Springboks wallop woeful Wallabies in Rugby Championship opener to claim just their second Brisbane victory
Springboks Kurtley Arendse, Malcolm Marx, Jesse Kriel and Cheslin Kolbe celebrate a try.
The Springboks made a superb start to their Rugby Championship campaign as they cruised to a deserved 33-7 bonus point victory over the Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday.
As the scoreline suggests, this was a tough day at the office for the home side whose game was littered with numerous unforced errors and they conceded a plethora of penalties.
In the end, the Springboks crossed for five tries with Kurt-Lee Arendse leading the way with a brace while captain Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kwagga Smith scored their other five-pointers and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu slotted four conversions.
For the Wallabies Hunter Paisami grabbed a consolation try which was converted by Tom Lynagh.
Click here for scorers
The result was a momentous one for the visitors as it was only their second victory in Brisbane and the first one since 2013.
The Springboks held the upper hand during the opening exchanges and despite a wayward penalty attempt from Feinberg-Mngomezulu, they continued to dominate and were soon rewarded when Kolisi crossed for the opening try in the 10th minute.
This, after they caught the home side napping with a smart lineout move deep inside Wallabies territory. The ball was initially gathered by Ben-Jason Dixon at the back of the set-piece and he then passed the ball, while being in the air, to Eben Etzebeth, who was also airborne at the front of the lineout.
The Boks set up the driving maul from which Kolisi crashed over for the game’s opening points.
That score boosted South Africa’s confidence as they were completely dominant for the rest of the half while the Wallabies had to be satisfied with scraps of possession.
It was all South Africa for the rest of the half and in the 24th minute, Du Toit glided through a gaping hole in the Wallabies’ defence before crossing for his team’s second try.
The Wallabies needed a response but that did not come as they battled to cope with the sheer intensity of the world champions’ onslaught.
And on the half-hour mark things went from bad to worse for the home side when Andrew Kellaway was yellow carded for a dangerous lifting tackle on Cobus Reinach. The incident was reviewed by the TMO Bunker and luckily for Australia, the yellow card was not upgraded to red.
With a numerical advantage, the Boks went in search of their third try and that came five minutes later when Arendse gathered a loose ball midway between Australia’s try-line and their 22 and stepped past five players before dotting down.
That meant South Africa had their tails up as they held a deserved 21-0 lead when the teams changed sides at half-time.
An emphatic start to the #Springboks' Castle Lager Rugby Championship campaign in Brisbane. See you again next week @Wallabies 🙌#ForeverGreenForeverGold #AUSvRSA pic.twitter.com/lttggUdVX4
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 10, 2024
The Wallabies were more competitive after the interval and spent some time in the Boks’ 22 during the third quarter but it was only a matter of time before the visitors regained the initiative.
Head coach Rassie Erasmus had made some changes and in the 62nd minute replacement scrum-half Grant Williams offloaded to reserve back-row Smith, who went over for the bonus-point try.
Five minutes later, Arendse was rewarded with his second five-pointer after Jesse Kriel laid the groundwork with a superb line break and with the score 33-0 in their favour, the Boks took their foot off the pedal in the game’s closing stages.
They were then reduced to 13 men when Malcolm Marx and Marco van Staden were yellow-carded in quick succession before Paisami crossed for Australia’s try in the 76th minute.
South Africa finished the match with 12 men on the field when Kriel also received a yellow card in the 79th minute but despite their sloppy finish, the Boks were deserved winners.
The teams
Australia: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Filipo Daugunu, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Allan Alaalatoa (c), 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Isaac Kailea
Replacements: 16 Josh Nasser, 17 James Slipper, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Luke Reimer, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tom Lynagh, 23 Dylan Pietsch
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Handré Pollard
Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Paul Williams (NZR), Hollie Davidson (SRU)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
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