Australia beat the Springboks 25-17 in a Rugby Championship match played in Adelaide on Saturday.
The Boks scored two late tries through Kwagga Smith to make the result look more respectable, but the reality is Jacques Nienaber’s side were outplayed and again caught out by the Wallabies. The last time the Boks won in Australia was in 2013.
Nienaber’s team have now won three and lost three this year.
It was a frustrating first 40 minutes by the Boks, who started slowly and went behind early on by 10-0, but then they dominated the rest of the half, without any reward.
Wallabies loosie Fraser McReight scored a few phases after the start of the game after his teammates had taken the ball through a few phases, and by the eighth minute the home team were 10-0 up after a Noah Lolesio penalty.
The Boks then slowly worked their way into the contest and won a number of penalties, but on two occasions Handre Pollard missed his shots at goal. In the 24th minute he finally nailed one to get the visitors on to the scoreboard and from then on the Boks just about set up camp in Wallabies territory.
The hosts also lost wing Tom Wright to the sin bin but whatever the Boks threw at the Wallabies they were able to repel.
The Boks won several penalties, scrums and lineouts; they set up the driving maul and they took the ball wide, but they couldn’t make it count. And on the stroke of half-time Faf de Klerk was yellow carded for accidentally slapping his opposite, Nic White, in the face when he was going for the ball at a scrum, further frustrating the Boks.
And it got a whole lot worse in the second half.
Ten minutes into the period, Marika Korobeite finished off a good build-up period by his team by stepping Pollard for a good try and not long after that McReight scored his second try after the Boks had been caught out at a ruck and Lolesio had broken through the defence.
At 22-3 up thee Boks had it all to do and not even the introduction of several replacements helped the Boks’ cause. They looked beaten and devoid of ideas, out-foxed again by the Wallabies, who took their chances and made the Boks pay for some sloppy play.
Lolesio then knocked over a 65th minute penalty to make it 25-3 for his team.
Some frantic play by the Boks at the end saw Kwagga Smith go over on two occasions, to make the score a little more respectable, but it is a defeat that will hurt the Boks.
