The Springboks kept the ball for 17 phases within the first three minutes against the Wallabies at Newlands, and then another remarkable 28 in the lead-up to the drop goal from Patrick Lambie
And there were other multi-phase passages on attack in the 28-10 victory, and even though the Boks had to wait until the last 10 minutes to put the Wallabies away, they eventually got their reward for embracing a positive mindset compared to the aimless kicking that marred their two narrow defeats in Australia and New Zealand.
The Boks must be given credit for persevering with a ball-in-hand approach even when poor ball retention and passing resulted in a number of handling errors in the first half.
Eventually the Wallabies couldn’t defend anymore after making 252 tackles, according to the official Sanzar website, and the South Africans scored three tries in the last seven minutes.
“I thought we played some great rugby in the beginning, but their defence was awesome. We got frustrated at times and maybe kept too much on to the ball, and maybe we should’ve played a little more tactically. But it wore them down,” coach Heyneke Meyer said.
“I know we can score a lot of great tries once we keep ball in hand, and again, all credit to their defence, which was awesome. We didn’t get quick ball as they didn’t roll away (at the breakdowns), but because we kept on carrying the ball, the passes started to stick in the second half and we got some quick ball and luckily we could score some great tries.
“But that’s the way we want to play; we really want to score tries. It’s tough playing three games away from home in the wet conditions, so it’s always great coming back home. And now they’ve (Australia) flown, and in the last 20 minutes it really worked for us when we threw the ball around.
“I think we kept the ball for 15 or 16 phases at the end, and that’s the type of rugby we want to play.”
Meyer praised the contribution made by his bench, as replacement flyhalf Lambie atoned for his inexcusable penalty miss with a smartly-taken drop goal and then a sensational try when he danced past four defenders, while Bismarck du Plessis, Schalk Burger, Bakkies Botha and Cobus Reinach all added power and pace to the Bok effort in the last quarter.
But the starting players did well, especially hooker Adriaan Strauss. Meyer said last week Du Plessis is likely to start against the All Blacks, but Strauss certainly made a strong case to retain his No2 jersey. “Sometimes you get a lot of criticism for picking old guys, but I said I wanted to go with a little more of an experienced bench and they need to up the tempo. And I thought they were brilliant.
“Oupa (Mohoje) did well for a start, really did well. But Schalk was unbelievable as an impact player.
“Cobus Reinach, I’m really happy for him at the end, as the plan was to put him on a little bit earlier. But with Bryan (Habana) injured and Pat coming on, we were under a bit of pressure there.
“But it’s great to have these players, and we are going to take this into the World Cup. I think we have a lot of depth now, and it’s going to be really difficult to pick 31 going to the World Cup.
“And that’s what we want – guys to put up their hands. A lot of youngsters came through, and a lot of old guys came through. I think we are in a great position at the moment.”
Captain Jean de Villiers also criticised the implication that a few players of colour in the Bok team – much of it directed at blindside flank Teboho ‘Oupa’ Mohoje – had not been selected on merit but rather on their race.
“The way the guys just stuck together in the last 10 minutes and really showed the intent and showed how we can play – that to me was special,” De Villiers said.
“And it wasn’t a performance of just one or two guys putting their hands up – I think all 23 put their hands up. I thought a couple of guys really got insulted by the media this week, saying they were selected just on colour, and the display they put in showed that each guy was selected on merit, and hopefully that’s the last time we will ever read something like that.” - The Star