Brisbane – There is the scant solace for the Springboks that they learned plenty from their dramatic Rugby Championship defeat to the Wallabies yesterday in terms of World Cup preparations, but it was nevertheless an astonishing example of how NOT to close out a rugby match that had seemed comfortably won.
The Boks led 20-7 with just a quarter of the game remaining, but when the coaching staff emptied the bench early in the second half in the interests of game time for the untested players, the South African game lost structure, the set scrum disintegrated, and the Wallabies grew in confidence and eventually snatched the win with the final movement of the game.
The winning try was confirmed after an agonisingly long deliberation by the TMO after Fijian-born centre Tevita Kuridrani somehow (and allegedly) grounded a thread of the ball amid a clutch of green jerseys.
The try was fitting reward for courageous captain Stephen Moore, who, with just a minute left on the clock, opted to kick a penalty to the corner in a bid to go for the win, having a minute earlier seen a Matt Giteau penalty dip under the crossbar.
Had that kick gone over, the game would have ended in a 20-20 draw, but Moore then thought, “stuff it, let’s go for the try, our forwards are on top”.
They were indeed, but that had not been the case for most of the match, and their lethal backline was defused in the first half by the Springbok pack’s impressive dominance of the set-pieces allied to some skilful turnovers at the breakdown by the likes of Francois Louw and Bismarck du Plessis.
The Boks had also seemed increasingly leaderless in the second half, especially when the Wallabies were fiercely fighting back and throwing caution to the wind.
There is no question that they were hurt by the loss of Victor Matfield’s presence when he went off with a hamstring injury in the 16th minute
The Springboks had produced a potent blend of brutal forward physicality and high octane attack that blew away the Wallabies for most of the game and even though the Boks eventually lost, the high quality performance when the starting XV was in place was enough to send out an early warning that the Boks are going to be genuine contenders in England.
That might sound like an impetuous claim considering they lost, but let’s not forget that South Africa has only won four times in Australia in the professional era and each of their wins here since 1996 has required special performances.
And the Boks were playing special rugby, and had this not been a World Cup year, the coach would have kept the formation, the momentum would likely have stayed with the Boks and the victory probably secured.
The defeat will nevertheless hurt Springbok supporters but it has to be seen in perspective.
The two tries scored by the Boks, via the colossal Eben Etzebeth and the equally impressive debutant Jesse Kriel, were absolute gems and the general willingness of the Boks to use the ball rather than hoof it to the corners emphasised coach Heyneke’ Meyer’s admission earlier in the week that one-dimensional rugby will not win the World Cup.
Strangling teams into submission just will not work any more – and Meyer has promised the Boks will evolve with the game.
The old guard front row of the Du Plessis brothers, Bismarck and Jannie, and Tendai Mtawarira scrummed superbly, with tighthead Jannie and the Beast at loosehead clearly having had rockets put up their backsides by the coaching staff when the Boks got together three weeks ago.
But it is worrying that when they were swapped in the 50th minute or so for Adriaan Strauss, Heinke van der Merwe and Frans Malherbe, the Bok scrum switched to reverse gear.
The Boks had taken a 6-0 lead through two Handré Pollard penalties and when Wallabies wing Adam Ashley-Cooper scored on the half hour mark after a well executed, planned move off a line-out, it was against the run of play.
The Boks’ response was to produce a try of sheer magic.
A Pollard chip towards the Australian line was brilliantly read by Bryan Habana, who leapt above the defenders in the air and tapped the ball back to Willie le Roux, who slipped a deft pass to Eben Etzebeth, who stormed over for a wonderful try.
And the Boks’ second try, five minutes after the break, was just as good.
This time a fine build-up of play put centre Kriel into space and the outside centre showed great strength and pace to beat four defenders to the line.
The game seemed as good as won when Pollard extended the lead to 13 points with 20 minutes to go ... but the rudderless Boks fell apart and did not have the resources to close out the game.
AUSTRALIA (7) 24
Tries: Ashley-Cooper, Hooper, Kuridrani
Conversions: Cooper (2), Giteau
Penalty: Cooper
SOUTH AFRICA (13) 20
Tries: Etzebeth, Kriel
Conversions: Pollard (2)
Penalties: Pollard (2) – The Sunday Independent