Summary
After Australia dominated in Adelaide, South Africa turned the tables in Sydney. Two contrasting results providing more questions than answers.
The Springboks were much-changed but the reshuffle worked. They sprinted out of the blocks and never relinquished the momentum. There were few highlights, but the most memorable was undoubtedly the arrival on the international scene of teenager Canan Moodie. His debut try, leaping over Marika Koroibete without a care in the world, will be replayed for years to come.
Around that moment of magic there was little else to rhapsodise about. Three yellow cards, endless turnovers, constant niggle, and innumerable witless kicks made for a scrappy spectacle on what should have been a banner night for the revamped Sydney Football Stadium.
As James Slipper commented post-match, the Wallabies never fired a shot. They were poor in all facets of the game, especially at the breakdown in possession, and Rennie’s 6-2 interchange split came unstuck with injuries to Noah Lolesio and Hunter Paisami.
Once again Australian supporters are left scratching their heads wondering who the real Wallabies are: the side thumped tonight and in Argentina, or the ones that flourished in Adelaide? What better way to find out than a Bledisloe double-header?
Join us back here on Thursday 15 September for the first instalment. Until then, thanks for joining me, and stay tuned for all the reaction and analysis.
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The Bledisloe Cup now looms on the horizon and it isn’t going to be welcomed as gleefully by Australia as expected after today’s results.
Australian skipper James Slipper didn’t pull any punches.
It was disappointing. I felt like the first half we played down our end of the field and put ourselves under pressure. A poor week of discipline. We spoke about it this week and it’s disappointing to put ourselves under pressure. It felt like we didn’t fire a shot. We knew what sort of game was coming in those conditions. Big set-piece and kicking games and it got stuck down our end.”
My POTM, Siya Kolisi, was typically evenhanded in his post-match comments.
We just took the opportunities this week. I think last week we created so many opportunities in the first half and we didn’t take any of them. Today we took most of the opportunities that we got. Our system was good. It has been good the past couple of weeks. Just the courage that the boys showed. People are hurting back home. It has been a long drought for us. 11 games without a win here and it is great for us as a group.”
Stand-in fly-half Damian Willemse is named player of the match. Not sure he would have been my choice in such a breakdown dominated contest.
Jesse Kriel was understandably happy with his team’s display. “Awesome game today. I think that the boys pitched up,” the centre told Channel 9. “We spoke about it this week. We really want to get one past the Wallabies over here in Australia. Something that we have been struggling in the past couple of years. They are a quality time and showed that last week. Defensively we stood up and we knew what they could do with ball if hands. We bounced back.”
Full-time: Australia 8-24 South Africa
Plenty of incident, not a huge amount of quality rugby. South Africa deserved victors.
Updated
Yellow Card! South Africa (Le Roux, 79)
South Africa down to 13 men with Le Roux still pinged for his deliberate knock-on.
Hodge misses the conversion.
TRY! Australia 8-24 South Africa (Samu, 79)
A late dash from the Wallabies. First they earn a scrum penalty, then gain more metres with a tap penalty. Inside South Africa’s 22 White is busy recycling the ball and gold jerseys hammer the line. Space opens up on the left and a try beckons – but there’s a deliberate knock-on! No bother, advantage is called and the pass is found belatedly and Samu touches over in the corner.
77 mins: Kellaway gets the crowd to clear their throats with a jinking run down the left but things get too cute in the next phase and Koroibete knocks on. We’re ready for the final whistle ref.
76 mins: Australia try to run off the back of scrum near halfway. The angles are deep and the ball is slow and phase after phase drift away forcing a long desperate kick. Yuk.
74 mins: South Africa are on the cusp of ending a few hoodoos. The Wallabies are back in no-man’s-land. Plus ça change.
Conversion! Australia 3-24 South Africa (Steyn, 73)
Francois Steyn steps off the bench to hammer a beautiful curling conversion from the left touchline.
Yellow Card! South Africa (Mapimpi, 72)
The try-scorer is sent to the bin for his reaction on Koroibete. Play will restart with an Australian penalty on halfway for Etzebeth roughing up Alaalatoa.
The TMO concludes “everything starts after the actions of 11 green”.
The TMO confirms the try, and then takes a look at the afters, beginning with Etzebeth throwing his weight around. “Yellow card” is clearly audible on ref mic.
TRY! Australia 3-22 South Africa (Mapimpi, 71)
That was like a replay of last week when Koroibete cannonballed into the South African winger. The Australian tried in vain this time around, and when he failed, Mapimpi made him know about it and jerseys flew in from all angles.
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South Africa confirm their dominance with a flying Mapimpi diving over in the left corner. But that’s only a sidenote to an all-in that erupts as bodies collided on the line, with spot fires soon breaking out all over the place!
The TMO is going to be busy.
“Good afternoon Jonathan,” emails a delighted Trover Tutu, “from a Cape Town where the sun has come out to celebrate a dominant Springbok performance. Long may it last.” Continuing the meteorological pathetic fallacy, it is cold and damp in Sydney.
69 mins: Valetini has put in a shift and again he hits the line hard to set up quick ball and go-forward. He looks to have earned a penalty but not for the first time tonight the Wallabies lose it when Porecki is pinged for high contact at the ruck.
67 mins: South Africa, bar a couple of moderate alarms, have controlled this match from the kick-off. That said, they have not threatened an awful lot despite their domination, and for the umpteenth time they cough up cheap ball when more was on offer.
65 mins: Lovely lineout, muscular maul, cheeky chip and chase, and Australia have to accept the line dropout.
63 mins: Swain disrupts the lineout and Valetini completes the steal! A morale booster deep in defence for the Wallabies – can it spark a comeback? No. Kolisi – man of the match by a mile – completes another breakdown masterclass to set up his side in attacking territory. There’s little invention with ball in hand – not that there’s any urgency for South Africa to be – but it makes Valetini’s turnover all the more frustrating. Le Roux then misses a long range drop goal. Champagne rugby this is not. It’s not even sparkling white wine from a region outside of eastern France that cannot – for legal reasons – be called Champagne.
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62 mins: A more conventional lineout is caught and offloaded and around the back de Allende gathers momentum and drives 10m after contact to cross the try line – but he’s in no danger of being able to touch down. The Springboks are again invited to kick to the left corner.
60 mins: South Africa pinch Fainga’a’s throw and this scrappy stop-start game has another turnover. The Springboks play the conservative game, which is fine when White kicks out on the full with his clearance. Marx tries to steal the initiative with a quick lineout but it’s all a bit messy. They’re rescued with a knock-on against Samu.
58 mins: Marx peels off the back of the maul and accepts contact but the ball is slow so Hendrikse box kicks. Soon afterwards South Africa are penalised at the breakdown following Wright’s mark.
I’m not going to lie, quite a lot happened then, and I didn’t quite catch all of the timeline. Long story short, the Springboks were on the back foot, on the verge of a yellow card, but now they’re throwing a lineout on halfway.
The Wallaby prop hits the ruck a tad high and it’s an indiscretion that sees the penalty call reversed. Australia’s brief spell in attack is over.
We’ve now got a delay for the TMO to take a look at something Alaalatoa has done at a clearout. Stand by.
55 mins: Another superb lineout, the Wallabies want a maul but South Africa resist. They concede another penalty advantage in the process though so Australia try to attack in broken play. Koroibete tries to do it all himself but the Springboks are wise to it. Valetini hits the line hard – and is taken high. O’Keeffe has a selection of penalties to choose from and it’s unsurprising he has a stern word to Kolisi that another infringement will bring about a yellow card.
54 mins: An excellent deep lineout earns an immediate penalty advantage allowing Australia to go through phases. They probe right, then left, but there are no openings and play returns to the infringement. Another kick to the left corner.
53 mins: Australia just about survive the scrum feed and then just about survive a ruck in midfield before Koroibete chips and chases dangerously. Play is called back for a Kolisi offside. Hodge kicks to the left corner. The Wallabies have a rare attacking platform.
51 mins: Excellent kick-chase this time from the Wallabies earns an attacking penalty. Holloway was determined, showing the spirit of the early stages in Adelaide, but moments like that have been few and far between.
50 mins: Another superb lineout from South Africa and the phases off the back are now starting to push the Australian line backwards. Kolisi twice makes ground as an attack gathers an air of inevitability about it – that is until le Roux throws a Hollywood cutout pass that spends about 20 seconds in the air, long enough for White to intercept on the right wing. What was he doing out there!?
48 mins: South Africa are happy to kick at every opportunity now – sometimes high, sometimes tactically – and Australia are struggling to either run clear or gain ascendancy in kicking exchanges. It’s hard to see how the Wallabies wriggle out of this situation.
46 mins: Rennie spins the magnets and brings on Gordon for Lolesio to try to shake things up for the Wallabies. It doesn’t start auspiciously with a penalty conceded almost immediately after the restart and the Springboks resume their territorial grind.
45 mins: Willemse misses a difficult conversion but South Africa are now in bonus point territory, and it is well deserved.
TRY! Australia 3-17 South Africa (Mostert, 43)
A good solid couple of minutes of unedifying kicking is interrupted by Australia accepting contact near halfway. Nope, time for another scrubby kicking exchange. Le Roux this time saves the day by running into contact from fullback. That sets up the Boks to utilise space on the left and break to the 22. The phases build as the ball comes infield. Catch and pass, catch and pass – the overlap forms on the right… it’s try time! There’s two green jerseys unopposed and Mostert has the honour of crossing.
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41 mins: We’re underway in the second half and South Africa are soon back on the front foot.
The teams are back out at a wet and windy Allianz Stadium. The Wallabies have it all to do.
In better news, I just had a delicious mandarin.
More bad news for the Wallabies during the half-time break with the news that Taniela Tupou is unlikely to come off the bench after injuring his calf during the warm-ups.
Half-time: Australia 3-12 South Africa
The conversion attempt from near the right touchline is woeful from Willemse, and it heralds half-time.
South Africa the dominant side for most of the half and the scoreboard now reflects it with that late try. The Wallabies have not landed a punch.
TRY! Australia 3-12 South Africa (Moodie, 39)
Welcome to Test rugby Canan Moodie! Goodness me. Box kick down the right wing from Hendrikse – meat and drink for Koroibete – until a flying bullet emerges with the flight of the ball to outmark his direct opponent, land like a gambolling Springbok without breaking stride, and cruising to the line. That was world class.
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37 mins: The touring forwards get to work off the back of a lineout and after a couple of mediocre hit-ups Willemse slips de Jager through a gap and the Springboks flood forward. Australia scramble and there’s yet another breakdown penalty against the attacking side. The players are clearly not picking up what O’Keeffe is putting down.
35 mins: Not for long. Another attacking turnover goes against the Wallabies. That’s compounded by a braindead obstruction against Kellaway with Hodge on his outside on the right ready to barrel down the wing. This has been a scrappy forgettable half of rugby.
33 mins: South Africa continue their 100% record from the lineout and they form a maul that squeezes for an age, trying to draw penalty out of Australia, which is duly found. The kick to touch misses its target though and when Hodge bombs the return of serve Moodie errs trying to mark and execute a quick lineout. The Wallabies are back on the attack.
Penalty! Australia 3-7 South Africa (Lolesio, 32)
A lovely old school touch at Allianz Stadium with McReight’s fingertips keeping the ball upright for Lolesio to smash over. Australia will be very happy with that scoreboard after a shocking half.
31 mins: The lineout is good, Valetini hits the line at pace and the Wallabies again go through the phases. It’s not the quickest ball though and South Africa look unthreatened. That is until there’s an unexpected whistle for a high tackle. Australia have a very kickable penalty.
Not for the first time tonight there’s some shoving off the ball, directed predominately at Nic White, the man at the centre of South African ire last week for his involvement in de Klerk’s sin-binning.
29 mins: Aurelia clear, secure the lineout, and begin to work through phases infield. There are some nice combinations involving Valetini and both Paisami and Koroibete, keeping the Wallabies moving, and it eventually earns a penalty. Hodge boots to the left corner. The Wallabies have their first attack!
28 mins: Poor lineout throw from the Wallabies, South Africa are first to the loose ball, but there’s an immediate penalty against the Springboks for entering the ruck incorrectly.
27 mins: Meanwhile Paisami leaves the field for an HIA after being flattened in contact by Kolisi. On comes Kellaway, one of only two backs on Australia’s interchange.
27 mins: Quicker South African lineout this time but again there’s little penetration in midfield. Holloway then almost recovers his own chargedown but the Springboks continue, for a while anyway, until they send up another poor bomb than bobbles out of touch. South Africa have dominated the opening half hour but their inability to attack with any menace keeps the scoreboard relatively even.
26 mins: Another midfield kicking exchange demonstrates Hodge’s aerial prowess, but also the poor execution plaguing the Wallabies so far with Lolesio booting out on the full. It was a matter of millimetres, but the outcome is more South African possession.
25 mins: Wiese again tries to run off the scrum but this time Australia are alive ot it and hammer the No 8 in the tackle. The ball is dislodged backwards and forces the Springboks to improvise, which they do nicely with a crossfield kick to Moodie, but he’s isolated and has to throw a hail Mary pass inside that doesn’t find a teammate.
23 mins: South Africa are more decisive, Wiese driving into contact off the back of a Springbok scrum. Holloway is then fortunate not to be binned for a deliberate knock-on when he fails to intercept stepping out of the line.
21 mins: Philip is back on to make it 15 v 15. The Wallabies will be delighted not to have shipped any more points in his absence. Meanwhile, White peels off the back of the scrum to the right but he isolates himself and ends up having to float a long hospital pass out wide to Wright who grasses the half-volley. This is not good from the Wallabies. Not good at all.
19 mins: Oh boy, de Allende makes an almighty hash trying to return a White dropout and Australia have their first scrum feed of the night near halfway. Awful error.
18 mins: Kolisi darts off the back of another secure lineout but Mostert has hands of stone on his inside and there’s a knock-on. Very ‘stay in your lane’ areas there with the back-rowers.
16 mins: The tourists are playing with real intent and need to cash in on their bright start, especially with the man advantage, but when they go infield there’s little invention and an unnecessary urgency to kick. Again they look for an unnecessary garryowen, there’s a lazy offside on the play, and Hodge makes them pay with a monster penalty clearance that turns defence into attack. That is until Alaalatoa runs into a green wall and there’s another turnover. The Wallabies have not yet started this match.
14 mins: Another well executed lineout in Australia’s half keeps South Africa rumbling. The maul is a work of art and cruises 20m downfield. The ball is finally released on the 22 but the kick ahead is unthreatening and Australia can scramble and eventually boot clear.
12 mins: Paisami hits the line hard off a flat ball but he ends up in an awkward position on the turf and the Springboks are soon awarded a turnover penalty. The referee has a stern word with Kolisi and Slipper about the behaviour of both sides at the breakdown.
Yellow Card! Australia (Philip, 10)
To add insult to injury Matt Philip is sent to the bin for failing to retreat ten metres at the award of the tap penalty. Nightmare start for the Wallabies, in stark contrast to Adelaide.
TRY! Australia 0-7 South Africa (de Allende, 10)
The lineout is flawless, the ball comes out the back and infield for the phases to build. Another early penalty advantage in the drive allows Willemse to show his quick feet but for all his latteral movement there’s little forward. Play stalls so the penalty is finally awarded – it’s taken quickly, the drive to the line is inches short, but the clearout is quick, two passes are caught simply and de Allende is under the posts. A deserved early try for South Africa.
Willemse cannot miss the conversion.
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8 mins: Another lineout win for South Africa on attacking 22 on their left. They keep the ball in for an age in a maul and suck out a penalty advantage. They work through some slow phases with consistent marginal gains but eventually play is called back and they can kick to the left corner.
6 mins: It’s a safe first lineout for the Wallabies, and it precedes a kicking exchange that favours South Africa, despite an excellent take from Hodge. The Boks force the turnover and attack directly, looking to exploit space on the left, but the bounce of the ball doesn’t favour Mapimpi. This is a much more dynamic version of the Springboks than we saw a week ago.
4 mins: South Africa nail the first lineout of the night on attacking 22. Off the back they rumble forward with a series of quick phases. Penalty advantage in point blank range allows the Springboks to expand, but after a missed target and a hurried chip chase the advantage isn’t called back and Australia gain a lineout.
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2 mins: South Africa accept the kick-off and soon box kick down the right where Koroibete starts where he left off in Adelaide with a flying mark. Australia respond with a box kick of their own down the right but after the Springboks begin to counter there’s an offside call against a gold jersey and the first territorial gain goes to the visitors. An enterprising start from both outfits considering the conditions.
Kick-off
We’re underway at Allianz Stadium…
Anthems belted out, Welcome to Country smashed by Lloyd Walker, referencing his own try at this venue in 1989, now it’s time to go.
It has been remiss of me not to point out yet that in the earlier match New Zealand put Argentina in their place with a resounding triumph in Hamilton. That result means the Wallabies have a chance to put daylight between themselves and the chasing pack at the top of the Rugby Championship table.
The big lads are out of the sheds and onto the turf, Australia in their gold jerseys, South Africa in green.
New Zealander Ben O’Keeffe is tonight’s referee. His compatriot Paul Williams is among the assistants, while another Kiwi Brendon Pickerill continues as TMO. Williams and Pickerill did not make any new South African friends in Adelaide.
By the way, it is wazzing sideways onto that holy soil. It’s going to take plenty of Australian bravery with a slippery ball in hand to avoid this becoming a set-piece-o-rama.
Angus Fontaine was on hand to enjoy the redeveloped SFS relaunch with a rugby league blockbuster.
Traditionalists found footy pies that were a) hot, b) meat-based and c) cooked (slow cooked too!). They washed them down at a buffet of bars where beers were cold, fancy and – until 7pm at least – had 49% off. It meant scenes similar to the six o’clock swill as fans filled their boots in double-time at half-price. Queues an hour before the game were 10 minutes back to front.
“It’s time for our modern day heroes to write their chapter on this holy soil,” preaches Channel 9 with the kind of bombast that makes me question the benefit of functioning ears.
Tonight’s match is an important milestone in the history of the Sydney Football Stadium. It is the first international sporting event at the expensively redeveloped arena, a process that leaves many issues unresolved, as Emma Kemp reports.
The politics around the Sydney stadium wars are about as tired as the old Allianz, and will continue long after it hosts its first major sporting event on Friday night, when the Sydney Roosters host NRL arch-rivals South Sydney. But the broader questions about Sydney’s sporting infrastructure and how it could best be utilised remain unresolved.
Daniel Gallan has riffed on the Wallaby-Springbok rivalry.
As it has been for months now, the weather in Sydney is rubbish. There’s a southerly gale blowing, showers drifting through, and it’s not warm. “It’s going to be tricky conditions tonight, so penalties and errors will be crucial,” bemoaned James Slipper.
James Slipper has just had a word with the host broadcaster. Discipline was the word of the day.
It’s best never to get carried away where the Wallabies are concerned, but Angus Fontaine can see the green shoots of hope appearing.
Right now it’s a one-Test streak. And too often Wallabies fans have seen that light at the end of the tunnel turn into a train that snuffs hope and smashes golden dreams to smithereens. But beat the world champs again this week in Sydney and Dave Rennie’s men are on a roll with only an out-of-sorts All Blacks outfit between them and a first Bledisloe Cup since 2003. And after that, who knows? There are 13 Tests between now and the 2023 World Cup. Maybe after a season of terrible injuries and dud luck, the Wallabies finally have a hope.
👀 All eyes on Sydney, kick-off in 40 minutes. And what a day for Canan Moodie!#StrongerTogether #StrongerForever #AUSvRSA #CastleRugbyChampionship pic.twitter.com/218fyN32HD
— Springboks (@Springboks) September 3, 2022
South Africa XV
Just the eight changes and a positional switch for the Springboks as they look to bounce back from defeat in Adelaide. Three of these are down to injury with Handré Pollard, Lukhanyo Am, and Pieter-Steph du Toit ruled out, while replacement five-eighth Elton Jantjies has gone down, meaning Damian Willemse moves from 15 to 10. The newcomers include 19-year-old outside back Canan Moodie.
“We selected a team we thought would be best for this match given that we have several players out with injuries and with an eye on how we want to play,” said Nienaber.
🇿🇦 Eight new players in the Bok starting team for Sydney, where Moodie will make his Test debut
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 30, 2022
🗣️ “We let ourselves down in the last two games and we are determined to rectify that”
🔗 https://t.co/9xoC8GG7d7#StrongerTogether #StrongerForever #AUSvRSA #CastleRugbyChampionship pic.twitter.com/jNov1eZUU1
Australia XV
Only one change to Dave Rennie’s 23 with Jake Gordon replacing Tate McDermott on the pine. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
🦘 Your 23 to line up tonight!
— Wallabies (@wallabies) September 3, 2022
🗓 TODAY, 7:35pm AEST
🏟 Allianz Stadium, Sydney
📺 @StanSportAU & @channel9 #Wallabies @eToroAU #AUSvRSA pic.twitter.com/a5bfulUXBf
Preamble
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of Australia vs South Africa in round four of the Rugby Championship. Kick-off at Allianz Stadium in Sydney is 7.35pm AEST/10:35am BST/11:35am SAST.
Round four of the Rugby Championship began with an unfamiliar look to the table with Argentina and Australia on nine points apiece, with heavyweights New Zealand and South Africa languishing well behind. For the Wallabies, tonight’s clash is a chance to cement their status in Southern Hemisphere rugby and prove that last Saturday’s triumph in Adelaide was no one-hit wonder.
“It’s been a challenge for us this year, we haven’t been able to back up a good performance with another one and it’s been spoken about this week,” stand-in captain James Slipper told reporters.
Following a chastening end to their brief tour of Argentina, familiar questions were being asked of Australian rugby, but a comprehensive win over the Springboks a week ago has sparked optimism. The Wallabies matched their vaunted foes up front, showed far more imagination with ball in hand, and defended resolutely when the game was on the line.
All this despite being without a number of key players, none more so than skipper Michael Hooper. His replacement, Fraser McReight, shone. Coach Dave Rennie has the luxury of naming an unchanged XV for the first time in his three years in the hotseat.
It’s a vastly different tale for the visitors with Jacques Nienaber ringing the changes and going in with an entirely new combination in the halves. South Africa could point to a couple of key decisions going against them in Adelaide but nonetheless it was clear not all aspects of their game were in working order.
“All national coaches are potentially two poor games away from being fired,” Nienaber admitted. “That is the reality and one lives with that.”
The Wallabies have now won three on the bounce against the Springboks, and South Africa haven’t tasted victory in Australia since 2013, and Sydney since 1993. Tonight is a golden opportunity for Australia to show they can live up to expectation.
As always there’s plenty to chew over before kick-off. If you want to be a part of it you get in touch via email or tweet me @JPHowcroft if that’s easier.
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