Australia 30 South Africa 13

 

 Any hopes South Africa held of salvaging the defence of their Tri-Nations title have been all but extinguished.

After two heavy defeats by New Zealand, the Springboks again found themselves on the wrong end of a 30-point reverse yesterday as Australia opened up their campaign with a bang in Brisbane.
You have to go back to 1971 for the last time a South Africa side defeated Australia in the city and they never looked like breaking that losing streak yesterday.

Aside from a third-quarter revival, which yielded tries by Jaque Fourie and Gurthro Steenkamp, South Africa once again found themselves outplayed and out-thought.
Australia may rue not claiming a four-try bonus point after leading 23-3 early in the second half with the Boks reduced to 14 men for the second time in the match. But their victory will have done much to ease the pressure on coach Robbie Deans after England’s victory in Sydney last month, and lifted their confidence ahead of the visit of the All Blacks to Melbourne on Saturday.
In contrast, with no points from three away games, the Springboks are already dependent on others. On the evidence so far, there will be no way back for Peter De Villiers’ dysfunctional unit.
They will no doubt return to South Africa to face an unforgiving public and media having lost three games in succession for the first time since 2007. But of more concern is that South Africa appear to have completely lost their way with the World Cup in New Zealand just over a year away.
Under the captaincy of John Smit, South Africa have the most player-driven approach in both hemispheres, founded on the Super 14 supremacy of the Blue Bulls. But after three all-conquering years, that approach appears to be floundering.
Smit was brutally honest in assessing his side’s shortcomings. Commenting sharply that his side would have to play some rugby before it would be possible to assess the direction they were heading in, he said: “We’re not on the money really on anything.”
“We’re very realistic, how poor, how average we’ve been in most areas in the last three weeks. We’ll be the first to say that we’ve been poor, the defence has been poor, the breakdown’s been poor.”
A deflated De Villiers, who stoked controversy this week after suggesting that referees had favoured New Zealand in the first two Tests, deflected a question about his fitness to coach South Africa to next year’s World Cup.
“I think you must ask my bosses,” he said.
Australia, who in contrast appear to be still building a side for the World Cup, were able to blow away the final remnants of the Springboks’ aura with ease.
Discipline was again a major problem for the Springboks, with Fourie sent to the sin-bin as early as the third minute for a dangerous tackle on Australia No 8 Richard Brown and BJ Botha also shown a yellow card early in the second half for deliberately killing the ball.
The sanctions had little impact on the result, for Australia were able only to land three points via one of Matt Giteau’s four penalties while they held a numerical advantage.
The victory for Australia, who themselves lost Quade Cooper to the sin-bin for a dangerous tackle while Botha was off, instead had its roots in the home side’s high tempo, off-loading and ability to exploit an increasingly malfunctioning Springbok defensive system.
There were encouraging Springbok performances from Ryan Kankowski and Danie Rossouw but Australia possessed all the game-breakers. Rockie Elsom was immense, while David Pocock owned the breakdown, with one all-enveloping tackle preventing a first-half try by Bryan Habana.
With Cooper pulling the strings, Giteau looking back to his line-breaking best and Drew Mitchell and James O’Connor full of incisive pace and running on the wings, Australia’s ability to play to the wide channels and quickly recycle the ball exposed the Springboks’ defensive vulnerabilities.
Four penalties and a try by Mitchell had put Australia 17-3 in front at the interval and they turned the screw soon after the restart with Giteau landing his fifth penalty and O’Connor stretching the lead to 20 points with a penalty after a snaking break by Mitchell.
Fourie made up for his first-half indiscretion by showing great upper-body strength after the hint of a dummy to crash over from a tapped penalty while Cooper was off, and a well-worked line-out move culminated in a try for Steenkamp.
But Genia marked his return from injury by landing the killer blow with a step around Flip van der Merwe before diving inside Schalk Burger.

New Zealand 31-17 South Africa

 

New Zealand broke South Africa's grip on the Tri-Nations rugby title when they beat the defending tournament and world champions 31-17.

These are worrying times for South Africa. The defending Tri-Nations champions have now been laid to waste on successive Saturdays by a New Zealand side whose only concern must be that they are once again peaking too soon in the World Cup cycle.

South Africa have much more immediate concerns to attend to. Their Tri-Nations campaign already looks dead in the water after failing to even pick up losing bonus points during the heavy defeats in Auckland and again in Wellington.

With New Zealand managed to repeat the four-try haul from their opening victory, with touchdowns by Ma’a Nonu, Mils Muliaina, Rene Ranger and Israel Dagg, Graham Henry’s side deservedly find themselves at the top of the table with a maximum return of 10 points and a positive point differential of 34 points.
While South Africa’s set piece was much improved from the first Test and the visitors managed two tries of their own, by Dannie Rossouw and Schalk Burger, this defeat will only add momentum to the growing school of thought that Peter de Villiers’ team is a side on the wane.
De Villiers may have had the luxury of fielding the most capped side in Springbok history, but it looked a mere shadow of the unit that edged out the British and Irish Lions in that gladiatorial showdown last summer.
John Smit remains the outstanding leader in South Africa, but if Bismarck du Plessis had not been sidelined for the entire tournament with a neck injury, the Springbok captain would now find his position under severe threat.
If South Africa’s scrummaging was more aggressive, de Villiers will have been alarmed about his side’s lack of physical intensity at the breakdown and in their failure to jump start their once-vaunted mauling game.
And while the All Blacks for the second weekend in succession looked sharp, precise and fearless in attacking the wide channels, South Africa in contrast often looked static in both attack and defence.
Yet it would be unwise to condemn this Springbok side to the scrapheap and it will be fascinating to see if de Villiers, in what is the biggest test of his controversial tenure, can resist the urge and the outside pressure to do so.
With just over a year to go until the Springboks begin the defence the World Cup in New Zealand, there is little time for a complete overhaul. History has proven that aside from 1995, vast experience has been the common factor in determining the victors.
While Rickie Januarie is a talented footballer and tireless worker, but he is no Fourie du Preez. It is du Preez, the Blue Bulls scrum-half currently sidelined for six months with a shoulder injury, who has made this Springbok side tick for the last three years. He instinctively knows when to put the big men into space, knows when to kick, when to break. Without him, South Africa have lost their fluidity and menace.
The Springboks lack of discipline has also cost them dearly. Just as in Auckland, the visitors yesterday found themselves playing with 14 men during the first half when Danie Rossouw, the replacement for the suspended Bakkies Botha, was sent to the sin bin as early as the fourth minute for a needless scuffle with Richie McCaw.
If the sanction was tough on Rossouw, the All Blacks took full advantage, running in tries by Nonu and Muliaina in his absence. McCaw had been lucky to stay on the pitch himself during the second half when cautioned for conceding a string of penalties by Irish referee Alain Rolland after South Africa had clawed their way back to 13-10.
But such are the fine margins at this level. After McCaw had pinched the ball to disrupt a Springbok attack following Ranger’s touchdown on his debut, the All Blacks killed off the contest through the individual brilliance of Israel Dagg, who goose-stepped his way past Pierre Spies, Schalk Burger and Jacque Fourie for a sensational touch down.
Burger’s late try was of no consequence and for the Springboks there is little time to bind their wounds. Australia await in Brisbane next Saturday, a venue where the Springboks’ record offers little comfort.

New Zealand 32-12 South Africa

New Zealand turned the tables on champions South Africa with a superb victory in the opening match of the Tri-Nations at Eden Park.

Tries from Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Kieran Read and Tony Woodcock helped the All Blacks avoid a fourth loss to the world champions in a year.
South Africa's points came from the boot of Morne Steyn in what was a lacklustre performance from them.
Bakkies Botha was sin-binned for slowing play early in match.
That happened in the 11th minute which led to Dan Carter kicking the first of his 12 points for New Zealand.
 However, Botha, nicknamed "The Enforcer", was lucky to escape punishment as early as the second minute when he followed up his tackle on Jimmy Cowan by headbutting the back of his opponent's head.
Prior to Botha's yellow, the Springboks appeared to have settled quickly into their routine with Steyn putting three points on the board with an early penalty after Carter had missed an early attempt.
But Carter made no mistake when presented with a chance to level the score after the visitors were reduced to 14 men.
The All Blacks then took full advantage of the situation. Full-back Muliaina, who dictated New Zealand's attack, picked up a poor kick from Januarie and advanced 30 metres with a superb run through the defence.
He found the supporting Richie McCaw who delayed his pass perfectly for Smith who went over in the corner. Carter converted to give the home side a 10-3 lead.
A further penalty from Canterbury and Crusaders player followed before Nonu piled more misery on the Springboks.
Nonu's grubber was poorly executed but bounced back in his path and he offloaded to speed-merchant Joe Rokocoko, who took up the running on the left.
Rokocoko then came inside before finding centre Nonu who powered over.
Carter's conversion put his side 20-3 ahead at the hooter and the Springboks were left scratching their heads.
But after the interval, the world champions and defending Tri-Nations champions pegged the All Blacks back.
Two penalties from the boot of Steyn in six minutes, with the second bringing up his 200th point for the Springboks, heaped pressure on New Zealand and it appeared that a fightback was on the cards.
But the All Blacks were determined to avoid a fourth defeat to South Africa in a year and their first loss at Eden Park since 1994.
Lock Tom Donnelly managed to get behind the advantage line before Muliaina found 6ft 4in number eight Read who brushed off the challenge of Ricky Januarie for his second Test try.
Carter made it 27-9 before Steyn kicked his fourth penalty to reduce the deficit.
But the fact that South Africa's points came from the boot told the story of their stilted performance, which saw the forwards second best in the ruck and lineout, and the backs lacking zest.
The final say went to loosehead prop Tony Woodcock, who defended stoutly and then received just reward when he surged over from a metre out.

Saturday's Elite Matches Review

Exiles first team, although missing a few regulars and introducing a number of junior players in the second half, ran up 95 - 7 scoreline against a poor Goteborg side. The hosts were able to round off the first half of the season with a fine display of attacking rugby and apart from a score that was conceded following a schoolboy error by a senior player, a near faultless display leaves the Exiles looking good come the next round of matches. As for the visitors? some serious thought and hard work needs to be applied in order for them to avoid the drop.

Enkoping got back on track again with a fine win over a traveling Pingvin by 39-7. Not much difference in the scoreline when the two teams met on the opening day of the season. However from ERK's point of view a welcome two points after dropping 3 points in the preceding two matches. The now sit tucked in just behind the leaders and could well make a big impact after the break. Pingvin are improving and have started to play with some style as well as an improved attitude to away matches. They could spring one or two surprises in the autumn.

Finally what was probably the toughest match of the round. Hammarby visiting Spartacus with an air of confidence which come from sitting at the top of the table. This was not going to be a game for the faint hearted and from the whistle both sides played hard aggressive rugby, with no quarter asked and none given. Hammarby appeared to have more options in the backs and tried to use them on a number of occasions only to be thwarted by a resolute defence. At half time the score was 10-5 to Spartacus and an upset looked on the cards. But with some fortitude Hammarby managed two more scores in the second half winning 10-15.


Hammarby look to be favourites for the title, whilst Spartacus appear to be improving with every match and could yet spring a few surprises in the second half of the season.

Team                  M W D L PF   PA  Points
Hammarby           5  5  0  0 195  43       10
Enkoping             6  4  1  1 184  83         9
Stockholm Exiles   6  4   0 2 286  61         8
Spartacus            5  1   1 3   61  72        3
 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Pingvin                6  1   0 5   50 243        2
Goteborg             6  1   0 5   56 330        2

Saturday Preview

The Men's Elite Series take a summer break after Saturday, for some this will come as a welcome relief. For others maybe an unwanted respite.

Pick of the matches will probably be Hammarby visiting Spartacus. With the visitors sitting proudly at the top of the table, undefeated and with the notable scalps of Erk and Stockholm Exiles, Hammarby must  be favourites to claim another victory. Spartacus will have other ideas of course. With a vast improvement in their play this season, they are proving hard to beat. This could also be the day when they finally field their strongest team and with Jonas Ahl guiding them, they could spring an upset. However, we go for an away win.

Next up ERK entertain Pingvin. This should be a home win and ERK should complete the first double of their season. Although Pingvin are playing well and with spirit as their last game showed, we feel that ERK will want to get the show back on the road and will take the points in what could be quite an entertaining match.

Finally Goteborg make the long trek north to face Exiles. Currently bottom of the table and after suffering a painful defeat at home to Pingvin in their last match, GRF are going to play out of their skins to get anything from this game and that will only happen if the hosts allow that to happen. We seriously doubt that occurring and take Exiles to record a resounding victory.