Springboks sneak Tri-Nations win
Brad Morgan
19 June 2007
The Springboks got their Tri-Nations campaign off to a winning start with a hard-fought 22-19 victory over Australia at Newlands on Saturday. The Wallabies appeared to be on their way to an upset win before Francois Steyn demonstrated his brilliant talent and big match temperament to tip the contest in South Africa's favour.
It was the first major outing of the season for both teams. The Springboks had previously played two tests against an under-strength England and second-tier power Samoa. Australia, meanwhile, faced a Welsh side missing many of its top players in two tests, followed by an outing against a mediocre Fijian team.
Those matches made it difficult to gauge how well or how poorly the Boks and the Wallabies were playing. South Africa teams had enjoyed a fantastic Super 14 season, while Australian sides had fared poorly. What sort of an impact would that have on the national sides? Not much, it seems.
How to view
the win
And it's difficult to work out how the Springboks' victory over the Aussies should be viewed. Playing at home, and after South Africa's success in providing both Super 14 finalists, the Boks were expected to win, which they did, but the margin and manner of victory was expected by most to be more comfortable. So, on that point, a negative.
However, there is also the feeling among many that it was the kind of match that South Africa would have lost in the past. Instead, down late in the game, the Springboks found a way to win. So, on that point, a positive.
South Africa dominated possession but, worryingly, they failed to turn that advantage into a comfortable points' victory.
Australia's defence was stout and the side's passion commendable, but at the very highest level the team that takes its chances is the team that wins. The Springboks made just enough of those that came their way to sneak a victory.
Onto the
attack
From the opening whistle, South Africa surged onto the attack, maintaining possession and driving hard at the Australian tryline. It was controlled and impressive.
Twice they came close to breaking free for a try, but the Aussie defence held firm.
Rocky Elsom, though, conceded a penalty at a ruck in the third minute and the reliable Percy Montgomery stepped up to kick a penalty and put South Africa 3-0 in front.
South Africa continued to apply pressure, but the Wallabies still stood firm, eventually getting out of their 22 metre area in the tenth minute.
Captain injured
The Springboks suffered a blow when captain John Smit was forced from the field, having strained a hamstring, leaving Gary Botha with the opportunity to have his first extended run at hooker for his country.
Australia drew level after 11 minutes when they stole a lineout from South Africa and drove up towards the home side's tryline.
Five metres out, they won a penalty after a tackler failed to roll away to allow the ball to come out cleanly.
Skipper Stirling Mortlock took a shot at goal, knocking it over, to level matters at 3-3.
SA try
South Africa responded by forcing Australia back onto the defensive. Quick turnover ball inside the Aussie 22-metre area was shifted quickly left to Butch James and, with plenty of men lined up outside of him, he threw a long pass to Jaque Fourie out wide. The big centre caught the ball, pinned his ears back, and dived over in the left hand corner for the first try of the game.
Montgomery converted from the sideline to put SA into a 10-3 lead.
Ruan Pienaar had an opportunity to extend the South African lead in the seventeenth minute, but his long range shot at goal was off target, keeping the lead at seven points.
Wrong option
Five minutes later, Jean de Villiers made a sharp break, but
opted for a long pass to Ashwin Willemse when a short pass to closer support would likely have opened up a path to the Australian tryline.
The Wallabies moved into the Bok 22 metre area after South Africa conceded a penalty which Larkham kicked for a lineout. Matt Giteau was then caught high in a tackle and the Aussies awarded a penalty.
Mortlock was on target with his shot at goal, making the score 10-6 in favour of the home side.
Australian try
Five minutes later, Australia broke through the South African defences to score. They moved the ball through a number of phases before Mortlock was able to break a few tackles and offload to Giteau. Aided by an obstruction on Victor Matfield that the referee failed to pick up, the centre raced through a gap to cross for a try.
Mortlock added two points with the conversion to edge Australia 13-10 in front.
Giteau had an opportunity to grab a second try minutes later, but he knocked
on with the tryline just in front of him.
With halftime approaching, the Springboks lost Pierre Spies to the sin-bin. He was trying to get back onside when a pass from George Gregan struck him. The referee decided Spies' action had been deliberate and sent him for a 10 minute break.
Halftime
Then, just before the whistle, Mortlock extended the Wallabies' lead to 16-10 with another penalty after Schalk Burger was penalised for not rolling away at a ruck.
Most of the possession and territory had belonged to South Africa, but they trailed by six points at the break.
Shortly after the restart, Mortlock put Australia nine points clear after Burger, who was named man of the match for his huge workrate on attack and defence, was again pinged for not rolling away.
Montgomery responded with a penalty for South Africa to make it 19-13 to the Wallabies.
Within three
The Boks kept pressuring the
Australians, but time and again the visitors found an answer, turning over possession and clearing the ball down field. However, Montgomery was able to pull SA within three points with his third penalty.
Coach Jake White turned to the Springbok bench which had served South Africa well in the wins over England and Samoa, but still Australia held out as the match moved into its final 10 minutes.
Then, with the Boks deep in Australian territory and on the attack, Larkham was put under pressure while trying to clear for touch. His left-footed effort found substitute Francois Steyn between the Wallaby 10 metre line and halfway, near the right hand touchline.
Steyn magic
He caught the ball, swiveled around 360 degrees and dropped for goal, striking the ball sweetly. It sailed cleanly through the uprights from 50 metres out to bring South Africa level at 19-19.
With four minutes to play, a grubber by De Villiers was picked up by Gregan
deep in his 22 metre area. Danie Rossouw collared the scrumhalf with a smothering tackle, forcing the Australians to set up a ruck before clearing their line with a kick.
South Africa won the lineout and drove the ball up, pulling in defenders as they did. Steyn positioned himself deep in the pocket behind the ruck. Pienaar passed back to Steyn and, with defenders bearing down on him, he calmly kicked a second dropped goal to give the Springboks a 22-19 lead.
Australia tried desperately to come back, but SA turned possession over and, using both forwards and backline players, kept the play tight until the siren sounded. The ball was then cleared to flyhalf Butch James, who immediately kicked for touch.
The referee blew the final whistle, leaving the Boks with a nail-biting victory to open their Tri-Nations challenge.
Good rugby, but...
Speaking after the game, SA captain John Smit said he felt his team had played good rugby, but
somehow hadn't been able to turn that good play into points. He also commended his players for toughing it out at the end.
Wallaby captain Stirling Mortlock was disappointed with the result, but satisfied with the manner in which his team had taken their opportunities to score. He also said the side's defensive effort had been excellent.
One versus two
The narrow win lifted South Africa two places in the IRB world rankings, up to second place, meaning the Springboks' next outing against the All Blacks in Durban will be a clash of the top two teams in the game.
After a very physical clash against the Wallabies, the Springboks will be carrying some bumps and bruises into their clash against the World Cup favourites. Playing the All Blacks, though, is always motivation enough to forget about aches and pains, but South Africa will need to improve on its performance against Australia to come away with a win at the Absa Stadium.
Their
over the Wallabies showed that the difference between the sides at the top of the game is so small that on any given day any of the top six or eight teams is capable of upsetting higher-ranked opposition.
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