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Back to reality for the Wallabies as world champion Springboks smash hoodoo
By Iain Payten
There are a few ways South Africa might have planned to break a long-standing hoodoo at Suncorp Stadium.
Play like world champions, stir up a stadium half-full of mad, green-shirted Boks fans, and then hope the Wallabies make it all a bit easier by repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot.
All three duly occurred – and the hoodoo was long-forgotten – as the Springboks rolled to a 33-7 win over Australia in Brisbane on Saturday afternoon. The 26-point margin equalled the Boks’ biggest ever win in Australia.
After the good vibes of Joe Schmidt’s undefeated first three Tests in July, the Wallabies were given a sharp dose of reality by the Boks, who had only won once in the previous eight visits to Suncorp Stadium, and the single win was 11 years ago.
But from the moment the venue lost its ‘home’ advantage – roughly a half of the 52,019 crowd were in green jerseys – the Wallabies were up against it, and it only went downhill from there.
Compounding the Springboks’ size advantage, and superior experience as back-to-back Rugby World Cup winners, the Wallabies put themselves under enormous pressure with consistently poor discipline.
Kurt-Lee Arendse of the Springboks runs with the ball.Credit: Getty Images
Via a penalty count that ended up 15-12 – and a poor kicking game – the Wallabies repeatedly gave the visitors easy access to their half. And when you give the world No.1 a comfy campsite in your 22, add Springbok tries to death and taxes.
The Springboks scored three times in the first half and another two in the second, showing exactly why they are the world No.1 side.
The Wallabies scored a consolation try late, when the Springboks were down to 13 men. After trailing 21-0 at half-time, it allowed the hosts to take some solace from a more respectable 12-7 second-half deficit.
Mostly, however, the Wallabies struggled to penetrate a monstrous Boks’ defence and chances to score tries in the second half were botched with errors near the line. They made nine visits to the Springboks red zone and only scored once. The Wallabies’ scrum was under pressure from the first minute, too.
Len Ikitau of the Wallabies offloads.Credit: Getty Images
Some flickering bright lights came in the physical performances of locks Nick Frost and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, and dogged efforts from back-rowers Harry Wilson and Rob Valetini, too.
But it was mostly a men-against-boys kind of afternoon, and though that’s probably an accurate reflection of where both sides sit in terms of their respective Test maturity, the daunting scale of the rebuild job ahead of the Lions tour next year is now plain as day for Schmidt.
“That’s a benchmark for us,” Schmidt said.
“We’ve had three tests prior to that, but that’s really a starting point up against the really big boys. I think I said during the week that they’re at a different stage of their evolution.
Pieter-Steph du Toit of the Springboks competes.Credit: Getty Images
“They have so much experience, [with] some very mature players who’ve played at the very top level for a long time and very successfully. We have quite a youthful side and a side that are still coming together, but we’ve got to come together better than we did today.
“They don’t give you a lot of breathing space. It was hard to find oxygen in that first half, particularly when we conceded, I think, eight or nine penalties and they didn’t concede any penalties.
“It just made it very, very tough work getting out of our half. Then when we did, we kicked the ball away a couple of times without kicking it accurately. We didn’t get into the aerial contest and then obviously the contest at the breakdown, we just weren’t effective enough there.”
Kolisi said the Boks were pleased to secure a bonus point win at a venue where they’d historically struggled and “is a fortress for Australia”.
Erasmus said he was wary of a Wallabies bounceback in Perth for the team’s second clash next week, saying teams can rebound in a week after a big loss.
“Joe Schmidt is a brilliant coach … and I was certainly very nervous before this game because I never knew what Joe would be cooking up,” Erasmus said.
“But he’s only had four games with the guys. And next week, it will be better. And next week, it will be tougher. I can’t talk for Joe but … he’s busy building something.
“He will turn this team around, just like he turned Ireland. So we start tomorrow morning with a plan.“
There isn’t much cavalry over the rise, however. Taniela Tupou’s availability after his father’s death remains uncertain, Fraser McReight is still a few weeks away and even Frost is in doubt given a bad laceration to his eye. Filipo Daugunu limped off at Suncorp, but Marika Koroibete is set to return.
Options for more power up front aren’t readily available with no Will Skelton in the squad and the aerial winger in Australia’s Super Rugby teams was just unveiled in Roosters training gear, after being brushed by Schmidt.
“There’s guys who will improve what they’re delivering, and maybe it won’t be improved in time for next Saturday, but we do have to have a bit of a long-term plan,” Schmidt said.
“We have got a much younger side than the South Africans. We’ve got a lot less caps, we’ve got a lot less experience, and therefore, my belief, if we chop and change too much, then it’s very hard to grow the cohesion.”
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