Wallabies v Springboks: Australia’s misfiring attack exposed as South Africa roll to another big win
A rolling maul barrage from the Springboks crushed a blundering Wallabies team that now faces some serious questions about the potency of their attack, writes JAMIE PANDARAM.
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A rolling maul barrage from the Springboks crushed a blundering Wallabies team that now faces some serious questions about the potency of their attack.
South Africa steamrolled through Australia’s set-piece defence to score three second half rolling maul tries for a 30-12 victory, while Australia never looked a realistic chance to cross, scoring all their points from four Noah Lolesio penalty goals.
Much of Australia’s attacking chances were wasted with silly errors or dumb kicks that gave the Boks ample opportunity to counter-attack.
If the Wallabies keep playing like this, coach Joe Schmidt will have little hair remaining by the end of The Rugby Championship.
It was the same old story. The Wallabies couldn’t execute under pressure, forced to look second-rate by a second-choice Boks team that was nevertheless ruthless and efficient in defence.
While Australia’s scrum was much improved – they even won the first scrum penalty of the game – much of the second half went to uncontested scrums with a raft of injuries to the Wallabies front rowers.
But Wallabies fans rued the numerous opportunities they wasted in a rain-soaked affair.
A crowd of 58,197 braved the deluge at Optus Stadium, though with the large number of South African fans in the house it felt like Optus Versfeld.
The Wallabies constantly kicked the ball away poorly, particularly in good attacking areas, and South Africa often countered with venom, leading to the first try of the game.
A sensational 17th minute counter-attacking try, finished by fullback Aphelele Fassi, underscored the Boks’ potency.
Lolesio lost the ball in contact, and a quick spread of the ball had winger Makazole Mapimpi unleashed out wide. He put in a grubber, and Fassi outran Andrew Kellaway to pounce on the ball over the line.
The Wallabies missed the chance to take a half-time lead when Lolesio missed a penalty kick attempt after the hooter, leaving the Boks 11-9 ahead at the break.
It was one-way traffic after that.
The Boks stormed out in the second half, scoring a rolling maul try courtesy of backrower Marco van Staden three minutes in.
Malcolm Marx scored the Boks’ next rolling maul try with 15 minutes in the game remaining, giving the visitors a healthy 23-12 lead.
Debutant Seru Uru was sin-binned in the 73rd minute for collapsing a rolling maul. A few seconds later, Marx was in for his second try off another rolling maul.
Schmidt had replaced Allan Alaalatoa and Angus Bell at half-time, but when replacement loosehead James Slipper was forced off with a head injury in the 49th minute, the teams were forced to go to uncontested scrums.
Lolesio had opened the scoring in the third minute with a penalty, before Feinberg-Mngomezulu equalised with one of his own in the 16th.
The next minute, Fassi was celebrating his try.
Australia stayed in touch in a gritty first half battle, but their inability to punch through the Boks defence is a concern.
Their only try so far from their opening two TRC games was when they were playing against a 13-man defence.
Max Jorgensen joined his father Peter as a Wallaby when he entered the field in the 47th minute, and then made a smart break 10 minutes later that was thwarted when Fassi charged down his attempted kick over the top.
Missed lineout throws, dropped balls and breakdown turnovers marked an error-riddled second half from the hosts, who next will embark on a tough two-match tour to Argentina in a fortnight.
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Originally published as Wallabies v Springboks: Australia’s misfiring attack exposed as South Africa roll to another big win
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