Lethal on attack: Digby Ioane powers through the frail Springbok defence
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Australia opened their 2011 Tri-Nations account with a comprehensive 39-20 victory over South Africa in Sydney on Saturday.
The clinical Wallabies completely destroyed the bumbling Boks with a five-tries-to-two victory that will leave the world champions plenty to ponder ahead of next week's clash with New Zealand.
Wet weather was the forecast but the weatherman got it wrong, which meant an expected tight forward tussle was cancelled out by open rugby that quite literally played into the Wallabies hands as the hosts ran the Springboks ragged.
South Africa struggled to match their opponents on attack - they looked flat and devoid of ideas when in possession, and just lacked the same skill-set as the Wallabies with their ball-in-hand approach.
The woeful Springboks didn't fare any better on defence either as Australia penetrated the visitors' green and gold brick wall with ease in dry conditions that the South Africans simply failed to adapt to.
On the other end of the scale, the Wallabies were in a class of their own - showcasing some brilliant running rugby that left the home crowd begging for more. Everything they touched turned to gold, and if there was any way to respond to last week's shock loss to Samoa - this was certainly it.
The writing was on the wall for South Africa straight from the kick-off at ANZ Stadium, where Australia wasted little time showing their intentions with ball in hand. And after five minutes, one sensed it was going to be a long day at the office for the Springboks.
This was confirmed after the Wallabies struck with two quick-fire tries to Ben Alexander and Digby Ioane in the space of two minutes that left John Smit's troops rattled and forced to play catch-up for the remainder of the match.
It was Reds magician Quade Cooper - fully recovered from Friday's fight with 'flu - who launched the Wallabies' attack for their first score from inside his own 22, stepping inside a host of tacklers to break clear.
Australia's pivot found Kurtley Beale and James O'Connor in support on the right, before the ball was worked to the other end of the pitch where captain Rocky Elsom offloaded to Alexander on his outside for the opening try.
O'Connor, who had a near-flawless night with the boot, added the extras from out wide.
Immediately from the restart, the Boks were at sixes and sevens after scrum-half Will Genia burst clear before releasing Ioane who staved off a poor tackle from Gio Aplon to cross for an unconverted try.
South Africa fly-half Morne Steyn reduced the deficit with a 30th-minute penalty but O'Connor restored the 12-point advantage with a penalty of his own.
Australia's impressive handling was proving too much for the visitors to handle, and only a spilled pass by lock James Horwill prevented another try for Robbie Deans' side.
After the half-time hooter has sounded, Steyn added another penalty to leave the Springboks trailing 15-6 at the break.
With plenty of work to do in the second half, South Africa were back in a huddle under the posts as O'Connor converted his own try set up by Cooper three minutes after the resumption.
South Africa's midfielders Wynand Olivier and Juan de Jongh held off Cooper allowing the unpredictable Wallaby playmaker to spear through a gap and send out a low pass that O'Connor stooped to gather and score.
The game was then effectively killed off as a contest as Australia wrapped up their four-try bonus point after hooker Stephen Moore crossed over besides the posts. The grounding was confirmed by the TMO and converted by O'Connor to make it 29-6.
O'Connor added his second penalty shortly before more skilful offloading from Cooper created the fifth try as his flip pass sent centre Adam Ashley-Cooper into space, with Steyn missing a tackle to let the centre flop over the line.
O'Connor was once again on target with the extras.
The visitors briefly rallied with replacement hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle being bundled over from an effective maul, and then captain Smit burrowed over in the final minute for another consolation score. Both tries were converted by replacement back Patrick Lambie.
The result means Australia keep the Mandela Plate they won last year with their fourth win in five Tests against the Springboks.
Man of the match: To single out just one individual following this dazzling performance by the Wallabies isjust too hard. So we're opting for a team award instead.
Moment of the match: Phew, out of the five Wallabies' tries... take your pick!
Villain of the match: No punch-ups or any cards to speak of. But maybe another team award should go to South Africa, who were their own worst enemy on attack and defence.
The scorers:
For Australia:
Tries: Alexander, Ioane, O'Connor, Moore, Ashley-Cooper
Cons: O'Connor 4
Pens: O'Connor 2
For South Africa:
Tries: Ralepelle, Smit
Cons: Lambie 2
Pens: Steyn 2
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 (c), 5 James Horwill, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Sekope Kepu.
Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga'a, 17 Pekahou Cowan, 18 Nathan Sharpe, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Scott Higginbotham, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Anthony Fainga'a.
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 (c), 1 Dean Greyling
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Ryan Kankowski , 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Adrian Jacobs, 22 Patrick Lambie.
Referee: Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
By Dave Morris
Comments
Ramage says...
Hey Trinats your logic is somewhat astray. How come Scotland and Ireland have never beaten NZ in Rugby Internationals? Is it because of biased referees who can't see that Scotland or Ireland could ever win. Unlike their games against Australia where the referees have seen that Scotland and Ireland get quite a few wins. Or is this just another diabolical refereeing plot against the team in yellow.
Posted 14:26 27th July 2011
Ramage says...
@benski hahahahaha you guessed it no I dont agree. Hahahahahaha isnt opinion wonderful he to me is the last ranked of four very good South African refs (and I've worded that crefully).However I would not have been upset if he had been appointed to the RWC in fact I believe all four should be there. If there are no Scots, Australian, Argentinians or Italians good enough to referee at the RWC then I see no difference in having four South Africans there. As I said in my comments about Barnes I will be interested to see whether he has advanced from the policeman attitude he brings to the game and whether his man management of the players has improved. But hey benski wouldnt it be drab if we didnt have disagreements. I promise you I will return to this thread at the end of the RWC and lets see if he has changed my opinion. One other point benski thanks I enjoyed the fact you have challenged my views and though you disagree with me you have argued on the subject and not denigrated my views and for that I commend you. Who knows maybe with some good arguments in the future you may help to change some of my views.
Posted 14:15 27th July 2011
APV1 says...
@ Ramage - I was joking. Tongue-in-cheek. Pinch of salt. Jest. That sort of malarky.
Stuart Barnes used to play for both Bath and England, so I was just demonstrating that I have no misguided loyalties to him because of his playing history. With regards to my flippant comments, I wasn't expecting any of them to be taken too seriously, so I apologise that you misunderstood my intention of making a joke about Barnes.
And I do think he's terrible and I agree that I have less experience of other commentators.
Posted 13:44 27th July 2011
Carpelone says...
@ wallaroo
Thanks for being gracious in victory.
I still think that this RWC is a cycle too early for Australians.
Posted 21:48 26th July 2011
Carpelone says...
@ Jaystarr
I liked the positive way you approached the game, however I fully share Jake White opinions on this campaign. I am afraid that the pressure on our boys will mount and that it will be a heavy burden to carry, even for fitter and more rested players.
Let's see how it goes on Saturday.
Posted 21:46 26th July 2011
Carpelone says...
By the way, bring back Mallet to homeland, where he belongs,
Posted 21:40 26th July 2011
Ramage says...
@Trinats as Carpelone said you can find mistakes by any ref in any game and post it on youtube. But of course to you poor ozzies it is bias. So if this is the case why do you expect to get the rub of the green you cant for as you say the refs are biased. You say that if this went to court then then Joubert would be locked up and the key thrown away.Geez its only a game so I disagree as it would be thrown out of court as a similar case taken a number of years ago by a club. The grounds that in the laws of rugby the referee is the sole judge of fact. If he was so incompetent and it did happen then he wouldn't be alone as he would be able to chat daily with the other incompetents and failures in there namely Dickinson, Pearce Smith, as well as the the two has beens Leckie and Marks. I also agree with Carpelone that Joubert and Mark Lawrence are two of the best referees around and it is a travesty that Mark Lawrence is not at the RWC.
@APV1 The tongue in cheek was aimed at Trinats and concerned refs not commentators. You say you are a Bath and England supporter. Im not sure what this has to do with it. How dare I say there are worse commentators than Barnes and Moore. Well I do dare as I have had 5 years of having to put up with Martin and Kearns ineptitude after 6 years of Barnes. I have experienced them all. So would ask you if you have seen more than a few games commentated by Martin and Kearns. If you think Barnes is bad then you have never had to put up with Martin and Kearns. Finally you say I am being spiteful because I said there is worse than Barnes.Cant follow your logic but I would ask you to reread what I said then re read what you wrote about me and tell me who is being spiteful. I can assure you Im a good boy I take my meds and I dont overdose lol. But I thank you so much for your concerns about my health, it is much appreciated and I do have a doctor.
Posted 12:53 26th July 2011
Carpelone says...
Luckily, I did not see the game. Followed some live updates on my smartphone, but I stopped soon. Congratulations on Australia, they could not do more than beating who were in front of them.
I think that this was an entertaining game to watch for the Australian fans, a frustrating game for all the saffas and a useless one for the Boks' management team (maybe also for the Oz's one).
Unless you use this to get rid of Steyn and Smit.
Undecided whether to field Lambie or not on Saturday, a player needs to be managed and I wish that Steyn starts and Lambie takes over for the second half.
Re Joubert, I still think that he is among the three best refs (one of the other two is Mark Lawrence who will not feature at the RWC). The clip posted by Trinats showed some blatant mistakes, but I guess you can do the same exercise with all the refs. In any case, the refs may be a little bit forgiving with the All Blacks, however this is life. Teachers are more forgiving with the best-in-class rather than with the others.
Posted 10:10 26th July 2011
blametheref says...
@Stellenbosched
No Worries...No matter what happens in this unusual Tri-Nations I don't think it's going to make much difference. Any of the 3 teams could win the WC. I could bet that all the Tri-Nations teams will win their home games and lose their away games
@Safehands Was merely quoting what you said to the above
Posted 09:17 26th July 2011
eejbm says...
Who cares where Cooper defends if he is going to put on five tries every game? As long as his forwards are able to put him on the front foot he is going to bamboozle the defense, and on Saturday night his forwards did just that! Rob Simmons from Theodore is going to be a great lock in years to come, Pocock is already one of the best scavengers in the world, Rocky was barnstorming and Horwill imposed his will on all those that opposed him. I would rather watch that Wallabies side play open, expansive running rugby than watch bomb after bomb after bomb waiting for a mistake. I watch to see good rugby played, which is what the Wallabies did on Saturday night and promise to do right through to the RWC final.
O'Connor will end up scoring more international points than any other player if he keeps kicking them from the sidelines - and you know what? He can score them from anywhere as well.
I will be a very interested spectator this coming Saturday night, if the Boks play like they did against the ABs they will lose 50+ to nil.
PS: How can you say that KB was acting? His head was pumping blood and it ended up quite heavily strapped!? to jump up and defend and then make the break and then support - what a great effort! Good to see him health for the first Bled.
Posted 01:41 26th July 2011
Ripzy007 says...
Is it just me or the Wallabies A team is basically only three new players added to the team that lost to Samoa? I know Genia and Beale were on the bench and ended up playing in the second half but looking at the starting team, only Occonor, Copper and Bambam who did not play last week
Posted 22:46 25th July 2011
fozza says...
As has become the norm I've enjoyed reading the comments far more than the report of the match (everything they touched turned to gold!?).
A couple of thoughts:
Of course we can't read too much into this, it is a severely weakened springbok side and it's a wallaby side on the rebound of a bit surprise result. As for the players for the weakened side some of them will come out of this much stronger and some will never wear the green and gold again (see England's tour of hellfor an example).
I liked what the aussies did in defence, it was an intelligent move i expect to be copied by a number of teams and they will go slightly further. If you're playing a team who love to attack the ten channel with large dynamic forwards, unless your ten is Wilkinson at his destructive best, what better way to combat this than putting a big hard hitting player there instead? Not only that but you gain a quick minded, counter attacking player on the wing if the ball is kicked. As I say, other teams will pick up on this and I bet Ronan O Gara wishes this had been thought of years ago!
As a neutral enjoying the games, I'm looking forward to some more quality rugby.... and of course, quality comments!!!
Posted 16:37 25th July 2011
safehands says...
@blametheref......in case you don't know, I am neither a Wallaby fan nor am I a Bok fan, but my comments to Stellenbosched were rather about accepting that there are better players out there than a lot of the current South African players gracing our planet, whether they are from the 'A' or 'B' Bok team. Last week these 'B' team players were hyped up as the next wave of Bok talent to rule the rugby world, the form S15 players etc. All it ended proving was that the depth in SA is not a deep as they would like to believe in the Republic.
Posted 15:19 25th July 2011
blametheref says...
@Stellenbosched
Amazing! "Safehands" responds to you , calls you "a twit" and you label me the bitchiest poster on PR for my comment, which was basically saying I didn't feel the OZ v SA game was a true Tr-Nations contest as I felt SA were keeping their powder dry!
I only comment on rugby and with opinion. But one thing I will also do is respond to SOME posters, who mostly eminate from the SH, who have a superiority complex and feel that NH posters' opinions/comments only warrant a put-down...No worries though, no one's pulling me down under!
Posted 14:28 25th July 2011
APV1 says...
@ Ramage...
There's "tongue-in-cheek" and there's just plain spiteful! How dare you suggest that there's a worse commenttator and pundit than Mr S Barnes..?! I'm a Bath and England fan and would prefer he just shut up.
And don't get me started on his mustachio'd-mate - Mr S Jones...
You've obviously taken leave of your senses and need some professional help.
"Is there a doctor in the house - Ramage has lost the plot and needs medicating?! Again."
Posted 13:07 25th July 2011
Ramage says...
Not worth commenting on Trinats. It is well known that there is a well organised and concerted effort being mounted by Australian rugby to denigrate all leading referees who officiate in games they lose. This is continued on Foxtel by Kearns and Martin the most inane rugby commentators (for those in the UK worse than Barnes and ) who are always suggesting that other nations are up to illegal and foul play and ignoring the Oz play that does fall into that category. Is it payback for the fact OZ referees are not getting top games any more because the standard has fallen so sharply. Who was officiating in the NZ FIJI game where it was alleged there were a number of forward passes that led directly to NZ tries. We know about Dickinson and Leckie missing them but now looks as though the problem its spreading to
Posted 11:04 25th July 2011
rugby_rockstar says...
South Africa were awful. Defense was strictly optional so I don't think we can read much into this match at all. The walabies could have been playing Namibia rather than SA on Saturday.
You do have to give Cooper credit though, at times he was on another planet attack wise. The forwards gave him go forward ball and he slaughtered the boks. absolutley slaughtered them. you can only beat what the other guy puts in front of you and Oz did all you could ask from them. SA were humiliated. Reminds me of those embarissing England summer tours from 2004 - 2009.
Posted 10:57 25th July 2011
Ramage says...
@benski oh dear oh dear oh dear. I often get told to get off my high horse if you can't see my tongue in cheek jest at Trinats sad. Oh well. Seriously if we want to talk about referees I will again raise the question of the fact that Mark Lawrence who referees well and has a courteous and respectful approach to the players is not at the RWC. Why? You are entitled to your view on Barnes I would disagree . There is more to refereeing than the letter of the law and I have known many refereees over the years who know their law backwards but are poor referees and spoil the game for all because they lack many of the qualities of man mangement. Barnes has improved since the last World Cup to which he was appointed before he was ready to control such a game. However, one thing I still believe he needs to address is the way he speaks to the players and his over reliance on the yellow card. I will await to see whether the way he speaks to players has improved in the game in Brisbane. This is where Mark Lawrence leaves him for dead. Also What is better Kaplan's approach in the semi between the Reds and Blues where he left both teams in no doubt about what would happen or an immediate production of the yellow card. Don't get me wrong there are times when a card must be produced but Im sure many would agree that poor referees are inclined to use it without thinking the consequences. We all remember the use of a card that killed a team's chance of a come back given on the advice and found to be wrong by an assistant.
Posted 10:25 25th July 2011
7ton says...
tri-nats
We had a recent discussion where you were praising the SA refs in Super rugby having rubbished them in the tri-nations.
The refs only good if your team wins aye!
Posted 08:41 25th July 2011
trippa says...
@ Wallaroo ... your good scrum will be pumped by the AB's and show you up for all you are worth. That wasn't even a good SA scrum and they still held you well enough.
@tri-nats ... please refrain from trying to come across as impartial. Its more cringe-worthy then listening to your commentators talking about how good the wannabies are all game and all the injustices that impede them on their way to glory, rather then at least trying to commentate on the game itself.
The wobbolies didn't win the Super 15 by the way and the AB's, SA, England, France, Ireland, Argentina, Samoa (insert international team here) didn't lose it either.
If there is one thing that you aussies are good at its getting ahead of yourselves and talking yourselves up.
The embarrassment of the week earlier certainly doesn't seem to instill any semblance of humility into your psyche.
I think the ability to forget past wrongs must have been the genetics your convict ancestors passed to you.
I look forward to the future impartial posts. CHEERS!!!
Posted 06:54 25th July 2011