By Lucky Vince Pienaar
➤ With 10 minutes to go, the Springboks know they have a much bigger challenge than last week. What was a great victory for the Boks last week, is pretty ordinary today.
Only an hour ago, Scott Robertson’s All Blacks raised the bar with a destructive victory (NZ 42-10 Arg) at Eden Park in Wellington. The battle lines are drawn. The Boks’ so-called ‘B’ team will have to play the game of their lives, not only to beat Australia today, but also to set the Boks up for their match against the All Blacks at Emirates Ellis Park in two weeks time.
Will the Boks go with the Tony Brown-method they applied last week? The light rain and softer ground seem to indicate otherwise.
➤ First half
As the whistle goes, the light rain has turned into mist and driving rain with early mishandling of the ball highlighting the slippery conditions.
The stupid penalty conceded by the Boks gives Australia an early lead. (Aus 3-0 SA 3min) The Boks’ discipline better not be a factor.
The action is mostly with the forwards, with the Wallabies manning up strongly as both teams struggle with the wet ball. So far, this is no easy match for the Boks.
Kolbe-magic leads to a try-scoring pass to Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu – which the flyhalf drops. Seven points go abegging.
Sacha gets a penalty and he shows why he’s now South Africa’s top flyhalf. (Aus 3-3 SA)
Then the breakthrough! Lukhanyo Am passes to Jesse Kriel. Makazole Mapimpi kicks ahead for Aphelele Fassi to score in the corner. (Aus 3-8 SA 17min)
Again South Africa concede a penalty. Again Noah Lolesio does the honours. (Aus-6-8 SA)
Nic White makes a nuisance of himself (as he does) but ref Paul Williams will have none of it: “Nic! Not today!” he says, “Not today!”
The Boks seem to be stepping up a gear as they control the possession and seem to gain territorial advantage.
Australia concede another easy penalty. (Aus 6-11 SA 19min)
An early tackle by Morne van den Berg sets up a penalty for Australia keeping the Wallabies well in the game. (Aus 9-11 SA 33min)
Another error gives Australia an easy penalty but Lolesio pulls it wide. (Aus 9-11 SA 40min)
The truth is, the Wallabies have managed the tough conditions better.
➤ Second half
Nic White doesn’t learn does he? He concedes 10m when he hangs on to the ball. It may well cost him a try.
It does! Marco van Staden scores a maul try. (Aus 9-18 SA 41min)
Lolesio scores another penalty that should not have been conceded. (Aus 12-18 SA 42min)
Ox Nche and Malcolm Marx come on, but the Wallabies force uncontested scrums by playing the rules and not bringing on a front row forward. How’s that for gamesmanship?!
But in the maul, it’s a different story. Nche, Marx and the tight forwards gain 30 metres, leaving the Wallabies scrambling to stop a try.
In spite of the rain, now worse than ever, the game has opened up a bit.
There’s no surprise when the Boks maul over the line for Malcolm Marx to score. Handré Pollard misses the conversion. (Aus 12-23 SA 62min)
While the ridiculous uncontested scrums continue, the Boks have to depend on their maul from the lineout. Again they wipe the Wallabies aside as Marx scores a second. (Aus 12-30 SA 73min)
Australia (0 tries) 12-30 (4 tries) South Africa
Springboks tries: Aphelele Fassi, Marco van Staden, Malcolm Marx (2)
Australia tries: None
Pictured above: Marco van Staden scores in tough conditions
Source: SA Rugby/X
