Watching the Springboks at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday was like taking in a B-grade movie from the 1980s, but Allister Coetzee won’t worry about that after a 18-10 win over Australia ended a three-match losing streak.
Don’t let the final result fool you, though. These were two desperate teams at their lowest points in years – a busy Bok team lacking the accuracy, vision and skill to put any decent international team under pressure, while the Wallabies’ inherent fear of high altitude conditions reduced them to an error-strewn outfit hardly able to string any meaningful phases together.
Morné Steyn booted the Boks to victory with four penalties and two drop goals, and that is all the matters to Coetzee and his team at this stage after three consecutive defeats to Argentina, Australia and New Zealand.
The win was built on typical South African blood and guts, with the Boks more willing to engage in a physical slug-fest than the Australians. The likes of Francois Louw, captain Adriaan Strauss, Tendai Mtawarira and Oupa Mohoje got stuck into the Wallaby pack, and their honest endeavour were matched by Francois Hougaard, Bryan Habana and Juan de Jongh at the back.
But while there were even a few surprising passages of ball-in-hand rugby by Coetzee’s team, they never looked like scoring a try as they fluffed their lines inside the Wallaby 22, often coughing up possession when they just needed to take it through another phase.
They also adopted safety-first tactics, with Steyn and fullback Pat Lambie just kicking the ball aimlessly downfield into Israel Folau’s hands instead of driving Australia into the corners or creating contestable kicks.
The Australians were generally off the mark as well, but still looked dangerous when they got going, with fullback Folau and wings Dane Heylett-Petty and Reece Hodge a handful on attack.
And it was from a Habana punt downfield where Folau ran it back as the Boks had a fractured chase-line, Quade Cooper added some magic to get into the 22, and the forwards rolled up their sleeves to make the hard yards.
The Bok pack defended too closely to the ruck, and quick hands from Sekope Kepu put fellow prop Scott Sio over under the posts in the 14th minute.
It was a hard road back for the Boks from that point onwards, and they weren’t helped by some strange calls from English referee Wayne Barnes.
But the forwards won the breakdown battle and dominated at the scrums, and Steyn was able to knock over three penalties and a drop goal to give South Africa a 12-10 halftime lead, while Folau also conceded a yellow card for a late tackle on Habana.
Hodge then missed two long-range penalties after the break, and the match meandered into a knock-fest as both teams struggled to hold on to the ball.
Injuries also hampered the Boks as they lost Jesse Kriel (hamstring), Habana to a knee injury, Du Toit (hip) and Rudy Paige (knock to head), which eventually saw Jaco Kriel playing at outside centre, Francois Hougaard at scrumhalf, and Lionel Mapoe and Willie le Roux at wing.
The Aussies, though, just couldn’t piece together any coherent moves, with Cooper the main culprit as he was on a different page to his teammates.
The Boks’ scrambling on defence showed that they were hungrier to win than the Aussies – who relieved some of the pressure on their coach Michael Cheika by winning their last two Tests – and it saw Hougaard winning a breakdown penalty to set up another Steyn three-pointer, while the veteran pivot also slotted a late second drop goal.
But there are still a number of selection issues for Coetzee to ponder, with Steyn not looking like the answer at No 10 despite his goal-kicking performance and Lambie not adding much at fullback, while the team were found wanting with regards to ball retention and creativity on attack.
Coetzee will be a relieved man, though, and at least the South Africans are back on the winning trail.
POINTS-SCORERS
Springboks – Penalties: Morné Steyn (4). Drop Goals: Steyn (2).
Wallabies – Try: Scott Sio. Conversion: Bernard Foley (1). Penalty: Foley (1).