The Wallabies were simply outplayed after South Africa broke their 42-year drought in Brisbane. The perfect conditions at Suncorp Stadium delivered some exciting running rugby, particularly in the first half.
The Match
First Half
In the sixth minute the South African’s used their forward pods to crash over to take the early lead.
The Wallabies’ intent to spread the ball wide to tire the big Springbok pack backfired early with the South Africans helping themselves to multiple intercepts. The Wallabies were given a lot of opportunity, especially after Willem Alberts was yellow carded for a deliberate knockdown, but were unable to capitalise.
Both teams traded penalties and while the Wallaby backline looked dangerous, the Springboks led into half time score with the score at 16-6.
Second Half
Christian Leali’ifano slotted penalty goals in the 44th minute to take the score to 16-9 before Michael Hooper was shown a yellow card for a late and dangerous tackle in the 50th minute.
Christian scored another penalty in the 53rd minute to take the score to 16-12.
A brilliant run and chip kick from Bryan Habana set up Jean de Villiers to score in the 60th minute , and then the floodgates opened for South Africa as Willie Le Roux with a great inside ball, and then sliced through the Australian defence to score a try for himself.
The dominance displayed by South Africa, particularly in the scrums, lineout and breakdown was summed up by Greg Martin who described the Wallabies as being ‘brutalised at the breakdown’ and comparing the difference between the two sides as ‘men against boys’.
Despite the loss, there were some good signs for the Wallabies with Quade Cooper, Israel Folau and James O’Connor all linking up well to create opportunities, however they weren’t able to convert these flashes into points.
The Wallabies must improve drastically, especially with their breakdown work, otherwise they will be vulnerable in Perth next week against the Pumas who were competitive against New Zealand tonight.
The Details
Crowd: 43,715
Score & Scorers
[one_half last=”no”]Wallabies: #12
Penalties: Christian Leali’ifano 4
[one_half last=”yes”]South Africa: #38
Tries: Coenie Oosthuizen, Jean de Villiers, Zane Kirchner, Willie Le Roux
Conversions: Morne Steyn 3
Penalties: Morne Steyn 4[/one_half]
Cards & citings
Willem Alberts (Yellow)
Michael Hooper (Yellow)
