By Wayne Smith
“Australian pace attack blitzes South Africa at the start of the Adelaide Oval Test”: a not-uncommon report when it comes to cricket. But a highly unusual one when it comes to rugby.
It is doubtful whether the Wallabies had ever played at such sustained speed in the opening exchanges of an international as they did in Adelaide on Saturday. From the moment Reece Hodge flew high to deflect the kick-off back into the hands of Rory Arnold, there was a slick purpose to everything that Australia did.
Tom Wright’s deft backhander to Rob Valetini out wide, leading to Matt Philip’s sublime late pass to Folau Fainga’a until, ultimately, Fraser McReight crashed over for the try on the eighth phase. The Wallabies’ pace and precision had Springbok heads spinning.
So quickly was the ball being recirculated at the breakdown that as the match wore on the Australians themselves were in danger of being embarrassed by it. Quick as he was, halfback Nic White struggled at times to get to the next ruck to shift the ball.
As it always does, momentum shifted, and South Africa began to make Australia work much harder for its points, but still the pace of the game rarely slackened. And there is a reason for that.
Save for intimidating hooker Malcolm Marx and back-rower Kwagga Smith, the Boks rarely commit numbers to contest the rucks. Aside from attempting to strip the ball in the initial contact, they spread out and look to achieve turnovers in other ways, mainly by targeting upright runners and holding them off the ground until the referee awards them the scrum feed.
The Wallabies celebrate their win in Adelaide.Credit:Getty
Australia can’t expect basically uncontested rucks when it plays New Zealand next month. All Black coach Ian Foster didn’t get very far with his claim that Argentina slowed the ball down illegally in their loss to the South Americans on Saturday, with Pumas coach Michael Cheika cheekily retorting that the Kiwis would know all about it because they invented it.
So, it may have been only a temporary respite at the Adelaide Oval. Perhaps a very temporary one indeed because indications are that Smith and Marx will play a more substantial role in the re-match at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
Yet, as the cricket scribes might venture, Australia exploited the favourable Adelaide conditions quite brilliantly. Openside flanker McReight shone as his many supporters knew he could, but he did so on the back of a hard-working pack. Philip was exceptional, so too props James Slipper and Allan Ala’alatoa.
Yet, it’s unlikely Adelaide’s conditions will be replicated in Sydney. For starters, the re-match will be at night. The late-afternoon sun made things difficult at times in Adelaide but not as difficult as the dew on the grass at Allianz. There presumably will be more fumbles and hence more scrums. And that will entirely benefit the Boks.
The other major downside of playing a daytime Test is that it clashes with major club and schoolboy games around the country. Rugby has enough competition from other codes. It doesn’t need to compete with itself.
There are other concerns. Australia lost four lineout throws before halftime and, although Fainga’a is highly valuable in general play, it might be time to return to the more reliable Dave Porecki.
Overall, however, there is much to celebrate, topped by Marika Koroibete’s astonishing if slightly questionable try-saver. Yet how much arm needs to be involved in a tackle before referees rule out a possible shoulder charge? No-one was injured in the collision and long after all other memories of this Test have faded away, Koroibete’s tackle will still be talked about in awed tones. Let’s celebrate it.
There was, however, one major disappointment and it centred around referee Paul Williams’ handling of Faf de Klerk’s sneaky punch at White. No problem with his decision to yellow card de Klerk for 10 minutes because he clearly made contact with the head. But Williams then erred badly in how he dealt with White.
After all, if a player remains on the ground after receiving a blow to the head, he clearly is seriously injured, perhaps far more seriously than even he might believe. It was foolhardy of the referee to allow White to get up and play on as though absolutely nothing had happened. At the very least, he should have sent him off for a compulsory Head Injury Assessment.
It’s tricky to say how long such an inspection might take but I would figure a sensible precaution would have been to keep White out of the game for at least 10 minutes. For his own good, of course.
Of course, if White hadn’t gone to ground then there would have been no need for such action. But head injuries are way too serious to be trifled with.
Aren’t they, Nic?
Watch every match of The Rugby Championship on the Home of Rugby, Stan Sport. Continues this weekend with All Blacks v Argentina (Saturday 4pm AEST) and Wallabies v South Africa (Saturday 7pm AEST). All matches streaming ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport.
