Boks look to Wallabies for last chance
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In a scenario few would have anticipated a few weeks ago the All Blacks have a chance to put the race out of reach over the next two weeks. Two All Black wins and it’s as good as over, but Australia’s strong showing in Brisbane has injected a new consideration.
The Wallabies not only have a chance to stake their own claim to the title, they can keep the Springboks in the race.
The Wallabies took full toll of the ailing Springboks Saturday night, winning the battle at the breakdown in emphatic style.
Whereas the All Blacks had to win the battle of the gain line with speed off the line and sheer physicality, the Wallabies were also very good, but were helped no end because they met little resistance.
The Wallabies managed to recycle at will, because too often the indefatigable Schalk Burger was fighting a lone battle. To pick both Ryan Kankowski and Pierre Spies, who in essence are there to run the ball, was asking for trouble, while some of the tight five just aren’t/can’t/don’t want to get there fast enough. They missed Fourie du Preez in New Zealand, but as one South African viewer of our ReUnion programme pointed out, the guy they missed the most in Brisbane was Heinrich Brussow.
The Boks also fell on the wrong side of the penalty count (for the first time in the series), which enabled Matt Giteau to keep the scoreboard ticking over despite the Wallabies blowing a number of scoring chances. They also had two in the bin, one deservedly, the other (BJ Botha) a bit harshly, and they’ll now be without Jaque Fourie for the next test in Soweto in a few weeks time.
On that note SANZAR needs to do something about the way they present these judicial decisions.
Jean de Villiers, Fourie, and Quade Cooper were all guilty of the same thing, lifting or tip tackles (a spear is when someone is driven forcefully into the ground). De Villiers got two weeks, but misses one test. Fourie gets four weeks and misses one test. Cooper gets two weeks and misses two tests.
The SANZAR release states that Fourie was guilty of a similar offence last year, hence, we presume, the extra weeks, and yet Cooper has in effect ended up with the worst punishment. It’s more confused than inconsistent.
The Wallabies will appeal that ban, although the SANZAR judiciary is full of lawyers and it’s very hard to get any change out of them, and they look set to go into this mini-series against the All Blacks without a guy who could make a difference.
Having said that, I’m not altogether sure that Coopers absence will hurt the Wallabies quite as much as they are making out. Yes, he can do some magical things, but you can bet the All Blacks would have sent a lot of traffic his way because he is not a great defender, while he also has a tendency to play a game all of his own on attack, which is fantastic when it comes off, but frustrating for his team-mates when it doesn’t.
Apart from his sleight of hand, Coopers other great asset is his ability to operate at speed, and speed was definitely the key to Australia’s game. Sure it resulted in mistakes...it must be hard to get it right when you’re doing everything flat out, but it had a devastating impact.
One can only imagine the pace with which these Wallaby All Black matches are going to be played. The Springbok games in New Zealand were decided on a fierce physical confrontation, but the Wallabies will clearly try and out run the All Blacks, who are not exactly playing with lead in their boots themselves.
To do so the Aussies will have to get a platform, and that is the big question mark.
The Wallaby forwards went well against the Boks, especially their loosies....Pocock had a fantastic game....but they were up against a rather tired and beat-up looking pack and it’s a bit hard to draw a definite conclusion as to how good they are.
We will soon find out.