Hat-trick: Bryan Habana
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South Africa bounced back from consecutive defeats on the road with a comprehensive 31-8 Rugby Championship victory over Australia at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.
The Springboks led 14-3 at the interval but the Wallabies were lucky not to be much further behind. Two tight calls from the TMO meant the home side did not have the four-try bonus point by half-time, but Heyneke Meyer's men secured a full house of points after the break as Bryan Habana bagged a hat-trick to add to earlier scores from Zane Kirchner and Francois Louw.
Mike Harris touched down in the last quarter for the Wallabies, but the horse had already bolted. Once Kirchner had scored the first try, the visitors never looked like getting back into the contest.
While Bok fans will certainly sleep better after their side showed the most attacking prowess of the Meyer era so far, their enthusiasm should be held in check by the fact that this was not Australia's strongest team by any stretch of the imagination (and Robbie Deans' squad looks to have been even further depleted by injuries as they head to Argentina after Adam Ashley-Cooper was taken from the field on a stretcher).
The first quarter ended scoreless after Berrick Barnes missed an early chance to open the scoring before his opposite number Johan Goosen also failed with his only two shots at goal.
But the Boks showed their positive intentions by turning down another penalty - won thanks to an impressive rolling maul - in the 21st minute, opting rather for an attacking line-out. The decision paid off as, after a few phases of pressure, Zirchner did well to twist and turn his way over for the first try.
Ruan Pienaar took over the kicking duties and provided the extra two points from the tee but Goosen showed why he was chosen at ten with a scintillating line-break that took him to within inches of the line. The TMO confirmed that he was short of his first Test try, but Bok fans would have nevertheless been chuffed to see their fly-half attacking with ball in hand.
A well-taken try from short range from Habana and another conversion from Pienaar doubled the lead as the Wallabies struggled to contain their hosts.
The Wallabies got on the scoreboard as the half drew to a close when Kurtley Beale split the uprights but the visitors where lucky not to go further behind when Kirchner bolted into the same corner as his earlier score. The full-back's heal clipped the touchline though thanks to a try-saving tackle from Ashley-Cooper which left the Wallaby centre out cold.
Australia's woes, especially at the breakdown, continued after the break and the visitors were reduced to fourteen men in the 53rd minute when James Slipper was sent to the bin for his transgressions on the deck.
His absence proved to be extremely costly for the tourists with the Boks adding two more tries while he watched from the sidelines.
Louw, who was excellent once again, was rewarded for his efforts as he scored from the back of a rolling maul.
Six minutes later Habana added his second after some quick thinking from the speedster, who took a quick throw-in to hooker Adriaan Strauss, who also had clarity of mind when he pulled in the defenders and offloaded to the flyer.
Harris scored in the right hand corner as the Wallabies refused to go down quietly but Habana had the last say when he raced home for his third touchdown after Louw took a gap and sent the winger on his way to his 46th Test try in the 79th minute.
Man of the Match: There were handful of candidates in green with the home loose trio doing very well, but you can't look further than the hat-trick hero Bryan Habana, who seems to have found his mojo again and had the fans at his former home ground out of their seats.
Moment of the match: It might not have come from a classic bolt down the touchline, but Habana's first try was the product of the Boks' willingness to keep the ball moving (and the veteran wings knack for finding gap). It put the hosts 14-0 up and the Wallabies looked beaten for all money.
Villian of the match: No nasty stuff to report
The scorers:
For South Africa:
Tries: Kirchner, Habana 3, Louw
Con: Pienaar 3
For Australia:
Try: Harris
Pens: Beale
Yellow card: Slipper (53rd min - ruck infringements)
The teams:
South African: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Pat Cilliers, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Marcell Coetzee, 20 Elton Jantjies, 21 Juan de Jongh, 22 Pat Lambie.
Australia: 15 Berrick Barnes, 14 Dominic Shipperley, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Radike Samo, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Nathan Sharpe (captain), 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 James Slipper, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Liam Gill, 20 Brett Sheehan, 21 Mike Harris 22 Anthony Fainga'a.
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France), Greg Garner (England)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
By Ross Hastie at Loftus Versfeld
Comments
APV1 says...
@ sandal - Injuries begat injuries, that sort of thing? By having a few injured players, the others have to do more and, as such, get injured themselves. And this compounds the issue further... A good point.
Posted 13:44 04th October 2012
Carpelone says...
Sandal.
Can you articulate more?
Posted 09:13 03rd October 2012
sandal says...
@Carpelone
Grudging.
Ungracious.
Evasive.
Dishonest (with your yourself).
Posted 01:10 03rd October 2012
Carpelone says...
I am sure that NZ's second string team would be quite competitive (more than OZ's second string), but no world's beaters, by any means. More than that, I suppose that is player management which makes a huge difference.
Posted 10:51 02nd October 2012
rugbyforever says...
Pienaar and Kirchner at last looked like they can play a bit, redeemed themselves
somewhat but need to maintain this form to be convincing.
Posted 05:53 02nd October 2012
sandal says...
@Carpelone
Further to your post, you ask: ""How would New Zealand look without Mealamu, Whitelock, Read, McCaw, Aaron Smith, Carter, Nonu and one of the wings?""
Answer:
Mealamu -- Hore
Whitelock -- Retallick / or see Borich and Ali Williams
Read -- McCaw/Vito/Messam / or see Kaino
McCaw -- Cane
Aaron Smith -- Weepu/Ellis/Cowan/Kerr-Barlow
Carter -- Cruden / or see Slade
Nonu -- see Sonny Bill Williams
Though you say, "" They could well be beaten by a number of teams, even from the NH"", a team very like this beat Ireland 60-0 only three months ago.
Posted 02:03 02nd October 2012
sandal says...
@Carpelone
You say: ""What amazes me is that New Zealand have so few injuries if compared to Oz and SA. My opinion is that the player management and management in general is first class in NZ.""
You might be right. But consider this list:
Toeava, Kahui, Slade, Kaino, Ali Williams, Borich -- six strong contenders for the ABs' test 22 all lost for this tournament and in some cases longer. Fancy Toeava instead of Kirchner? Kahui on Hougaard's wing or at centre? Kaino on the flank?
Muliaina and shortly Cowan and Kaino lost to overseas.
Others such as Carter, Jane, Vito and Thomson injured for odd games.
I saw an article in the NZ Herald which suggested the lack of quality across the Australian game was putting strains on players -- particularly the sub-standard ones -- and leading to injuries.
Some posters, however, (Trinats et al) think only their team is handicapped by injuries. But about 10 years ago NZ won a Tri-Nations without eight first choice starters, and it was tougher to do that in those days when squad depth wasn't cultivated to the degree it is now.
Btw, in answer to one of your earlier posts, I watched the first half live -- 4am here -- and was impressed with the Boks. Saw the power and pace of old. They were very willing to move the ball, and we don't see so much of that from the Boks when they travel.
As for the Wallabies, they were competitive in that half, so things must have degenerated in the second.
Again btw, the TMO was slow in coming to decisions, but I was impressed that he got two difficult calls right.
Posted 01:37 02nd October 2012
tha_mai says...
Carpelone: New Zealand without Mealamu, Whitelock, Read, McCaw, Aaron Smith, Carter, Nonu and one of the wings?
Hore is the form hooker imo, Romana or Retallick for Whitelock, Vito for Read, Cane for McCaw, Kerr-Barlow or Perenara not forgetting Weepu no shortage at 9, Cruden and Barrett at 10, and no shortage of midfield/wings playing now in ITM Cup as well as Ellison and Smith in current squad.
Could turn out a strong B side.
Posted 00:55 02nd October 2012
Ferdie says...
Trader2 - I meant toi highlight those missed tackles as being the major point of difference - it is the one stat that stands out.
Re AB v Pumas - ABs missed 14 tackles, Pumas 16. The biggest stat differnece in that match was in turnovers, 16 to ABs 6 to Pumas.
Posted 00:51 02nd October 2012
2EyedKiwi says...
@Carpelone - "What amazes me is that New Zealand have so few injuries if compared to Oz and SA. My opinion is that the player management and management in general is first class in NZ"
You're probably right, and we have pretty much seen the opposite in NZ Cricket for what seems like eternity.
Poor player management + little depth = a constant battle to field a half decent team. Sprinkle in a lack of ticker and juvenile petulance (ala QC) then the issues are even more magnified.
Lucky for the Aussies they have such an incredible coach in Robbie Deans - otherwise they'd have already been handed the wooden spoon...
Posted 23:32 01st October 2012
Carpelone says...
I am not carried away with the win, there are a lot of areas in which imrovements are needed. It is however a good step forward in the right direction.
What amazes me is that New Zealand have so few injuries if compared to Oz and SA. My opinion is that the player management and management in general is first class in NZ.
It will be an interesting game to watch on Saturday.
I do not understand all the criticisms on Australia. How would New Zealand look without Mealamu, Whitelock, Read, McCaw, Aaron Smith, Carter, Nonu and one of the wings? They could well be beaten by a number of teams, even from the NH. The only valid criticism is that the backline is always different. We all know that Oz's backs are the best at playing without too much structure, but this is too much even for them.
Posted 18:51 01st October 2012
Trader2 says...
Carpelone
I did make a brief comment earlier but to elaborate given the shambles the Wannabies were in, SA should have put 50 points on. Ferdie suggests that the game should have been closer given the stats but the Wannabies missed 24 tackles, I am not sure if the Argies missed that many. But you Saffas must be pleased at the new blood which should come of age by 2015. However as we all know one week is a long time for any team so next week will be interesting for both, more pressure on SA than the AB's I feel. At least HM gets a rest from his critics, it is amazing how they have all gone to ground, I guess they are spending the time making up new banners, just in case the AB's get up this Saturday.
Posted 15:47 01st October 2012
Ferdie says...
Carpelone. I'll comment.
I enjoyed the match. Both the weekdn's matches were the best of this tournamnet.
Always been a Bryan Habana fan, even when he has annoyed me with those bloody intercepts! Good for him that he stuck with SA rugby after he did have a flat patch and got a lot of criticism, would have been easy for him to head off to UK/Euro for the loot.
Australia were not imo as bad as many here are saying. The Sydney MH stats site gives the following (SA figure then Aust)
Possession 53 - 47
Rucks/mauls 52 - 83
Scrums 1 - 5
Lineouts 14 - 16
Tackles made 82 - 52
Tackles missed 7 - 24
The other stats are quite even, looking at those one could think it would have been a close match, but SA never looked like losing.
SA side had I think 15 with under 20 caps, six under 22yrs. Great future for the newer players as they get phased in while eventually some of the older ones will phase out.
Farce of the day would have to be Wallabies substitution mis-managementn and their ongoing 'tactical substitution (some might say cheating) of using Robinson as a rolling sub in each game, another prop faking injury so R gets to come back on after a 40min break.
Posted 11:33 01st October 2012
Trinats2 says...
Carpelone:
Yes, SA played very well, which was a huge surprise to everyone. When was the last time SA scored 5 trys ? However I wouldn't be getting too carried away, I'm sure Russia would have given Aus a touch up on the night.
ABs will turn you over next week by 12+.
Posted 11:22 01st October 2012
APV1 says...
I enjoyed the match, and not a lot more to add.
Flo - awesome. The sooner he's back in the Blue, Black and White of Bath the better.
AAC - I hope he recovers soon. It's not fun to watch a player with that talent and commitment get hurt.
Injuries - all teams have them. it's the manner in which they manage when missing key players, which seperates the good teams from the great.
Deans - seems like he's under the spotlight again. Would a different coach have better results? Who knows.
Posted 10:47 01st October 2012
Dylbull says...
Francois Louw was class!
He has made a huge difference since coming in.
Brussow will struggle to get in if Louw continues to show this
type pf form.
I do feel a bit sorry for the wallabies, but in all honesty, they were battered and could not handle the physicality of the boks.
Goosen will only get better which will be a site to see and so will Taute, leaving
Meyer with a bit of dilemma in midfield, because Jdv looked much better at 12.
Kirchner proved his worth and I have been saying for a while that the criticism against Kirchner is un warranted.
Pienaar played his best game I have seen him play for a while and did well to take alot of the pressure off Goosen, Hougaard will be on the bench once JP Pieterson comes back from injury.
Bekker is the best jumper we have, and if he can stay fit has to play.
Vermeulen is an animal! for someone who only just came back a few weekes ago he has been outstanding.
Saturday will be very interesting.
Posted 10:45 01st October 2012
bloemboy says...
I stand corrected, some of the current Wobbly squad may make it to the Super Kings Franchise (as they are a fair second rate, oops, division side.
Posted 10:34 01st October 2012
Carpelone says...
Is anybody from either Oz or NZ willing to say something about Boks' performance?
Posted 10:20 01st October 2012
Willem says...
"....this was not Australia's strongest team by any stretch of the imagination"
Same can be said of the SA side. No BISMARK, BURGER, JUAN SMITH, PIERRE SPIES, JP PETERSON.
A country's rugby strength should be judged on its depth. Australia has no depth as was clearly evident during the S15 and this past weekend's showing.
No excuses please, Australia was SMASHED and the Pumas will also beat them this weekend!
Posted 08:58 01st October 2012
Ferdie says...
trinats2 says...worst Assistant coach NZ have ever had ?
They played 28, lost 4, won 23 1 draw. 82% win. Average score for 28 matches a winning 39-16. Won Bledisloe and Tri-Nations Cups.
Australia won 62% in the same era. SA 54%.
Not as bad as you dreamed.
Posted 08:27 01st October 2012