Australia regain winning ways against South Africa
MICHAEL Hooper was a relieved man after the Wallabies shrugged off their double All Blacks misery to win a real battle of brawn in Brisbane.
The Australia captain saw his side get their first win of the Rugby Championship but they were made to scrap all the way.
Both defences were outstanding, and South Africa led 18-17 until two Matt Toomua penalties sealed victory for the hosts.
Hooper said: “It’s been a tough couple of weeks and I am really proud of our guys to show real fight and resilience. We really needed this win to get our tournament up and running, and now we need to build on this victory.
“It was an improvement on the performances against New Zealand and now we will be ready for the Argentinians here next week.”
South Africa held a slim 18-17 half-time lead but failed to score a point in the second half as they ran into a Wallaby brickwall.
It had taken the hosts, who lost both their opening games to New Zealand, just 100 seconds to surge over the Springboks line with Hooper finishing off a strong move.
Toomua added the extras but it merely galvanised the visitors into fierce action with the Aussie defence having no answer to a powerful South African maul. Hooker Bongi Mbonambi dived in under a heap of bodies for his second Test try.
South Africa replied with scrum-half Faf de Klerk’s long pass out right to the waiting Makazole Mapimpi who stretched the Wallabies defence before going over.
Jack Maddocks was denied an Aussie try a few minutes later when Mapimpi produced a lastgasp tackle to knock him into touch. However, South Africa’s defence was caught sleeping from their own botched line-out and paid dearly.
Mbonambi’s long throw backfired as Toomua grabbed the bouncing ball and used his momentum to break tackles and put his side back in the contest.
South Africa lost both Mapimpi and Mbonambi to injury while the Wallabies had to replace a limping Tatafu Polota-Nau. Elton Jantjies’ kicked a second penalty after the Springbok pack sent their Wallabies counterparts retreating.
A long range Reece Hodge penalty from just inside his own half closed the gap to a single point at half-time. The Wallabies came out firing at the start of the second half and Maddocks was stopped a couple of feet short of the line by a hefty Pieter-Steph du Toit tackle.
Maddocks was denied a second time when he was held up but the constant pressure finally netted a penalty. Centre Toomua kicked his side into a fivepoint lead with two penalties before RG Snyman’s dangerous hit on an airborne Hooper sparked a wrestling match before tempers cooled.
South Africa threw everything they had at the Wallabies line in the final ten minutes but the defence stood firm.
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi said: “It’s very disappointing to lose. It was a tough night and we paid for not taking our opportunities. You have to be clinical at this level and Australia defended very well.”