Going into today’s Tri-Nations match with Australia at Newlands in Cape Town, the Springboks knew that they would need a win, as this was going to be the last home game for the Springboks before going on the road for the rest of their Tri-Nations games at New Zealand and Australia.
One concern going in was the possibility of ugly weather conditions in Cape Town. Those fears were not realized as the conditions were very good.
Another concern was going to be if Springbok fly-half Morné Steyn would have a drop in form after last weeks record breaking 31- point performance against the All Blacks. Well, Steyn showed that he was human…he only scored 24 points today in the Springbok’s 29-17 win over the Wallabys.
The Wallabys, to their credit, came flying out of the gates and drew first blood, with the crowd hardly sitting back into their seats after the national anthems, Wallaby fullback Adam Ashley-Cooper finished off some very quick ball from the Australians and scored the first try of the match.
The Springboks, though bloodied, came back and applied a tremendous amount of pressure on the Australians at the breakdown in their own half, which led to Wallaby penalties, which led to Morné Steyn punishing them with penalties. The Boks evenually went ahead 9-7. The Wallabys countered with a nice drop from Eric Barnes to go up 10-9. That would be the last Wallaby lead in Cape Town.
Heinrich Brussow was doing his thing and causing havoc in the breakdown, with 3 turnover balls in the first half alone. The Springboks showed their prowess at the linout, stealing at least 6 Wallaby lineout put-ins.
Second row Victor Matfield, a man better known for his sublime lineout skills, scored a try off a cheeky left footed grubber kick from Springbok prop and captain John Smit.(If I ever tried to do such a thing, my coach would have strangled me)
It was not all negative for the Wallabys, I thought. In the second half, the Wallaby scrum looked really good against the Boks-an area the South Africans were supposed to dominate. The Springboks could have put the game away when both Matt Giteau and flanker Richard Brown were both sin-binned within a minute of each other. Playing two men down for almost 9 minutes, the Wallabys only gave up 3 points to Steyn’s lethal foot. 19 year James O’Connor played with a confidence beyond his years in coming on for an injured Stirling Mortlock. This young man was fearless and flawless on high balls(and truth be told, Australia did a very good job fielding the high kicks that so befuddled the All Blacks last week) and he was fast and elusive running ball in hand on the counter. This young man looks to have quite a future, and played a much better game than in his opening game against the All Blacks in Auckland a few weeks back. His fielding of a loose ball by Springbok wing Bryan Habana eventually lead to a try by Matt Giteau. It may have only made the score more respectable, but I thought the Wallabys looked better in losing today than the All Blacks did in the past two weeks.
The Springboks did what they had to do in these past 3 games: They not only won, but did not give up any bonus points to the All Blacks and Wallabys. They did the rugby version of holding serve. Now let’s see if Morné Steyn and his Springbok road show can travel as well as they play in South Africa.
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