Springboks edge past Australia
Brad Morgan
1 August 2005
South Africa opened the defence of their 2004 Tri-Nations rugby title with a hard-fought 22-16 victory over Australia in Tshwane on Saturday. It was a tough contest, with little separating the two teams.
After the Springboks' 33-20 win in the Nelson Mandela Challenge Plate the week before in Johannesburg - a more convincing victory than the score indicates - supporters were expecting the Boks to roll over the Wallabies again. But they were pushed all the way, managing to edge ahead only near the end of the game.
John Smit and his team started well when Percy Montgomery slotted a penalty after only three minutes, after the Aussies stopped a nice sweeping attack to the right by using their hands at a ruck. That put the Springboks 3-0 up.
Defence dominated attack
For the next 21 minutes, defence dominated attack. Solid tackling by both teams kept knocking the ball loose from the attackers time after time, with
neither team able to find a way to score.
In the 24th minute the Australians finally levelled the score when Matt Giteau knocked over a simple penalty after Fourie du Preez had strayed offsides at a set scrum inside the South African 22-metre area.
Percy Montgomery had a chance to put SA back in front two minutes later, but was wide left with his penalty attempt.
After half an hour Giteau gave Australia the lead at 6-3 when the Springboks were again penalised for going offside. Once more, it was an easy kick.
A sweet drop goal
Two minutes later, though, the teams were tied at 6-6. Montgomery struck a sweet drop goal after a good take at the back of the lineout by eighthman Jacques Cronje, to edge his way closer to becoming the first Springbok to top 500 points in tests.
Then, following a five-metre scrum, Australia launched a nice attack from right to left, moving the ball across the field. Captain George Gregan broke
blind, and a cleverly delayed pass put flanker George Smith into a half-gap. He crashed through two tackles to score the first try of the game just before halftime.
Giteau converted and the whistle for the break sounded immediately afterwards, leaving Australia 13-6 up at the break - and the capacity Securicor Loftus crowd a little quiet, with their heroes trailing.
Best backline move of the game
Eight minutes into the second period, Breyton Paulse flew over for his 22nd test try after the best backline move of the game. Starting deep in the SA half, Bryan Habana came into the backline, across from the left wing, and in so doing drew two men in to him. He passed out to Montgomery who, with a well-timed pass, sent Paulse sprinting away for a fine try.
Montgomery converted to level the scores at 13-13.
Australia, though, moved ahead again when Giteau enjoyed his third successful penalty attempt after Jean de Villiers was penalised
for not letting go of the ball.
With time running out, Montgomery was given another chance to land a penalty after the Australians transgressed by using their hands at a ruck. Showing icy-cool big-match temperament, he kicked straight and true to pull the Springboks level once more at 16-16.
501 point in tests
The successful kick took Montgomery to 501 points in tests. It also improved his success rate in his past four tests to 21 out of 23 kicks at goal.
With time almost up, flyhalf Andre Pretorius opened up the South African advantage to six points by knocking over the Boks' second drop goal of the game. He had an attempt charged down, but SA regathered and fed him once more, and this time he was successful.
Following the kick, the referee blew the final whistle and South Africa emerged 22-16 victors from a tough battle.
Again, Percy Montgomery's performance stood out. He must give the players in front of him a tremendous
sense of confidence, knowing that they have such a composed, dependable player in the last line of defence.
Pretorius on song
At flyhalf, Andre Pretorius reinforced his claim to the number 10 jersey, producing a tactically sound performance that gave the Springbok game good structure.
Joe van Niekerk continued his return to form with a passionate performance on the flank, while Victor Matfield again showed the importance of having a world-class lineout forward.
And in the front row, Gurthro Steenkamp proved too much of a handful for the Wallabies.
Impressed by intensity
Both Springbok coach Jake White and Wallaby coach Eddie Jones said they were impressed by the intensity of the match. Both admitted that the result could have gone either way.
But what truly impressed White was that South Africa showed maturity to win. It was the type of game, he reckoned, that the Boks would have lost two
years ago.
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