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THE Springboks produced their best performance Down Under in more than a decade as they opened their Castle Lager Rugby Championship on a high note with a 33-7 win over a poor Wallabies side in Brisbane yesterday.
While it was impressive and powerful, dominant in every aspect, it was far from perfect as the Boks conceded three late yellow cards to allow Australia onto the scoreboard late in the game and left at least four tries out on the field.
Even though the Boks discipline late in the game was not good enough, one thing is clear. The Springboks may be back-to-back World Cup holders, but they are getting better. The inclusion of players such as Elrigh Louw, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Ben-Jason Dixon have only strengthened them.
For the first time in decades, there is a real belief that the Boks can become that team they have always dreamed of, a team that dominates between World Cups. In essence, only the All Blacks have ever achieved this, but there is a real sense that this Bok team can move into a different league.
Of course, we should not get too far ahead of ourselves. Australian rugby is in shambles, despite their wins over an equally poor Welsh side in July. Australia are currently sandwiched between Italy and Fiji in ninth on the World Rankings.
And in this regard, the scoreline mirrors what we would expect from a top-ranked team against No 9.
Real mental scars in Brisbane
But that would be too simplistic. There are very real mental scars from previous Bok tours to Australia and the fact the Boks have only won three times before in Brisbane makes this win all the more special. While it was not perfect, it was an indication that mentally this is a far tougher Bok team than before.
The wealth of experience and youthful exuberance have been moulded very well. Even the loss of both RG Snyman and Ruan Nortje before the game did not faze the team as they reshuffled and still dominated up-front.
And it was not as if there were not a few talking points.
Andrew Kellaway dropped Cobus Reinach on his head after lifting him in a tackle and got just a yellow card.
Given that the Boks received yellow cards for a deliberate knockdown (Jesse Kriel) and repeated infringements (Marco van Staden), it makes a bit of a mockery of the bunker system if the two are equated as the same, not to mention if we even remember Nic White’s Oscar performance after being tapped by Faf de Klerk two years ago that also received a yellow card.
The fact that the card went to the bunker and did not return a red shows that rugby still has a very long way to go before head contact is taken seriously. If dropping a player on his head, however slight, is not seen as a tough sanction, then it makes the rest of the argument rather invalid.
And that is especially true when the Rugby Championship is trying out the 20-minute red card trial. Australia had a much better opening quarter of the second half, winning ground and looking a bit more settled.
But time and again the Bok defence stopped them, with a number of key turnovers coming from the likes of Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp and others to keep them away from the Bok line.
Almost as if on cue, and with the arrival of the majority of the bomb squad, the Boks surprised by breaking early from a five-metre scrum, and were left smiling as quick ball from Grant Williams put Kwagga Smith in around the corner and next to the posts. — SuperSport
Try of the night
The try of the night would come two minutes later, as Kriel broke through the midfield and ran 30 metres before seeing Arendse out of the corner of his eye and sending a long pass to the sideline for the flying winger to add another to his tally of tries.
Malcolm Marx was dispatched for head contact in a tackle where both players were bent at the hips, while Van Staden followed shortly afterwards for a soft moment when he was caught not rolling away fast enough.
Kriel also was carded, mistiming an intercept as the Boks played the last 13 minutes with 13 men and will know that after two yellows against Portugal, they need to get their discipline much better.
But even with those work-ons, and a lot more work to do on attack by the team before the All Black back to back tests, this was a night to celebrate.
Winning in a place that Bok teams have suffered so much in the past, no matter how strong the opposition are, is a rare feat. And the Boks have buried another ghost.
And they are only going to get better.
Scorers
South Africa — tries: Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kurt-Lee Arendse (2), Kwagga Smith. Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (4).
Australia — try: Hunter Paisami. Conversion: Tom Lynagh. — SuperSport
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