By Jon Page
For the first time ever in the professional era, South Africa win their fourth match in a row against Australia, despite an inexperienced squad and playing away from home.
In wet conditions at Optus Stadium in Perth, Noah Lolesio kicked off long for Australia, but under immense pressure from Marika Koroibete, Elrigh Louw knocked the ball on for an Australian scrum.
After coming off second best in the scrum battle to South Africa last week, Australian fans will have breathed a collective sigh of relief as Nic White was able to whip the ball away cleanly from a stable scrum platform, before South African hooker Johan Grobbelaar was penalised at the breakdown for playing the 9. With this infringement so close to the posts, Lolesio kicked the 3 points to give the Wallabies a lead with 2 minutes on the clock.
After a period of mistakes from both sides, Tom Wright prevented an almost certain try, dislodging the ball from Makazole Mapimpi’s grasp in a thundering challenge, reminiscent of Koroibete’s try saving tackle on Mapimpi last year.
However, this hard work was undone by a Hunter Paisami breakdown penalty which was kicked over to level the scores by Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. In a lethal one-two punch, just one minute later a Paisami knock on was picked up on the South African 22, with Mapimpi grubber kicking the ball through for Aphelele Fassi to score the first try of the game for South Africa, against the run of play.
Despite a missed kick from Feinberg-Mngomezulu, the Springboks had opened up an 8-3 lead with 16 minutes on the clock.
Over the next 10 minutes both Lolesio and Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked their side a penalty each, with the score reading 11-6 in favour of South Africa after 25 minutes played. A Cheslin Kolbe interception looked set to increase the score deficit even further, but in a moment of superb scramble defence from Wright, he forced a knock on.
A superb break by Lolesio saw him sidestep Mapimpi before chipping and chasing his own kick. A tackle off the ball by Morne van den Berg on Lolesio earned the Wallabies a penalty, which Lolesio duly slotted with 5 minutes left of the half.
At the restart Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked the ball straight out, with the Wallabies awarded a midfield scrum. A 50:22 by Wright gifted the Wallabies field position and after earning themselves a penalty Lolesio kicked for goal, but shanked the effort as the half time whistle went.
Within just 2 minutes of the second half starting, the Springboks had scored again. After a breakdown penalty was given against the Wallabies, White refused to hand over the ball and his team were marched back another 10 metres. This followed a first half warning for his conduct by referee Paul Williams, and this extra 10 metres gave South Africa a lineout 5 metres from the Australian line.
In a brutal lineout drive, Marco Van Staden dived over for the try, which was duly converted by Feinberg-Mngomezulu, increasing the deficit to 9 points. A fourth Lolesio penalty kick followed, narrowing the difference between the sides to one score.
Despite the conditions, both sides still went to the air, before a Lolesio infringement gained the Springboks a 5-metre lineout. From that far out there was no stopping the South African lineout drive and Malcolm Marx scored a try, miraculously managing to remain bound to the maul after slipping over. Handre Pollard, the double world cup winner lined up the kick but hit the crossbar from out wide, with the score now reading Australia 12-23 South Africa.
Despite some sustained Australian pressure in their 22, the Springboks held firm. In lethal South African fashion, after a Pieter Steph du Toit turnover, they marched all the way up the field and after multiple Australian infringements on their line, debutant Seru Uru was given a yellow card. Marx grabbed a second maul try after Pollard kicked to the corner and Pollard did not miss the extras this time.
In the dying embers of the match, a Pollard cross-field kick to du Toit looked certain to yield a try, but a Jesse Kriel knock on over the line stifled the attack. The match finished with a scoreline of Australia 12-30 South Africa after a Wilson offload went into touch in the last play.
AUSTRALIA: 12
TRIES: 0
CONVERSIONS: 0
PENALTIES: 4 (Lolesio 2, 20, 35, 46)
DROP GOALS: 0
YELLOW CARDS: 1 (Uru 72)
RED CARDS: 0
15. Tom Wright 14. Andrew Kellaway 13. Len Ikitau 12. Hunter Paisami 11. Marika Koroibete 10. Noah Lolesio 9. Nic White 8. Harry Wilson 7. Carlo Tizzano 6. Rob Valetini 5. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto 4. Angus Blyth 3. Allan Alaalatoa (c) 2. Josh Nasser 1. Angus Bell
Replacements
16. Billy Pollard 17. James Slipper 18. Zane Nonggorr 19. Tom Hooper 20. Seru Uru 21. Tate McDermott 22. Ben Donaldson 23. Max Jorgensen
SOUTH AFRICA: 30
TRIES: 4 (Fassi 16, Van Staden 42, Marx 63, 72)
CONVERSIONS: 2 (Feinberg-Mngomezulu 43, Pollard 73)
PENALTIES: 2 (Feinberg-Mngomezulu 15, 25)
DROP GOALS: 0
YELLOW CARDS: 0
RED CARDS: 0
15. Aphelele Fassi 14. Cheslin Kolbe 13. Jesse Kriel 12. Lukhanyo Am 11. Makazole Mapimpi 10. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 9. Morne van den Berg 8. Elrigh Louw 7. Pieter-Steph du Toit 6. Marco Van Staden 5. Ruan Nortje 4. Salmaan Moerat (c) 3. Thomas du Toit 2. Johan Grobbelaar 1. Jan-Hendrik Wessels
Replacements
16. Malcolm Marx 17. Ox Nche 18. Vincent Koch 19. Eben Etzebeth 20. Kwagga Smith 21. Grant Williams 22. Manie Libbok 23. Handre Pollard
5 THINGS WE LEARNED: AUSTRALIA 12 – 30 SOUTH AFRICA
2024 RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 2
1. The Contrast in Leadership – Springboks’ stand-in captain steps up
In a much-changed South Africa side, Salmaan Moerat was given the honour of leading the Springboks, for only the second time in his career and for the first time against tier one opposition. On what should have been a day to celebrate, he had to leave the field injured early in the first half.
However, test centurion and former captain Eben Etzebeth is more than an ample replacement, with world player of the year Pieter Steph du Toit and mercurial flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu helping to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and lead by example. With Malcolm Marx and. Handre Pollard joining the fray in the second half, there were always experienced leaders to guide this side from the first kick to the final whistle.
This is in stark contrast to the Wallabies side. In the first half Allan Alaalatoa led from the front, able to provide stability in the scrum. But after his removal the captaincy went to James Slipper, a test centurion and proven leader, but after his injury the cupboard looked bare for leaders on the pitch to turn to when the going got tough.
It appeared Harry Wilson, who was not even named in the gameday 23 for either test match against Wales taking the reins. With injuries to captain Liam Wright, occasional club captain Fraser McReight, matchday captains Alaalatoa and Slipper, experienced campaigner Kurtley Beale, Western Force captain Jeremy Williams and the absence of World Cup captain Will Skelton, Schmidt will need to find or develop leaders ready for their next match against Argentina.
2. The Bomb Squad: Rassie’s game plan is as explosive as ever
With a 6-2 bench split seemingly the usual for Rassie Erasmus’ side, his bench today showed their impact is based on quality, not just quantity of forwards entering the fray. Kwagga Smith was up to his destructive best both sides of the ball and when scrums went uncontested due to injuries, the Springbok pack used their strength and technique to repeatedly dominate the driving maul off the lineout instead, resulting in 3 second half tries. Their maul defence was also outstanding, preventing the Wallabies from scoring a pushover on multiple attempts.
As well as the added grunt up front, Pollard’s leadership (as mentioned above) was evident to see and he was able to impact the game at inside centre, a position he rarely plays at any level. The added creativity of Grant Williams and Manie Libbok was also impressive to see, demonstrating depth across all positions.
3. Rugby Law and its Interpretation – 50:22 Confusion and HIA replacements
With ever changing laws sometimes the game can be confusing for everyone, including on 2 occasions during today’s clash for both the officiating team and the players. The first occasion was where Tom Wright kicked a 50:22 from a midfield scrum. There seemed to be confusion over whether the ball making contact with the halfway line constituted leaving the Australian half.
The second occasion was in the second half, when loosehead prop James Slipper left the field for a HIA. As Slipper had replaced the injured Angus Bell, the Australians did not have the personnel to safely field a scrum as each prop position is unique in its own right and due to its specialist nature, potentially dangerous for anyone not trained to play there.
The confusion arose over whether Australia could bring on a non-specialist player to replace Slipper, or whether the Wallabies would have to play on with 14 men with the hope Slipper would return on the condition he passed his HIA (he did not). Referee Paul Williams was assured by assistant referee Nic Berry that the match could remain an even contest, so replacement hooker Billy Pollard and number 8 Harry Wilson both took turns in the front row, albeit in uncontested scrums.
This demonstrated great teamwork and communication from the officials but suggest a need for simplicity and (or) clarity over certain rugby laws from World Rugby.
4. The Australian Debutants – Seru Uru makes his moment count despite score-line
Every cloud has its silver lining, and today 2 players, with considerable hype surrounding them both in Australia, earned well deserved debuts for their country. Seru Uru of the Queensland Reds, a powerful lock/back row hybrid with exciting distribution and outstanding physicality came off the bench to secure a lineout ball in the air, demonstrating remarkable composure to catch a wet ball in pouring rain mere seconds after the heavens opened in Perth. A yellow card on his own line blotted his copybook, but that was through cumulative team penalties. He carried hard when the Wallabies attacked and looked to be test calibre.
The second debutant, Max Jorgensen looks to the manor born, which is unsurprising as the son of former Wallaby Peter Jorgensen. Enormous hype has surrounded the 19-year-old since his Waratahs debut in 2023 and he has shown remarkable composure to bounce back into Wallabies contention after injury cruelly robbed him of a debut at last year’s world cup.
He skinned Springbok speedster Makazole Mapimpi with ease, which is no mean feat, and seemed to be the only player able to consistently take high balls in the pouring rain. Although he is young, he could be the secret weapon to get this Joe Schmidt backline scoring tries in this Rugby Championship. At such a young age, he has a long career ahead of him.
5. The Wider Context of this match – Springbok ‘inexperience’ overcomes the Aussies
There are limited takeaways from this match compared to last week. Although this was a relatively inexperienced Springbok side, they still had 15 World Cup winners in the 23, meanwhile the Wallabies growing injury list is full of test standard forwards and experienced campaigners, which makes it tougher to compare this contest rather than two full strength sides.
Regardless, it appears South Africa are developing a level of squad depth and cohesion on a level never seen before, and Joe Schmidt has his work cut out to avoid last place in the Rugby Championship.