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 dose of reality by the Boks, who had only won once in eight games at Suncorp Stadium, and that win was 11 years ago.
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 some poor kicking – the Wallabies repeatedly gave the Boks easy access to their half, and their size and class inevitably turned the pressure into points.
The Springboks scored three tries in the first half and another two in the second, showing exactly why they are the world No.1 side. Already armed with size and speed, the Boks under Rassie Erasmus are also incredibly smart, and their first try was scored with a revolutionary lineout move that saw a jumper in a back lifting pod pass to an unmarked jumper in a front pod.
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 stifling Boks’ defence and chances to score tries in the second half were botched with panicky passes and dropped balls near the line. The Wallabies’ scrum was under pressure from the first minute, too.
Len Ikitau of the Wallabies offloads.Credit: Getty Images
The bright lights were physical performances from locks Nick Frost and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, and brave efforts from back-rowers Harry Wilson and Rob Valetini.
But it was mostly a men-against-boys 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.
The Springboks’ 21-0 advantage was their biggest half-time lead ever in Australia, and came after a first period where the ominous signs for the hosts began early.
The Wallabies’ poor discipline saw them rack up four penalties inside the first 10 minutes, and that territory allowed the Boks to roll in a first try to skipper Siya Kolisi following the clever lineout move.
Pieter-Steph du Toit of the Springboks competes.Credit: Getty Images
The Wallabies’ gameplan was clearly to challenge the Boks with kicks, but both long and short kicks were poorly executed and led to the ball being simply given away.
The Boks kept building momentum, and though they missed a try after Willie Le Roux was stopped following a linebreak, the reprieve was brief.
More poor kicking and tip-pass handling errors by the Wallabies saw the Boks get the ball back and hammering Australia’s line, and Pieter Steph du Toit barrelled over for a second in the 23rd minute when the defensive numbers ran out for the hosts.
The Wallabies simply couldn’t escape their half and things got worse in the 30th minute, when they went down to 14 men. Andrew Kellaway was binned for a lifting tackle – mercifully it was not upgraded to a red card – but two minutes later Cheslin Kolbe glided through the Wallabies’ defence to score a third try.
Some rare Wallabies attack near half-time came to nothing.
The second half saw the Wallabies continue to surrender easy territory with poor discipline but they had chances to begin a fightback as the clock neared 50 minutes.
Overthrown lineouts released the pressure, however, and the Boks’ win was assured when Kwagga Smith charged over the line in the 62nd minute. A too-easy line break Jesse Kriel a minute later gave a fifth try to winger Kurt-Lee Arendse, and the scoreboard looked like it could turn into cricket score territory with 18 minutes left.
But the Wallabies dug deep, and continued fighting. Referee Luke Pearce, who’d been strict on Australia for most of the afternoon, then turned his attention to the Boks and dished out three yellow cards late. That allowed Hunter Paisami to crash over for a late try, but it was too little, too late.
The Wallabies play the Springboks in a second Test in Perth next week.
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