Review – Springboks v Australia

The so-called ‘B Boks’ relinquished a seventeen point lead to eventually lose by eight to the Wallabies in Sydney on Saturday.

As has become the custom, the Springboks came out all guns blazing in the first twenty minutes. By the fourteenth minute they had scored two unanswered tries and a penalty to lead 17-0 against a visibly rattled Australian side.

Wickus van Heerden rounded off a strong forward drive to dive over and open the scoring for the Boks. Barely two minutes later, Breyton Paulse intercepted a loose pass by the follically challenged Nathan Sharpe to run sixty metres and score under the posts.

Derick Hougaard, struggling to kick the Australian ‘Summit’ ball, had also missed two penalty kicks by the seventeenth minute which could’ve seen the visitors leading 23-0 in the early stages of the game. As it turned out, seventeen points was all they would score for the rest of the match.

Australia weathered the early Bok storm and came back strongly with a try by Mark Gerrard after poor defense by Hougaard and Olivier allowed him to slip in under the posts. Mortlock converted and then added a penalty in the thirty-seventh minute to take the Aussies into the half-time break only seven points adrift.

The second half was all Australia as their experienced players took control of the game and the young Boks began to crumble.

Man of the match, Wallaby eighth man Stephen Hoiles, scored just after the break to even the scores. Then, just a minute after South Africa had been reduced to fourteen men through the sin-binning of Gary Botha, Matt Giteau crashed over to put the Australians into the lead. It was a lead they would not relinquish, despite a spirited comeback by the Boks in the final five minutes.

This was a game that the Boks could’ve won but for a terrible backline effort both on defense and attack, and a poor all-round display by Derick Hougaard in particular.

Bok backline coach Alistair Coetzee continues to underwhelm us with his coaching ability – and that’s putting it mildly. To be frank, he doesn’t seem to have a clue. The defensive organization was shocking and one wonders what the backline had been up to over the ten days leading up to the Test.

Only the experienced Breyton Paulse seemed to know what was going on. Without his defensive efforts the Boks would’ve conceded at least two more tries. The rest of the backline resembled the proverbial deer caught in headlights, with Wynand ‘Meisiekind’ Olivier in particular delivering a top-notch performance of Bambi On Ice.

Things were slightly better amongst the forwards with Wickus van Heerden competing well against the world-class George Smith and grasping his chance at World Cup selection with both hands. Jannie du Plessis put in a solid debut performance at prop and Bob Skinstad showed fine leadership ability before leaving the field (and later the country) with a rib injury.

Lock Johann Ackermann started the game with a calf niggle and was replaced as soon at the veterinary-grade cortisone injection had worn off – perhaps for the final time in his lengthy playing career.

Hooker Gary Botha put in his best display in a Bok jersey – apart from his sin-binning which led directly to Giteau’s try. Johan Muller was shambolic in the lineouts and rounded off a dismal display by being yellow carded for blatant dirty play six minutes from time.

With all hope of Tri Nations victory now lost, the ‘B Boks’ move on to Christchurch where an even tougher challenge awaits them in the imposing form of the All Blacks.