The Springboks lost their Rugby Championship match by 24 points to 20 against the Wallabies in Brisbane.
Australia – Tries: Adam Ashley-Cooper, Michael Hooper and Tevita Kuridrani; Conversions: Quade Cooper 2 and Matt Giteau; Penalty: Quade Cooper
South Africa – Tries: Eben Etzebeth and Jesse Kriel; Conversions: Handre Pollard 2; Penalties: Handre Pollard 2
The Springboks started the game strongly and dominated the first half, but their second half display was far more defensively minded and they paid the price for this.
The first try was scored by Wallabies winger Adam Ashley-Cooper, who accepted a neat inside pass from Matt Giteau to power over next to the posts. The Springboks reply came after Handre Pollard hoisted an up and under into the Wallabies corner. Bryan Habana contested in the air and knocked the ball back to Willie le Roux, who gave a quick pass to Eben Etzebeth, who crashed over in the corner for his first Test try.
The Springboks second try came after some brilliant drawing and passing by both Willie le Roux and Bryan Habana. Debutant Jessie Kriel found himself in possession along the touchline with a lot of work to do. He used his power and strength to beat 3 defenders to score his first Test try.
The Wallabies response came with a touch of controversy. The Springboks had a defensive 5 meter scrum and Springbok 8th man Schalk Burger was caught in possession behind the tryline by Michael Hooper, forcing an attacking 5 meter scrum to the Wallabies. The video replays showed that Hooper was not bound at scrum time, which referee Nigel Owens should have penalized. After two reset scrums, Hooper powered over for a try.
The decisive moment in the game happened two minutes after the final hooter had been sounded. Tevita Kuridrani was awarded the match winning try, but popular opinion is divided if it was a legitimate try. Some insist it was a try, others question if the ball was ever grounded on or over the tryline, others suspect that there was a double movement. It was one of those decisions that you will love if it was given in your team’s favour and you will hate if it was given against your team.
Looking at the game in a South African context, we can observe the following:
1) Jessie Kriel at outside center is the real deal. His attacking abilities has added a lot to the Springboks and he has the pace to successfully defend the outside center channel.
2) Handre Pollard needs to start stronger. His slow starts, including his place kicking, could cost the Springboks in the long term and he needs to deliver an 80 minute performance.
3) For all his attacking prowess, Willie le Roux needs to work on his kicking game. Too often he kicked straight onto Israel Foleau and that is surely not an intentional ploy.
4) Heyneke Meyer substituted his front row too early. Bismark du Plessis had been phenomenal in the loose and Jannie du Plessis and Tendai Mtawarira were strong in the scrums, but they were pulled before the game was secured, exposing the inexperienced bench.
5) This is about as strong as the Wallabies will be. The Springboks still have the likes of Frans Steyn, Jean de Villiers, Jacques Fourie, Jan Serfontein, Fourie du Preez, Coenie Oosthuizen, Heinrich Brussow and possibly Pieter-Steph du Toit to throw into the fray.
After two games in The Rugby Championship, we have two home wins. The All Blacks won with a 4 try bonus point and a decent points difference. The Wallabies won without a four try bonus point and the Springboks took a losing bonus point. This truncated Rugby Championship could get quite interesting….
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