The Springboks outplayed the Wallabies by 30-12 in a scrappy match at Optus Stadium in Perth to keep their winning start in the 2024 Castle Lager Rugby Championship going.
The four try to nil bonus point execution kept the Boks at the top of the log. They had a 11-9 lead at the break and bar a fourth Aussie penalty goal, the South Africans never allowed the home side a look-in and pulled away in the second half.
The Springboks scored once in the first half and three times in the second – all from driving mauls – and prevented the Wallabies from crossing their line, which means they’ve conceded only one try in 160 minutes of Test rugby Down Under in the last two weeks.
However, it was far from a classic Test match. The inclement weather and slippery underfoot conditions made handling tough and the fact that the Boks were forced into uncontested scrums early in the second half certainly benefitted the home side.
The Boks would probably have preferred “real” scrums and will lament losing captain Salmaan Moerat in the opening stanza due to a head-knock, while also blowing a number of scoring opportunities.
But overall, it was a job done, as voiced by Moerat’s replacement, Eben Etzebeth, who also took over the captaincy when he came on.
“We wanted this win, it does not happen that often that you get two in a row in Australia,” said Etzebeth afterwards. “We will take a lot of positives from this win, also as we started with 10 changes from the Brisbane game and those players would have gained valuable experience as well.”
The match started the best way possible for Australia. The Boks spilled the kick-off and a minute later, Johan Grobbelaar conceded a penalty which Noah Lolesio landed from 30m out, directly in front, which gave the hosts a 3-0 lead at Optus Stadium.
The wet and slippery conditions affected both sides, but the Boks looked to cope better in the opening 20 minutes. They managed to put some attacks together, but sadly wasted two great scoring opportunities shortly after each other.
First, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu dropped the ball with an open tryline after Cheslin Kolbe created a beautiful breach in the Aussie defence and barely a minute later, Makazole Mapimpi lost the ball as he was going for the line, dislodged by a great cover tackle.
Some redemption followed 15 minutes in for the Bok flyhalf when the Aussies were pinged for not rolling away at the breakdown and Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked his first penalty goal of the match.
Mapimpi also got redemption three minutes later when he kicked ahead for Aphelele Fassi to score a brilliant try.
The Springboks created a turnover near their own 22 from the restart, the ball was sent wide and Mapimpi kicked cleverly ahead for Fassi to run onto the ball for a first try. The conversion was to the left, but Boks were 8-3 up.
Shortly thereafter Moerat had to leave the field for a HIA just before the 20th minute, with Etzebeth coming on for his 124the Test.
Lolesio then kicked a second penalty goal from wide out after the Boks were penalised for holding on at the ruck, but the Boks scored shortly thereafter when good driving play set up a scrum near the Aussie line. Angus Bell was found wanting to keep the scrum up and Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked his second penalty goal from straight in front to push the lead out to 11-6 after 25 minutes.
A third try-scoring opportunity went south as Kolbe intercepted and ran 50m, but he was hauled in by the Aussies and the Boks failed to control the ball.
The hosts were building some momentum in their play. Lolesio had another successful long-range effort after Morne van den Berg was deemed to have made an early tackle and with five minutes to go before the break, the Boks were leading 11-9. The Wallaby flyhalf missed a fairly easy kick on the buzzer.
The Boks started best in the second half. They forced an attacking lineout and from the driving maul, Marco van Staden emerged with the ball and a second Test try. Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted and the Boks were 18-9 up but a fourth penalty goal by Lolesio kept the hosts in range.
A couple of injuries amongst the Aussie front rankers forced them to play with 14 players for a short while, while uncontested scrums were also called. That did not help the Boks, who just brought on Ox Nche and Malcolm Marx, who had no opportunity for the remainder of the match to have a solid scrum.
The Boks then came close with a good lineout drive, but Ruan Nortje was penalised for playing the ball on the ground as they zoomed in onto the Wallaby tryline and another chance was lost.
Rassie Erasmus cleared his bench and again that worked in the Boks’ favour as the likes of Kwagga Smith and Handre Pollard added some nifty touches.
Marx copied Van Staden to score from a lineout drive and although Pollard’s conversion hit the crossbar, the Boks were more comfortable with their 23-12 lead with 15 minutes left to play.
A second try for Marx eased all concerns of an unlikely Aussie comeback and again it was the rolling maul that secured the points – perfectly executing in the trying conditions.
After the previous maul was pulled down by Australia, which resulted in a yellow card for Wallaby debutant Sere Uru, the hosts had not answer for the second effort and Marx was driven over. Pollard added the extras and the Boks were up 30-12 with six minutes left.
Late in the match, the Boks had a final chance as a Pollard cross-kick found Pieter-Steph du Toit on the touchline, but as the big flanker was tackled, his pop-pass to Jesse Kriel went forward and another opportunity was missed.
The Boks would not have minded though, as they did what was needed in a scrappy Test and in the process won back-to-back Tests on Australian soil for the first time since 1971…and will bring the Mandela Challenge Plate back to South Africa.
Scorers:
Australia 12 (9) – Penalty goals: Noah Lolesio (4).
Springboks 30 (11) – Tries: Aphelele Fassi, Marco van Staden, Malcolm Marx (2). Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Handre Pollard. Penalty goals: Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2).
SOURCED FROM THE RUGBY SA WEBSITE.
