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Greg Growden - RugbyHeaven
Pretoria - The Wallabies have tried every method to end their losing ways, but captain Rocky Elsom opted to jolt his team-mates with a no-holds-barred dressing-room speech after their implosion against the Springboks at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Elsom and coach Robbie Deans had every right to talk tough after the Wallabies drifted out of the Test, wasting leads of 21-7 and 28-17 to hand the Springboks their first Tri-Nations victory of the year.
After a madcap start, which comprised five tries in the first 14 minutes, including three from the tourists, the Wallabies were unable to take advantage of their early superiority and were outscored 37 points to 10 in the final hour of play.
The Wallabies deflated appreciably, especially at the lineouts, restarts and breakdown, where they often lost possession. They were in a similar state after the game, realising they had let slip the best chance in years to become the first Australian team to win on the highveld since 1963.
When the players returned to the rooms, Deans addressed the team. Elsom followed and promptly told the players their performance was ''simply not good enough'', considering they had been preparing for this Test match for several weeks.
In a blunt address, Elsom said it was time for the Wallabies to toughen up and be hard on themselves. The drop in standards was unacceptable. As one team official explained: ''They certainly know they butchered that Test.''
What most irritated the Wallabies was how they wasted such a tremendous start. After winger Drew Mitchell had a try disallowed in the second minute, halfback Will Genia took advantage of good field position to score shortly after when he pierced the defences of Victor Matfield and Jean de Villiers.
In the fifth minute, fullback Kurtley Beale made an exhilarating 60-metre run that placed Genia in the right spot to put winger James O'Connor away for Australia's second try. This was followed by the Wallabies' first serious lapse, when their midfield defence disintegrated, enabling Springbok flanker Juan Smith to run through the biggest hole imaginable.
From the kick-off, the Wallabies hit back when Springbok winger Bryan Habana dropped the ball. He was still wondering where it was when O'Connor scooped it up and shot off for his second try. At 21-7, the Wallabies were in the box seat.
That did not last, though, because their lineout defence wasn't sturdy enough to stop prop Gurthro Steenkamp running through the middle and easily finding the line.
The Wallabies kept attacking, attempting wide expansive moves, but gradually were worn down by a more pugnacious opposition, who repeatedly bustled their way into good attacking positions. The Wallabies began to waste lineout chances, with Matfield, on the occasion of his 100th Test, repeatedly stealing their throws.
Beale suddenly looked vulnerable under the high ball, Genia was successfully stalled by his opposing halfback Francois Hougaard, and they started fumbling the restarts and dropping the ball in open play. By the 50th minute, the Wallabies had surrendered the lead and then floundered for the rest of the game, as tries by Pierre Spies, Francois Steyn and JP Pietersen had the Springboks accelerating well past them.
Deans said the Wallabies' inability to remain composed under pressure had derailed them once again.
''We couldn't hold onto the ball, so we didn't spend enough time in possession,'' he said. ''We turned over more ball than South Africa and, critically, at the end when we had built some pressure, our set-piece came up short. Our finishing also wasn't as effective. We know it was a game we could have won, which is immensely frustrating.''
Genia did not hold back, explaining that a vast improvement, especially at lineout time, would be required if they wanted to stop the rot in the return bout at Bloemfontein next Saturday night.
''We made very bad errors at crucial times in our set-piece,'' Genia said. ''That let us down. We had four lineouts 10 metres from their line and mistakes came back to haunt us. Victor Matfield was very good at reading our ball and, at the end of the day, we weren't good enough to win our own ball.
''Not to win after our good start is very frustrating and very disappointing. Sadly, we dropped off pretty much at the start of the second half. We just weren't good enough at the lineouts and regathering at the restarts. As irritating was in the first half was that as soon as we scored points, they scored straight away.'' Judging from Elsom and Genia's sentiments, it will be a grim week on the training paddock.
Pretoria - The Wallabies have tried every method to end their losing ways, but captain Rocky Elsom opted to jolt his team-mates with a no-holds-barred dressing-room speech after their implosion against the Springboks at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Elsom and coach Robbie Deans had every right to talk tough after the Wallabies drifted out of the Test, wasting leads of 21-7 and 28-17 to hand the Springboks their first Tri-Nations victory of the year.
After a madcap start, which comprised five tries in the first 14 minutes, including three from the tourists, the Wallabies were unable to take advantage of their early superiority and were outscored 37 points to 10 in the final hour of play.
The Wallabies deflated appreciably, especially at the lineouts, restarts and breakdown, where they often lost possession. They were in a similar state after the game, realising they had let slip the best chance in years to become the first Australian team to win on the highveld since 1963.
When the players returned to the rooms, Deans addressed the team. Elsom followed and promptly told the players their performance was ''simply not good enough'', considering they had been preparing for this Test match for several weeks.
In a blunt address, Elsom said it was time for the Wallabies to toughen up and be hard on themselves. The drop in standards was unacceptable. As one team official explained: ''They certainly know they butchered that Test.''
What most irritated the Wallabies was how they wasted such a tremendous start. After winger Drew Mitchell had a try disallowed in the second minute, halfback Will Genia took advantage of good field position to score shortly after when he pierced the defences of Victor Matfield and Jean de Villiers.
In the fifth minute, fullback Kurtley Beale made an exhilarating 60-metre run that placed Genia in the right spot to put winger James O'Connor away for Australia's second try. This was followed by the Wallabies' first serious lapse, when their midfield defence disintegrated, enabling Springbok flanker Juan Smith to run through the biggest hole imaginable.
From the kick-off, the Wallabies hit back when Springbok winger Bryan Habana dropped the ball. He was still wondering where it was when O'Connor scooped it up and shot off for his second try. At 21-7, the Wallabies were in the box seat.
That did not last, though, because their lineout defence wasn't sturdy enough to stop prop Gurthro Steenkamp running through the middle and easily finding the line.
The Wallabies kept attacking, attempting wide expansive moves, but gradually were worn down by a more pugnacious opposition, who repeatedly bustled their way into good attacking positions. The Wallabies began to waste lineout chances, with Matfield, on the occasion of his 100th Test, repeatedly stealing their throws.
Beale suddenly looked vulnerable under the high ball, Genia was successfully stalled by his opposing halfback Francois Hougaard, and they started fumbling the restarts and dropping the ball in open play. By the 50th minute, the Wallabies had surrendered the lead and then floundered for the rest of the game, as tries by Pierre Spies, Francois Steyn and JP Pietersen had the Springboks accelerating well past them.
Deans said the Wallabies' inability to remain composed under pressure had derailed them once again.
''We couldn't hold onto the ball, so we didn't spend enough time in possession,'' he said. ''We turned over more ball than South Africa and, critically, at the end when we had built some pressure, our set-piece came up short. Our finishing also wasn't as effective. We know it was a game we could have won, which is immensely frustrating.''
Genia did not hold back, explaining that a vast improvement, especially at lineout time, would be required if they wanted to stop the rot in the return bout at Bloemfontein next Saturday night.
''We made very bad errors at crucial times in our set-piece,'' Genia said. ''That let us down. We had four lineouts 10 metres from their line and mistakes came back to haunt us. Victor Matfield was very good at reading our ball and, at the end of the day, we weren't good enough to win our own ball.
''Not to win after our good start is very frustrating and very disappointing. Sadly, we dropped off pretty much at the start of the second half. We just weren't good enough at the lineouts and regathering at the restarts. As irritating was in the first half was that as soon as we scored points, they scored straight away.'' Judging from Elsom and Genia's sentiments, it will be a grim week on the training paddock.
