Springboks choose expansive route

TRI NATIONS SERIES Australia 25 South Africa 32: SOUTH AFRICA captain John Smit said his team had proved their critics wrong by employing a more open running game in their Tri-Nations win over Australia on Saturday.

The Springboks had been criticised by Australia and New Zealand for their reliance on kicking in their previous matches but scored four tries in Saturday’s win.

“It was pretty good and we got the result we wanted,” Smit said. “We’ve said it all along. We’re going to do what’s necessary to win and tonight what was necessary was a bit of running and a few tries.”

The Springboks scored four tries in a dominant display to seal their first bonus point of the season and remain unbeaten in this year’s competition.

They extended their lead at the top of the standings to nine points over New Zealand, who have only a slim mathematical chance of overhauling the South Africans with two games remaining for each of the three teams.

The Australians replied with three late tries of their own to earn their third bonus point of the campaign but their fourth straight defeat left them out of the running for the title.

The signs were ominous for the Australians from the start as the world champion Springboks raced to a 12-0 lead inside the first 10 minutes.

They crossed for three tries in the opening half to establish a commanding 22-6 lead at the break then added another touchdown in the second term to build a big enough lead to snuff out Australia’s late fightback.

The massive Springbok pack dominated the forward exchanges to lay the foundation for their backs to pile on the points against an injury-weakened Australian side who contributed to their downfall by repeatedly surrendering possession.

South Africa scrumhalf Fourie du Preez opened the scoring after five minutes when he caught the Australians napping with a simple quick tap and go.

Five minutes later, outside centre Jaque Fourie strolled through a gaping hole untouched after a perfectly-executed backline move off the scrum.

The Wallabies opened their account with a penalty from outhalf Matt Giteau after he had missed two earlier attempts but when wing Lachie Turner spilt a high kick, Habana swooped on the rebound to put the Springboks 22-3 in front.

Giteau kicked a second penalty on the stroke of half-time then wriggled his way over to score under the posts shortly after the restart to give the Australians a brief glimmer of hope.

However, the South Africans regained their composure to extend their lead to 32-13 with Habana scoring from another set move off a scrum and outhalf Morne Steyn adding his third conversion and his second penalty.

With the outcome decided, Giteau and Turner both scored late consolation tries for Australia to add some respectability to the final scoreline.

Coach Peter de Villiers was delighted his team is still undefeated this year in the Tri Nations and won their last five matches against Australia and New Zealand.

“It was a brilliant performance. We didn’t have the platforms to play with that we wanted, but we still managed to play with the ball that we had, our defence was very good, our kicking game was outstanding as it always is and then we passed the ball around to score four tries,” De Villiers said.

The rulings from referee Bryce Lawrence were the major reason why South Africa conceded 15 penalties to Australia’s four, a fact which left De Villiers bewildered.

Despite that, he chose to focus on the positives, which was everything outside of the scrum.

“We didn’t have what we wanted especially from scrums, so we will go and study the video to see why. I couldn’t understand it, but then again the character of the team stood out and the fact that we are working together as a unit makes me feel pleased with the result,” he said.

“Most of the stuff we worked on worked and we have a 75 per cent success rate. I don’t think we’ll focus on the negative. We will focus on what we did right and then add the other stuff to our game.”

Smit was right in the middle of the scrums and also didn’t know what was going on in the referee’s eyes, but hopes to turn it around on Saturday night in Brisbane.

“It was a bit of a lottery out there to be honest and sadly the numbers weren’t coming up for us. The scrum penalties were frustrating and it’s not something that we are used to giving away. It was quite bizarre and it did debilitate our momentum for some time,” Smit said.

“At half-time, we spoke about buying another half-metre just to make sure it was even easier for the referee to make sure we were onside and it’s an area we will have to look at so the referee doesn’t have the opportunity to penalise us.”

The Springboks changed their travelling schedule to only arrive in Perth on Wednesday and Smit has no doubt that made a difference. “We had a good week. We changed things up a bit and it’s the first time we arrived here late and the guys had good energy,” he said.

“We had a massive preparation on Monday and Tuesday, used our off day to fly and it bodes well for the future as well.”

Smit and the team’s focus is now on again beating the Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday next.

“We started against the Lions saying we were going to play every single game one week at a time. We have a poor record over here away from home and this is an opportunity to rectify that.”

Australia coach Robbie Deans said he was impressed by South Africa’s tactics and performance.

“They’ve always been a side that’s been capable of playing any which way they choose but their first priority is to win the Tri-Nations and they have done it and they have done it convincingly.

“They’re a difficult nut to crack. They’ve got a real presence about them and they defend well but the (Australian) boys showed at the death we’re not that far away.”

It was the third narrow loss in four matches for the Wallabies this season and Deans said he was confident they could turn it around when they play the world champions again next Saturday.

“It would be easy to take the soft option and go belly up but there’s a lot of pride in this group and I think you’ll see that next week.”

Deans said he was considering making some changes for next week but not wholesale ones.

The New Zealander is still building his side and playing style in preparation for the 2011 World Cup and said he wanted to give younger players more time.

“We don’t want to expose everyone all at once. You can say ‘look to the future, this is where we’ll be in five years, let’s go there now’.

“But you can actually burn the future if you don’t manage the arrivals. Tampering for tampering’s sake is not appropriate to that end.”

Deans said he believed the Australians were making some encouraging progress. Three of their four defeats have been by seven points or less. “It’s another experience in the bank. There’s no doubt the suffering they’re experiencing now will serve them well in the long run,” Deans added.

The Wallabies’ cause has not been helped by a heavy injury toll that has sidelined captain Stirling Mortlock, experienced lock Nathan Sharpe and centre Berrick Barnes.

Sharpe and Barnes will both be available next week while Deans is considering starting young Queensland scrumhalf Will Genia at the expense of Luke Burgess.

AUSTRALIA: O'Connor, Turner, Cross, Ashley-Cooper, Hynes, Giteau, Burgess, Robinson, Moore, Alexander, Horwill, Chisholm, Elsom, Smith, Brown. Replacements: Polota-Nau, Baxter, Mumm, Pocock, Genia, Cooper, Mitchell.

SOUTH AFRICA: Pienaar, Pietersen, Fourie, de Villiers, Habana, M. Steyn, du Preez, Mtawarira, B. du Plessis, Smit, Botha, Matfield, Brussow, Smith, Spies. Replacements: Ralepelle, J. du Plessis, Bekker, Burger, Januarie, Jacobs, F. Steyn.

Referee: Bryce Lawrence(New Zealand).