The Springboks displayed the power, class and experience of back-to-back world champions to put Australia to the sword with a 33-7 victory (halftime 21-0) in their opening Castle Lager Rugby Championship match in Brisbane on Saturday.
The Wallabies fought gamely as they scrambled in reverse gear for 80 minutes but had no answer to the green tide that swept to five tries and held the home side scoreless until the 76th minute when the Boks were down to 13 after two yellow cards.
The Boks suffered a third yellow in those closing moments but those were the only real blemishes on an otherwise composed day for the Boks who enjoyed only their seventh victory in Australia in 35 attempts since 1993 – and one that equalled their previous biggest win in Australia (26 points), achieved in a 38-12 win at the same venue in 2013.
There were three in the first half from Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and a 16th in 19 Tests for Kurt-Lee Arendse, who added a 17th after the break along with one for replacement loose forward Kwagga Smith.The Wallabies had won their three opening matches of the season to hint at a revival under new coach Joe Schmidt, but they were utterly dominated by the Boks in the first half and didn’t have possession in the Bok 22 until the final minute of the first half. The fact that they were repulsed over nine phases before knocking the ball on summed up the hosts’ half.
The Boks were supreme in the opening period and the only criticism was that they did not lead by more at the break. Willie le Roux (fullback) spurned one scoring pass; Arendse was tackled five metres short; two lineout drives were turned over in an otherwise dominant performance at the set piece.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, starting his first Test, kicked four out of six, ran and handled well while making his tackles when necessary afters scuffing his first attempt from a penalty after seven minutes.Three minutes later he knocked over a touchline conversion after Kolisi’s try from the back of a driven maul after the ball had been passed between lifted players at the lineout.
Du Toit cut back on the angle on Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s well weighted pass after eight phases to plunge over from less than ten metres for the second and Arendse turned loose ball at the back of a halted maul into a barely credible try behind the posts as he danced past statuesque Wallaby forwards, finding a way to the line through the heavy traffic.
There was innovation as well with wing Cheslin Kolbe feeding the scrum on one occasion and an outstanding defensive performance, particularly in the final seven minutes when the Boks were reduced to 13 following yellow cards for Malcolm Marx (head contact on Rob Valetini in the 67th minute) and Marco van Staden (not rolling away in the 72nd minute).
By then the Boks had added their two second half tries in the space of two minutes. Replacement looseforward Kwagga Smith thundered over from five metres just to the side of the right-hand pole after a series of forward drives while Arendse’s second came straight from the restart in the 64th minute.
After one phase the ball was moved left where centre Jesse Kriel broke the line the ball was passed to the left winger who scampered in from 40 metres.Wallaby centre Hunter Paisami scored his side’s consolation try with four minutes to go after the Boks had been reduced to those 13 men but the Boks’ hunger to defend never wavered.Kriel was also shown a yellow in the final two minutes for a deliberate knock on (he claimed he knocked his attempted intercept into the air) to again reduce the Boks to 13. But there was no further joy for the Wallabies. They had come to face the masters and had to bend the knee.
Scorers: Australia 7 (7) – Try: Hunter Paisami. Conversion: Tom Lynagh.
Springboks 33 (21) – Tries: Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kurt-Lee Arendse (2), Kwagga Smith.
Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (4).
