looked in tatters. The drizzle started.
Spies had another burst and Elsom was penalised at the tackle. James put the Springboks back in the lead at 9-8 after 57 minutes.
Then Mtawarira had his second charge and it seemed that the second half would follow the pattern of the first but it was not to be.
The Springboks tried to pass to the left but Anthony Faingaa raced forward and flattened JP Pietersen, and Wallabies piled into the tackle. Pietersen was penalised and O’Connor made it 11-9 with 14 minutes to play.
The Springboks had a scrum but the Wallabies wheeled and destroyed. That gave them a scrum and they shoved the experienced Springboks metres back. Gurthrö Steenkamp collapsed and O’Connor made it 14-9 with 7 minutes left.
In that time the Springboks had two penalties and tried to make line-outs profitable but Rossouw knocked on and the Wallabies had won.
Man of the Match: The Springboks’ best candidate was Pierre Spies which must have brought joy to South African hearts. Fourie du Preez showed again what a difference a scrumhalf makes and for his short time on the field Bismarck du Plessis showed world class. For the Wallabies there were great performances from Kurtley Beale, Will Genia, Stephen Moore and our choice Nathan Sharpe for his performance in the line-outs and the scrums and the tackles and in carrying the ball.
Moment of the Match: The sight of Rocky Elsom galloping over the meadow in the first half.
Villain of the match: The nearest we have to villainy were those tackles by Rocky Elsom and Pat McCabe.
The scorers:
For South Africa:
Pens: F Steyn, James 2
For Australia:
Try: McCabe
Pens: O’Connor 3
The teams:
South Africa: 15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 18 Gerhard Mostert, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 François Hougaard, 21 Morné Steyn, 22 Gio Aplon.
Australia: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O’Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Scott Higginbotham, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (captain), 5 James Horwill, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Sekope Kepu.
Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga’a, 17 Salesi Ma’afu, 18 Sitaleki Timani, 19 Ben McCalman, 20 Radike Samo, 21 Luke Burgess, 22 Anthony Fainga’a.
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
