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Touch down for Australia: Drew Mitchell
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Teams
- Australia
- New Zealand
Also see
- Cooper and Fourie both cited
- Min-by-min from Brisbane
The Tri-Nations trophy is set to change hands in 2010 after the Springboks conceded their third straight defeat, going down 30-13 to Australia at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.
With a team packed with Brisbane-based players from the Reds, the national side used similar tactics to the Super 14 franchise to fracture the South African defence by moving the ball around at pace.
The sides scored two tries a piece, but the Wallabies domination of the breakdown forced the men in green and gold to bleed penalties.
As the scoreline suggests, the Wallabies were in charge from the start and two yellow cards didn't help the South African cause. Once again there will be cries from the Republic in protest to some inconsistent refereeing but few will dispute that Australia were the superior team on the day.
The defending champions will now head from their three-match tour without a single tournament point, making a title defence near-impossible.
Its was déjà vu all over again for the Boks as they were down to fourteen men in the opening minutes for the third time in as many weeks. Jaque Fourie was the guilty party this week - for tip tackle - but unlike in New Zealand the visitors were able to weather the storm and didn't concede points before the centre's return.
But even with a full quota on the field, the Springboks struggled to contain their free-running hosts. A few too many missed tackles had Australia rushing forward and the pressure resulted in a 12-3 lead after 30 minutes with Matt Giteau faultless from the kicking tee.
As expected, David Pocock made a real nuisance of himself at the rucks and on a couple of occasions chucked a spanner in the opposition works when they looked set to strike back.
A fudged Springbok line-out on the stroke on half time allowed the Wallabies to open a healthy gap as Drew Mitchell juggled his way over the line, sending the teams to the changing rooms with the hosts up 17-3.
Australia pressed home their advantage after the break as Giteau and James O'Connor added a penalty each to stretch the lead to 23-3.
The second of those penalties saw BJ Both sent to the bin for killing the Wallabies' ball in an attacking position. Quade Cooper was also given his marching orders for a lifting tackle and the visitors used their extra man to build some momentum.
A quick-tap penalty from Ruan Pienaar opened the way for Fourie to muscle his way over from short range but the horse had already bolted.
South Africa sparked hopes of a late comeback when Gurthro Steenkamp charged over after a line-out inside the last ten minutes.
But he hosts would have the last laugh however as Will Genia dived over after being set up by a rolling maul in the dying minutes, capping a super performance by the Wallabies and sending the world champions home to think again.
Man of the match: Tough one to call with both Rocky Elsom and David Pocock putting in huge performances. We'll give it to the latter for his tireless work at the breakdown.
Moment of the match: Australia had been drifting further and further ahead but Drew Mitchell's try essentially ended the game as a contest. It summed up the day: The Springboks failed to do the basics right and were caught out by the pace of the Aussie attack.
Villain of the match: Fourie and Cooper were both guilty of lifting the man in the tackle, but neither incident looked nasty enough to merit the 'villain' tag.
The scorers
For Australia:
Tries: Mitchell, Genia
Con:O'Connor
Pens: Giteau 5, O'Connor
For South Africa :
Tries: Fourie, Steenkamp
Pen: Steyn
Yellow cards: Fourie (SA - 3rd min - dangerous tackle); Botha (SA - 46th min - cynical offside); Cooper (Aus - 54th min - dangerous tackle)
Australia: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 James O'Connor, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (c), 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Saia Fainga'a, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Ben McCalman, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Kurtley Beale.
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wynand Oliver, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morne Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Ryan Kankowski, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Dewald Potgieter, 20 Francois Hougaard, 21 Butch James, 22 Juan de Jongh.
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Keith Brown (New Zealand), Vinny Munro (New Zealand)
Television match official: Matt Goddard (Australia)
Assessor: Steve Hilditch
Comments
reado15 says...
@JoeGlum. Yeah whatever! Why do all the NH teams play the SH teams in the warm ups before the tri-nations I dont see many NH wins there. Yet you guys have just finished the 6 nations. Look at the overall winning record of SH teams V NH teams. SH wins hands down so take off the rose coloured glasses pal.
Posted 13:17 26th July 2010
powerplay says...
joeglum...sour grapes mate! You sound like your just making more excuses for NH teams!
If you cant beat'm make an excuse!! (yawn)
Posted 12:21 26th July 2010
trappa says...
JoeGlum might be best not preaching until his "best" rugby teams are beating SH teams.
Posted 11:38 26th July 2010
JoeGlum says...
The Tri Nations is overrated and the myopia of the SH fans is cringeworthy.
This isn't rugby league and all this bleating about "we dont kick the ball we're great" is *******. The best rugby isnt always the most attractive rugby and the only reason the SH teams do better at the world cup is cos its at the right time of year for them.
Posted 10:30 26th July 2010
hossman says...
I was at the ground on Saturday nite and whilst it was great to see the Wallabies progress, i just hope it wasnt a false dawn. As good as the men in gold played the Boks had several chances but just seem to be lacking the poise and patience to score tries(no doubt missing Du Preez). Sorry to all Saffa fans but Morne Steyn is nothing but an old fashioned English 10, kick, kick , field goal attemp, kick. Carter and Cooper have shown he is light years from being a creative, dominant 10 at international level - where Super 14 form and reputations count for little. The much maligned Aussie tight five were too mobile, too smart and (look out for the backlash now) just too tough for the Boks. Pocock was Herculean and Rocky Elsom was brilliant with and without the ball (that tackle on Roussow was magnificent - tackle, pilfer, get up and charge 20 - which Bok forward could do that ?? None, thats who). Yes Burger did attemt to gauge Pocock and should go for a long, long time - but nobody, not even the citing committee has spotted it ?? It was a good game, the Wallabies should have scored 40+ with better execution, but we will be better for the hit out and maybe some of the younger guys in the squad now realise what it takes to consistently challenge the Boks & Dark Lords at this level. I cant wait for this weekend - the AB's copy the Queensland Reds Super 14 tactics and then AB fans crow about re-inventing running Rugby and taking the game to a new level, well imimtation is the sincerest form of flattery ladies - See you all in Melbourne, let the best team win !!
Posted 07:29 26th July 2010
trappa says...
great article by Wayne Smith In the "Australian" today if anyone is interested. Bought out the statistic that Quade Cooper kicked only ONCE in the whole game. Hopefully if the N/H can get on board, it may sound the beginning of some really good footy.
Posted 07:28 26th July 2010
tavish says...
Well, all I can say is using the ref as an excuse for losing, one game maybe, two games clutching at straws, and three times running, no way mate you are dreaming your team is off the pace. Lets be honest here all three games were nearing 20 points. Bad refereeing does not equal 20 points per game for 3 games. For my money the Boks are not rubbish players, pace setters for the entire Super 14. They are crap now due to one thing only. The Coach. His selections and tactics along with game plan are the difference here. Rod Kafer the Aussie commentator summed it beautifully. The Boks are playing last year¿s rugby and the All Blacks are playing next years rugby. Simple. There was a glimpse in the past two games when the Boks ran with the ball and they looked threatening, but they still thought they could play a better game without the ball in hand too often. All I can say is now Jake White has signalled he will reapply next year, will those in power be silly enough to ignore that carrot or appoint another puppet to steer the ship. Given the free reign the current idiot has I would not hold too much hope for Jake. Jake built this team, and now PDV is crashing it BIG TIME.
Posted 05:33 26th July 2010
sprogrugby says...
Following on from ChrisinSrete and the ref interpretations, I have noticed a pattern over the last 3 trinats games, whereby the NH refs do seem to allow a long time for the tackled player to hold on until his support arrives. While I agree that there were times Pocock (especially) could have been pinged for certain offences in not supporting his own weight, I also think he was extremely unlucky not to have extracted penalties for being on his feed attempting to lift the ball, with the tackled player holding on. This is the biggest difference I have noticed between NH and SH refs, in that the latter in the Super 14 will give advantage to a defender who is there quickly and is on his feet. This may due to a couple of factors, including fitness / speed of refs to the breakdown to SEE the first offence; the feeling that attacking teams should be given more advantage i.e. can hold on for a longer period, to assist continuity of attack (I don't agree with this as a principle as it gets out of hand by sanitising the competition for ball); the different styles of play in the NH and SH i.e. how many pilferer #7s are there in the NH compared to the SH i.e. that is not the initial requirement of a NH #7 ?
Personally I would like to see refs penalise the first tackle offence much quicker i.e. tackler rolling / player assisting tackler releasing, then allow the competition, and if tackled player's holding on, ping him ! Continuity would come thru increased counter attack...
Posted 03:56 26th July 2010
bloemboy says...
SA will continue to battle as long as we bungle the selection. For me, Kirchner did some good, but is still streets behind Steyn. Sadly Habana is looking for work but hasnt really had impact on a game in ages. Aplon was a livewire, but his talent is also wasted if you dont give him the ball. Fourie was again the standout backline player and will make anyone next to him look good, well, not Butch James, but anyone else. Steyn should be looking over his shoulder, but the only real quality option there is Pienaar, talking of which, he had a good game considering he had no cover from the loosies. He is still probably the best alternate to Du Preez, though the young Griquas 9 is looking better and better. As far as the loosies go, Spies is the only one of the lot that belongs there, as long as he has 2 decent flanks with him. Ashley Johnston could be getting a call soon as cover. At lock, Russouw was excellent and Matfield was solid, though Bekker could be pushing through fairly soon due to his overall contribution.. I liked the look of the front row, though the day looms near when Bizmark will take the mantle from John Smit, who has done us proud for so long.
Our greatest problem at the moment is at 6 and 7. Anyone that saw the Bulls / Cheetahs game over the weekend will agree that Juan Smith is looking absolutely AWESOME!
The game is won or lost in the link between the forwards and the backs. Australia had some excellent play by their 6,7 and 8. To be fair though, they were made to look good by our 3 who are all good players, but should never be on any field together.
On the basis of this game, I dont think that New Zealand have much to fear from the Wallabies. Then again, neither do the Wallabies from the Kiwis. The Boks do have something to fear, themselves and the dreaded PdV.
I think the Argentina side of 2007 would have clobbered the lot of us.
Posted 14:24 25th July 2010
ChrisInCrete says...
I watched all three of the matches. It seems that the tackle area was refereed much looser than in Super 14 (fast ball or whistle). I can see that the NZ and Aus fetchers were meant to get onto the ball straight away, but as the tackler they weren't releasing the tackler or they were third man in - it's a ruck and they can't use their hands (correct me if I'm wrong here). The refs just were not pinging them and terribly sorry to the Anzacs but the South Africans were getting a hard time of it - there is just no denying that. Both MaCaw and Pocock should have been penalised more and then carded. It's also very interesting as to what exactly construes supporting your own weight or being off your feet - another area that becomes a little subjective. Then another problem, with the fetchers in, it leads to so many other players coming into the rucks like missiles - again something wrong here - don't you have to bind when you go in?
South Africa were outplayed, but the reffing did not help them at all.
Posted 13:45 25th July 2010
Sillysonofa says...
Sports science has shown that the impact of stress, particularity over a period of time, can lead to burnout with athletes experiencing a decrease in performance, motivation, increased risk of injury, illness, slow recovery from games and an associated psychological impact i.e. mood changes resulting in the athlete being difficult to be around due to their frustration, disappointment and irritation.
I would imagine the South African dressing room is not a great place to be at the moment as a good few players will be in this boat. The problem is that the physical and psychological stress that causes burnout has a further impact on stress levels and is, to an extent, self perpetuating.
Studies have shown that a heavy workload in one season will result in a dip in performance and increased likelihood of injury in the following season. I think it is worth pointing out that most of this group of players played a hugely physically and mentally draining 3 test series against the Lions last year, have been involved in consecutive Super 14 finals and Currie Cup Finals, Tri-nations, end of year tour consisting of 5 games (including mid-week games), a ridiculous trip to Wales this year and then the normal incoming tours.
In 2008 New Zealand won the Tri-nations, the Crusaders won the Super 14 with a team of internationals and the NPC final with the New Zealanders then embarking on a successful Grand Slam tour of the Northern Hemisphere. A successful, but rather busy year for the bulk of the team. 2009 could not and did not live up to the usual All Black standards.
In both cases, highly successful but intense years followed by poor ones. These are not Duracell Bunnies, but human bodies which are fallible and need a bit of TLC. Not recognising this is just plain idiotic.
Posted 11:50 25th July 2010
lawynd says...
@boknigh - it was actually the linesman's recommendation to award the yellow, as the referee hadn't seen the incident. The linesman was a Kiwi, not an Irishman. BANG, and the conspiracy theory is gone!
Posted 11:35 25th July 2010
pogmahon says...
boknigh... Have you thought about watching the game with the volume turned up? If you did you would have heard the NZ touch judge telling the ref to card him. We have now had this fot the past three weeks in a row. You loose you blame the ref. If I were a ref I would get used to being blamed by Bok supporters because as long as PDV is coach you need to get used to losing.
BTW anybody got any suggestions as to what PDC's rant and excuse will be this week? I think it could be that Kangaroo meat prices are falling in Brisbane so the IRB got together to make sure the market was propped up. Definite conspiracy.
Posted 11:18 25th July 2010
pogmahon says...
boknigh... Have you thought about watching the game with the volume turned up? If you did you would have heard the NZ touch judge telling the ref to card him. We have now had this fot the past three weeks in a row. You loose you blame the ref. If I were a ref I would get used to being blamed by Bok supporters because as long as PDV is coach you need to get used to it.
BTW anybody got any suggestions as to what PDC's rant and excuse will be this week? I think it could be that Kangaroo meat prices are falling in Brisbane so the IRB got together to make sure the market was propped up. Definite conspiracy.
Posted 11:14 25th July 2010
ovaleyes says...
Am I the only one who saw Burger eye gouge Pockock? There was a play in the second half when the Peecock tackeled Burger and landed him flat on his back with a thump. Burgers reply was to claw his fingers and rake them across Pockocks eyes.
Where is the citing?? Burger clearly hasn't learned from the Lions series.....
Posted 09:19 25th July 2010
cuw31 says...
The boks seem to be like the spots of a leopard; never change!! once again it was ruck and kick for most of the game. when they ran they scored or got near the line.
the combination was wrong : RK is not a 7, potgeiter shud have played. appalon hardly got the ball to run with and VM was slow as an oil tanker. most intriguing was taking 10 off and asking the 9 to kick!!!
also noteworthy was the bok attempt to slow down ruck ball always. worked sometimes and ot penalized also.
wud appreciate if a bok fan can come up with a better 15, (as i am from Sri Lanka and not so familiar with many players). for me spies and matfield were too slow , olivier passable, appalon and habana hardly got good ball and did nothing with the little they got. rusoow and fourie did well with burgher.
Posted 09:02 25th July 2010
Ramage says...
Dear oh dear rugbyphile there goes your conspiracy thoughts up in smoke with Cooper's banning for two weeks. Mmm do I hear that the Sanzar system is being consistent. Perhaps rugbyphile might consider an apology and say in bold and capitals, SORRY I WAS WRONG AND MY CYNICISM IS THERE FOR ALL TO SEE. Oh well what can you say another Bok put off in the first few minutes for a dangerous tacklle when will they learn?
I reckon that SA television should repeat the interview by the Boks after the game. Two things shone out like a beacon the honesty and credible answers from the captain John Smit who now has only one more game to hit his 100 for tests. Congratulations Jon you deserve to make this mark as you have been a mighty player for Sth Africa. The second was how the journalists after initially asking De Villiers turned their attention to asking Smit the questions as De Villiers showed how much of an irrelevancy he was.
Posted 08:32 25th July 2010
runnrugby says...
At times the springboks looked good when they did run with the ball. The thing that has stood out is how slow their tight five are compared to NZ and OZ. They never looked like they had the mobility and fitness to keep up with the running rugby that was played. Sharpe, Maafu and Ben Robinson were all over the place looking more like loose forwards
Posted 08:21 25th July 2010
safehands says...
As an ardent AB fan, I'm pretty happy with how the tournament is shaping up for us so far. However, I don't believe that we should be getting over excited about anything yet.
The AB's are by no means the complete package.....there simply is just no such thing!! There will always be room for improvement, and that goes for any team in the world now matter how well they are perceived to be playing.
Another point to ponder as I've seen this come up time and time again.....the Boks look tired......personally I think that is the biggest load of tosh I've ever heard. These are professional athletes for goodness sake!! Rygby is starting to sound like those overpaid soccer pansies.
That goes for the AB's and the Wallabies too, never should tiredness be used as an excuse for lack of application or a loss...the Boks were simply outplayed......again.
Posted 03:07 25th July 2010
Chaz says...
If the Boks are going to continue blaming the ref or whoever, then that's fine... never helped anyone before and it's always good for a laugh!
Posted 00:42 25th July 2010