Cheika slams sloppy play

Coach vents frustrations after Wallabies squander shot at victory over South Africa

MICHAEL Cheika has cursed his Wallabies for losing their minds in the try zone and a once-in-53-year shot at history in Pretoria.

The wasteful Wallabies held a winning lottery ticket only to let it flutter down the drain early yesterday morning.

Desperate and spirited as the Springboks were they were largely static, uncreative rivals who couldn’t score a try as Morne Steyn kicked four penalties and two drop goals.

That made the 18-10 loss even more excruciating because the Wallabies produced their best play of the year in patches.

The Wallabies rumbled 75m for a super Scott Sio try for 10-3, then went 66 minutes without another point.

Five more strong surges into the South African 22 produced nothing but two costly turnovers, sloppy finishing and an illegal steal by the Boks.

As the first of a eight-Test stretch on the road it was a chastening jolt as to how hard even a 50-50 slate will be.

“There was some of the best footy we have played this year in terms of the flow to our game,” Cheika said.

“We just lost our minds down in the tryline area with our poise.

“There were three or four opportunities missed down there, with overlaps and whatever.

“Another two or three tries, which we really should have done, and we put that game away.”

Cheika was spot on and rated the rugby better than in the 23-17 win over South Africa in Brisbane last month.

Rarely do you lose a Test and have so many players with positives to their game.

Dane Haylett-Petty played his best Test by sticking tackles on his wing, scything through in midfield and pinching the second half kick-off from the Boks to ignite one of the squandered try chances.

Halfback Will Genia’s little dashes and distribution were slick again, Israel Folau has never kicked better for touch, Sekope Kepu had his best Test of the year and he dished the short pass to Sio for his try.

They ran it well from the kick-off – the “Australian way” as Cheika wanted – but lack of consistency killed the night.

Flanker Dean Mumm put down an average Quade Cooper pass on his hip when an overlap was on early in the second half and rookie lock Adam Coleman had the ball pinched 5m out in a ragged pick-anddrive series.

Long-range goalkicker Reece Hodge would have extended the lead if any of his three shots had gone over.

“We showed good patches of quality and then weren’t consistent with it like with great lineouts and then two or three shockers,” Cheika said.

Fullback Folau, a limited running factor, was sin-binned after 33 minutes for a bodycheck on Bryan Habana after he chip-kicked.

Folau turned his back but had only the tryline behind him.

Skipper Stephen Moore, who played the full 80 minutes, said the altitude and the 53-year hoodoo at Loftus Versfeld were irrelevant.

“No mate, they had nothing to do with it,” Moore said.

Toppling Argentina early on Sunday won’t be easy, but the match takes the Wallabies back to Twickenham in London and good memories from last year’s World Cup.

WE SHOWED GOOD PATCHES OF QUALITY AND THEN WEREN’T CONSISTENT WITH IT LIKE WITH GREAT LINEOUTS AND THEN TWO OR THREE SHOCKERS

SOUTH AFRICA 18 (M Steyn 4 pen goals, 2 d goals) d AUSTRALIA 10 (S Sio try; B Foley con, pen goal).

1RED ZONE WASTE The Wallabies will replay this Pretoria Test and wonder how they lost it. Five excellent visits to the South African quarter were blanks after the fine Scott Sio try. It wasn’t quite panic but there was a lack of poise through overeagerness it seemed in some of those moments. Young lock Adam Coleman left himself exposed to a turnover when the Wallabies got a bit ragged in one pick-and-drive sequence for example.

2DANE HAYLETT-PETTY His best Test. He made several strong tackles on his sideline, soared to grab the kick-off from the Boks to open the second half and made good metres in midfield with a linebreak that could have been turned into a try. No speedster, he is a footballer with a brain for the game.

3THE NO. 8 CRISIS Lopeti Timani come on down. The 125kg Melbourne Rebels forward will get his chance to thrive against Argentina in London now Sean McMahon is grounded with ankle ligament damage.

4THE ISRAEL FOLAU YELLOW CARD It looked a little worse live than on TV. Israel Folau did look to get in the way of Bryan Habana. Habana hit the deck after running into Folau’s back. The Wallabies fought hard in defence when he was off to concede just three points but 14 men working like 15 does take a little edge off the team.

5THE CANNON BOOT Reece Hodge took a monster penalty goal attempt from 64m in the thin air at high altitude and it just dipped under the crossbar. The amazing part was he didn’t catch it perfectly. Hodge is a great asset with his long-range ability but it was 0-from-3 in this Test. The distance he eats as a touch kicker from penalties is another benefit.