Scorers
Wallabies 21 (9)
Tries: Adam Ashley-Cooper, James O’Connor
Conversion: Matt Giteau
Penalties: Matt Giteau (2)
Drop goal: Matt Giteau
Springboks 6 (6)
Penalty: Morne Steyn
Drop goal: Morne Steyn
What they said
John Smit: ‘There are no excuses. Excuses are for losers, so we have no excuses. We’ll have to do the job in Hamilton next week. We’ve got one more chance, one game, and we have to make the most of our opportunity.The intensity was not quite where it should have been. It’s hard to pinpoint where it went wrong. We had our moments and just couldn’t put it together. Nevertheless, we still created pressure and they beat us at our own game. Obviously we started on a bad foot and kept chasing the score-line. It is healthy in the Tri-Nations to try and get into your opponents half. A lot of calls were not going our way. Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t. But at half-time, at 9-6, we were happy because they were dominant and we felt we had made the best of a bad first forty. We came out in the second half and for a while it looked as if we might turn it around. But we didn’t spend enough time in their half and create pressure. We looked up with eight minutes to play at creating those opportunities by setting up a drive, but were not given those opportunities. No one loses four on the trot and just rocks up. They were far more formidable, but rest assured we will be fired up for our final game in Hamilton.’
Peter de Villiers called the scrums ‘the new grey area of rugby’: ‘It used to be the breakdown, now it is the scrum. You do not know which way it is going to go and sometimes it is more guesswork.’
Robbie Deans: ‘Not giving them a start helps.The boys kept playing for eighty minutes. We had three tries over the line disallowed and the guys kept coming and kept their heads up for 80 minutes. It was evident at the end there that some belief and confidence kicked in, showing great spirit for such a young group of players and that’s what we’ve been looking for.’
George Smith: ‘I’m far happier with our effort. We put a lot of work in, not only this week but throughout the Tri-Nations, and to get the reward now is fantastic. Well done to the Springboks for resisting us so well for the majority of the match, but in the end we made our possession and territory count. There was a collective understanding for us that we had to repay the Australian public for their loyalty. I was very impressed with the way we scrummed and the way we handled the lineouts. There’s a few things we need to work on but I’m just delighted with the outcome.’
Teamsheets
Australia
15 James O’Connor 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Will Genia, 8 George Smith (c), 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 James Horwill, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Subs: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 Pek Cowan, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 Wycliff Palu, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Quade Cooper, 22 Peter Hynes.
South Africa
15 Ruan Pienaar, 14 Odwa Ndungane, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Heinrich Brussow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Schalk Burger, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Adi Jacobs, 22 Frans Steyn.