Rugby Championship
Springboks outclass Wallabies
2012-09-29 18:51
Pretoria - South Africa changed the emphasis
from kicking to running with the ball and scored five tries to crush
Australia 31-8 at Loftus Versfeld Saturday in the Rugby Championship.
Veteran
right wing Bryan Habana ran in three and there was one each for
fullback Zane Kirchner and flank Francois Louw as the Springboks ended a
run of five losses against the Wallabies after leading 14-3 at the
break.
The bonus-point triumph before a near-capacity crowd at the
50 000-seat Loftus Versfeld stadium lifted South Africa to 12 points,
four behind New Zealand and four ahead of Australia in the southern
hemisphere competition.
Scrum-half Ruan Pienaar, who took over the
placing kicking duties after new flyhalf Johan Goosen missed two early
shots at goal, completed the scoring with three conversions.
Poor
place kicking was the one disappointment as the Springboks got back on
the winning trail after a three-match winless run as Pienaar failed with
four penalty attempts.
Australia have been plagued by injuries
throughout the Championship and it only got worse at Loftus with
numerous casualties, including centre Adam Ashley-Cooper, who was taken
to hospital with concussion before the break.
The visitors had to
play the last eight minutes a man short after making all seven
replacements and were also reduced to 14 men early in the second half
when replacement prop James Slipper was sin binned.
Kurtley Beale,
making his first start at flyhalf for the Wallabies, kicked a first
half penalty and replacement back Mike Harris went over in the corner
for a try after the Springboks had built a 23-point advantage.
But
razor-sharp Habana had the final say, rounding off another good
handling movement in the final minute to raise his career total to 46
tries against demoralised opponents.
Teams:South Africa:
15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jean de Villiers (captain), 12
Francois Steyn/Jaco Taute, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Ruan
Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5
Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss,
1 Beast Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Coenie
Oosthuizen, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Marcell Coetzee, 20 Elton
Jantjies, 21 Jaco Taute/Juan de Jongh, 22 Patrick Lambie
Australia:
15
Berrick Barnes, 14 Dominic Shipperley, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Pat
McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Radike Samo, 7
Michael Hooper, 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Nathan Sharpe (captain), 4 Kane
Douglas, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Benn Robinson
Substitutes:
16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 James Slipper, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Scott
Higginbotham, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Brett Sheehan, 22 Anthony Fainga'a