Following a 23-18 victory for Australia over South Africa in their Rugby Championship game, here’s our five takeaways from the Brisbane clash.
All Blacks won’t fear this: Next up for the Springboks is a clash with New Zealand in Wellington next week, but on this form the hosts will not be shaking in their boots. Australia dominated the second-half in Brisbane as South Africa’s basic skills were lacking while they could not put together any sustained pressure in the Wallaby half. 18 Bok possession turnovers will excite the All Blacks who feast on such gifts.
Disruption doesn’t knock Wallabies: Losing David Pocock and Israel Folau in the days leading up to the game was compounded by Adam Coleman’s withdrawal hours before kick-off due to family reasons. Cue several injuries during the match in Brisbane but still the Wallabies dug in and got their first win of the Rugby Championship campaign. On days like this teams can take so much and this Wallaby group have done just that.
One hamstring Hooper: Following on from the above, special praise must go to captain Michael Hooper. The tireless flank was struggling with an ongoing hamstring complaint in the first-half and had they lost him to the sideline maybe the result would have been different. Australia desperately needed a captain’s knock from Hooper – especially with Pocock absent – and he battled on to lead his side to a much-needed win.
Quiet day for the Springbok backline: In the second-half especially the Springboks were starved of possession and that meant finishers such as Aphiwe Dyantyi, Cheslin Kolbe and Willie le Roux saw little ball. Le Roux in particular made several handling errors in tough conditions as he could not press his game on the Wallabies, with the Springbok backline living off scraps in a scoreless second period from them.
Will Genia shows them how it’s done: The experienced scrum-half played the ideal game on a slippery surface and it was no coincidence that head coach Michael Cheika kept him on for the 80 plus minutes at Suncorp Stadium. Genia knows every blade of grass at his former home and kept the Wallabies ticking with ball in hand with smart option taking and moments of individual class thrown in. He looks back to his best.