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Sydney - Australia bounced back from last week’s embarrassment against Samoa with a strong showing that inflicted a 39-20 defeat on the Springboks in the opening game of the Tri-Nations at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney on Saturday.
GALLERY: Wallabies v Springboks
If the Wallaby team that scored five tries to two looked like a different team from the one that lost last week that was because it was. Key players, particularly those from the new Super Rugby franchise, the Reds, were welcomed back into the host unit – and all of them showed just how important they are to the Wallaby hopes at the forthcoming World Cup in New Zealand.
And no-one is more crucial to the Australian challenge for the William Webb Ellis trophy than flyhalf Quade Cooper. Playing outside the inform genius from the Super Rugby final two weeks ago, Will Genia, Cooper was the man who buried the South African hopes with two moments of magic within two minutes of each other in the first half.
Although Flip van der Merwe was penalised almost from the kick-off, the Boks had started off comfortably enough, with Danie Rossouw and skipper John Smit taking turns to put in some strong carries and they enjoyed early field position. However Cooper is a player that needs to be watched like a hawk and is dangerous from anywhere on the field.
It was the Reds pivot’s wrong-footing of the Bok defence deep inside his own 22 that set up an 80 metre try in which Bok defensive frailties were horribly exposed. The sweep upfield set up a recycle just metres from the Bok line, and with the South African defence in disarray as they retreated, it was Wallaby captain Rocky Elsom whose pass through the tackle sent prop Benn Alexander in for the try at the corner.
James O’Connor converted to make it 7-0 and then in a flash it was 12-0 as Cooper sent Genia away after the Wallabies fielded the kick-off and Digby Ioane scored in the same corner that Alexander had scored just minutes earlier.
The Wallabies learned from their deficiencies of the previous week and it was obvious from the opening minutes that they were determined to put a big effort into winning the collisions, and some of their tackling was ferocious. The Boks by contrast missed way too many tackles and effectively this was where they lost the game.
To their credit the Boks fought back from the two minutes of madness that saw them trail by 12 points after as many minutes, and considering that this was an under-strength Bok team, it was not all bad for the Boks as some of the young players tried to find their feet.
The key for the Boks was to carry the ball and hold onto the ball, thus forcing the Wallabies into making mistakes, and to some extent they achieved this in the middle stages of the half, although there were times they were almost too conservative in carrying the ball through narrow channels.
That changed though after Morne Steyn kicked his first penalty from the angle after 29 minutes, and the remaining 10 minutes of the first half did show signs of Bok creativity, with both wings, Lwazi Mvovo and Bjorn Basson, plus fullback Gio Aplon, looking dangerous when presented with opportunities – though most of those were what you would call half chances.
Although O’Connor did add another three points as a Bok scrum infringement was punished by referee Chris Pollock, the Boks finished the half strongly and would have felt confident at the break that they could fight their way back as it was really only the two minutes of defensive lapses that led to the two tries that separated the sides at half-time. A Steyn penalty, from an identical position from his earlier attempt, made it 15-6 at the break.
The Bok chances of launching an effective fightback depended however on them being the first to score after half-time. It didn’t happen, and on the contrary it was the Wallabies who took the game by the scruff in the first quarter hour of the second half to effectively wrap up the match.
The Wallabies started the second half displaying typical Australian patience in controlling the ball and retaining possession, and a long build-up eventually resulted in that man Cooper producing another moment of inspired brilliance as he rounded Wynand Olivier near the Bok line. He threw out a poor pass to James O’Connor, but the Wallaby wing had enough time to gather on the bounce and dot down.
The Bok first time tackling was woeful, and was responsible for conceding the next try, with Wallaby hooker Stephen Moore surging through to score under the posts to clinch the four try bonus point in the 48th minute. O’Connor converted to make it 29-6, then came an O’Connor penalty to push the Australian score into the 30s.
Adam Ashley-Cooper was the next to score, with Steyn’s rank amateurish tackling again going on display in the process, and it was no surprise when the flyhalf was replaced by Patrick Lambie a few minutes later. Lambie introduced some zip to the attack and also put in some good tackles so don’t be surprised if this Tri-Nations tour is the last time we see Steyn in the green and gold in this World Cup year.
The Boks finished strongly and scored two forward tries, one to the impressive Chiliboy Ralepelle, and the other to the skipper, who moved to prop in the last quarter. Smit did get through 80 minutes and was more prominent as a ball carrier than he has been and this was one of the few positives to come out of the match from a South African viewpoint.
Not that there should be any need for panic – while the lack of creativity on attack remains problematic, as it was last year, this was a second string Bok team and expected monsoon, that would have played into Bok hands and given them a chance, never materialised. The first choice players will join the fray during the home leg and that is when we should also start seeing the impact that Rassie Erasmus will make as technical adviser.
In the meantime though coach Peter de Villiers and his assistants have their work cut-out shoring up that leaking defence. If they don’t, the All Blacks could win by a landslide in Wellington next week.
Scorers:
Australia:
Tries: Ben Alexander, Digby Ioane, James O'Connor, Stephen Moore, Adam Ashley Cooper
Penalties: O'Connor (2)
Conversions: O'Connor (4)
South Africa:
Tries: Chiliboy Ralepelle, John Smit
Penalties: Morne Steyn (2)
Conversions: Patrick Lambie (2)
Teams:
Australia:
15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O’Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (captain), 5 James Horwill, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Sekope Kepu
Substitutes: 16 Saia Faingaa, 17 Pekahou Cowan, 18 Nathan Sharpe, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Scott Higginbotham, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Anthony Faingaa
South Africa:
15 Gio Aplon, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Ryan Kankowski, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Adi Jacobs, 22 Pat Lambie
GALLERY: Wallabies v Springboks
If the Wallaby team that scored five tries to two looked like a different team from the one that lost last week that was because it was. Key players, particularly those from the new Super Rugby franchise, the Reds, were welcomed back into the host unit – and all of them showed just how important they are to the Wallaby hopes at the forthcoming World Cup in New Zealand.
And no-one is more crucial to the Australian challenge for the William Webb Ellis trophy than flyhalf Quade Cooper. Playing outside the inform genius from the Super Rugby final two weeks ago, Will Genia, Cooper was the man who buried the South African hopes with two moments of magic within two minutes of each other in the first half.
Although Flip van der Merwe was penalised almost from the kick-off, the Boks had started off comfortably enough, with Danie Rossouw and skipper John Smit taking turns to put in some strong carries and they enjoyed early field position. However Cooper is a player that needs to be watched like a hawk and is dangerous from anywhere on the field.
It was the Reds pivot’s wrong-footing of the Bok defence deep inside his own 22 that set up an 80 metre try in which Bok defensive frailties were horribly exposed. The sweep upfield set up a recycle just metres from the Bok line, and with the South African defence in disarray as they retreated, it was Wallaby captain Rocky Elsom whose pass through the tackle sent prop Benn Alexander in for the try at the corner.
James O’Connor converted to make it 7-0 and then in a flash it was 12-0 as Cooper sent Genia away after the Wallabies fielded the kick-off and Digby Ioane scored in the same corner that Alexander had scored just minutes earlier.
The Wallabies learned from their deficiencies of the previous week and it was obvious from the opening minutes that they were determined to put a big effort into winning the collisions, and some of their tackling was ferocious. The Boks by contrast missed way too many tackles and effectively this was where they lost the game.
To their credit the Boks fought back from the two minutes of madness that saw them trail by 12 points after as many minutes, and considering that this was an under-strength Bok team, it was not all bad for the Boks as some of the young players tried to find their feet.
The key for the Boks was to carry the ball and hold onto the ball, thus forcing the Wallabies into making mistakes, and to some extent they achieved this in the middle stages of the half, although there were times they were almost too conservative in carrying the ball through narrow channels.
That changed though after Morne Steyn kicked his first penalty from the angle after 29 minutes, and the remaining 10 minutes of the first half did show signs of Bok creativity, with both wings, Lwazi Mvovo and Bjorn Basson, plus fullback Gio Aplon, looking dangerous when presented with opportunities – though most of those were what you would call half chances.
Although O’Connor did add another three points as a Bok scrum infringement was punished by referee Chris Pollock, the Boks finished the half strongly and would have felt confident at the break that they could fight their way back as it was really only the two minutes of defensive lapses that led to the two tries that separated the sides at half-time. A Steyn penalty, from an identical position from his earlier attempt, made it 15-6 at the break.
The Bok chances of launching an effective fightback depended however on them being the first to score after half-time. It didn’t happen, and on the contrary it was the Wallabies who took the game by the scruff in the first quarter hour of the second half to effectively wrap up the match.
The Wallabies started the second half displaying typical Australian patience in controlling the ball and retaining possession, and a long build-up eventually resulted in that man Cooper producing another moment of inspired brilliance as he rounded Wynand Olivier near the Bok line. He threw out a poor pass to James O’Connor, but the Wallaby wing had enough time to gather on the bounce and dot down.
The Bok first time tackling was woeful, and was responsible for conceding the next try, with Wallaby hooker Stephen Moore surging through to score under the posts to clinch the four try bonus point in the 48th minute. O’Connor converted to make it 29-6, then came an O’Connor penalty to push the Australian score into the 30s.
Adam Ashley-Cooper was the next to score, with Steyn’s rank amateurish tackling again going on display in the process, and it was no surprise when the flyhalf was replaced by Patrick Lambie a few minutes later. Lambie introduced some zip to the attack and also put in some good tackles so don’t be surprised if this Tri-Nations tour is the last time we see Steyn in the green and gold in this World Cup year.
The Boks finished strongly and scored two forward tries, one to the impressive Chiliboy Ralepelle, and the other to the skipper, who moved to prop in the last quarter. Smit did get through 80 minutes and was more prominent as a ball carrier than he has been and this was one of the few positives to come out of the match from a South African viewpoint.
Not that there should be any need for panic – while the lack of creativity on attack remains problematic, as it was last year, this was a second string Bok team and expected monsoon, that would have played into Bok hands and given them a chance, never materialised. The first choice players will join the fray during the home leg and that is when we should also start seeing the impact that Rassie Erasmus will make as technical adviser.
In the meantime though coach Peter de Villiers and his assistants have their work cut-out shoring up that leaking defence. If they don’t, the All Blacks could win by a landslide in Wellington next week.
Scorers:
Australia:
Tries: Ben Alexander, Digby Ioane, James O'Connor, Stephen Moore, Adam Ashley Cooper
Penalties: O'Connor (2)
Conversions: O'Connor (4)
South Africa:
Tries: Chiliboy Ralepelle, John Smit
Penalties: Morne Steyn (2)
Conversions: Patrick Lambie (2)
Teams:
Australia:
15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O’Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (captain), 5 James Horwill, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Sekope Kepu
Substitutes: 16 Saia Faingaa, 17 Pekahou Cowan, 18 Nathan Sharpe, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Scott Higginbotham, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Anthony Faingaa
South Africa:
15 Gio Aplon, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Dean Greyling
Substitutes: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Ryan Kankowski, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Adi Jacobs, 22 Pat Lambie
