Sloppy Boks scrape past plucky Wallabies 

MATCH REPORT: The Springboks bounced back from their 22-38 defeat at Ellis Park to defeat the Wallabies by 30-22 at the Cape Town Stadium in the Rugby Championship on Saturday.

The match was an arm-wrestle, which came down to tactical execution and good decision-making.

The Wallabies bossed the territory during the first half (57 percent), and possession was fairly even with the Boks having 51 percent to the visitors’ 49 in the opening stanza, but the territory numbers evened out after 80 minutes.

There would still be a lot of questions the Boks’ brain trust would have, but they got the job done to retain the Nelson Mandela Challenge Plate.

Three penalties by Handre Pollard proved to be the difference to keep the scoreboard ticking when the chips were down.

*To recap all the action, CLICK HERE!

An early penalty to the Boks for holding on got the hosts on the board in the second minute of the match through the boot of Handré Pollard.

The Wallabies were dealt an early blow when Tom Wright went down injured in the fourth minute of the match.

The Boks won a scrum penalty moments later and Pollard stepped up to double his side’s lead in the fifth minute.

The Wallabies rocked back almost immediately after a free kick conceded by the Boks, and Nic White tapped the ball quickly and kicked it forward for debutant Corey Toole to score in the eighth minute, which James O’Connor converted to take the lead.

Two minutes later, a solid chase by Kwagga Smith pinned the Wallabies in their 22 metre area, off which the turnover was won by RG Snyman, followed by a crossfield kick to Canan Moodie, who went over for the Boks’ first try of the afternoon, which Pollard converted.

It almost became a see-saw battle when the Wallabies appeared to have scored after some great counter-attacking play, but a knock-on in the build-up saved the day for the Boks.

The Wallabies won a penalty at the breakdown with Marco van Staden being the guilty party and opted to go for the line-out inside the Boks’ red zone, but didn’t get the reward due to some solid defending by the hosts.

A penalty conceded by Kwagga Smith at the breakdown saw Australia opting for the kick to the corner.

The decision backfired as Thomas du Toit stole the ball at the following breakdown, which Cheslin Kolbe cleared to touch inside the Wallabies’ half.

A counterattack by Kolbe, followed by a kick ahead, forced Taniela Tupou to kick the ball out on the full just outside his 22 metre area.

The Boks attacked strongly with Ox Nche making a solid carry to get the Boks going forward before Smith powered over the line under the posts in the 35th minute, which Pollard converted.

A penalty conceded by Smith at the breakdown saw the Wallabies opting for the shot at goal, which James O’Connor slotted on the stroke of half-time to bring the visitors back within 10 points.

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The second half started with replacement flyhalf Tane Edmed kicking the restart out on the full, which gifted the Boks a midfield scrum.

Aphelele Fassi kicked a grubber into the Wallabies’ 22-metre area off that scrum after the Boks went wide.

The Wallabies won the line-out before Nche won the turnover, but a penalty conceded for obstruction got the visitors out of jail.

The visitors rocked back off an attacking scrum as O’Connor kicked into the space behind the Boks’ defensive line, which Moodie couldn’t gather.

Max Jorgensen gathered the ball and dotted down in the 46th minute, which O’Connor converted.

There was a sense of deja vu when the Boks got into the Wallabies’ 22 metre area in the 50th minute, which was made undone by a knock-on.

The Boks won an offside penalty against Len Iketau in the middle of the field, which Pollard slotted to stretch the Boks’ lead to six points in the 57th minute.

The Wallabies won a penalty against Eben Etzebeth in the 66th minute and opted to roll the dice by kicking to the corner.

The decision paid off when they went over the line through a rolling maul, which Brandon Paenga-Amosa dotted down. O’Connor missed a sitter of a conversion to get the Wallabies ahead.

A knock on by Andrew Kellaway inside his 22 metre area gave the Boks an attacking scrum in the 72nd minute of the match.

The Boks won a penalty advantage at the scrum, but it wasn’t needed as the forwards bashed it up to the line after the backs got them the go-forward momentum and Eben Etzebeth dotted down in the 74th minute.

Pollard added the extras to give the hosts an eight-point cushion with five minutes to play.

The Wallabies tried to fight back immediately, but Cheslin Kolbe got his hands dirty and won a breakdown penalty to get his side out of trouble, but the decision was quickly overturned for a high tackle against Sacha-Feinberg Mngomezulu.

The Wallabies opted for the shot at goal, which O’Connor missed to the right.

A deliberate knock-on by Aphelele Fassi saw him yellow-carded in the 79th minute.

O’Connor stepped up and missed his third kick in a row with seconds to spare.

A knock-on by the Wallabies gave the Boks a scrum on the stroke of half-time, but moments later it was deemed that the Wallabies were guilty of a neck roll.

The Boks opted for the line-out and attacked wide, but Lood De Jager’s pass to Jesse Kriel went into touch, which signalled the end of the contest.

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Player of the match: Cheslin Kolbe didn’t get onto the scoresheet, but his work off the ball chasing kicks and winning most of his aerial contest as and being in the opposition’s face earns him this reward.

Villian of the match: Aphelele Fassi’s deliberate knock-on late in the match possibly could’ve led to a late comeback by the Wallabies, despite a decent outing for the rest of the contest.

Scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries: Moodie, Smith, Etzebeth
Cons: Pollard 3
Pens: Pollard 3

For Australia:
Tries: Toole, Jorgenson, Paenga-Amosa
Cons: O’Connor 2
Pen: O’Connor

Yellow card: Aphelele Fassi (South Africa, 78′ – cynical foul: deliberate knock-on)

Teams:

South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 RG Snyman,3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Lood de Jager, 21 Andre Esterhuizen, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu

Australia: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Joseph-Akuso Suaalii, 12 Len Iketau, 11 Corey Toole, 10 James O’Connor, 9 Nic White, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Tom Hooper, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Billy Pollard, 1 Tom Robertson
Replacements: 16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Nick Champion de Crespigny, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tane Edmed, 23 Andrew Kellaway

Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO: Richard Kelly (New Zealand)

Image credit: @GettyImages