Aussie ‘hoodoo’ derails Boks

ADELAIDE – The Springboks produced possibly their worst attacking performance under Coach Jacques Nienaber as they slumped to a 25-17 loss at the hands of the Wallabies in their Castle Lager Rugby Championship test in Adelaide yesterday.

While the Boks dominated both possession and territory - to the tune of close to 60 per cent - they never used the chances they had and allowed a poor Australia side to score when they had the opportunity.

Only two late tries by Kwagga Smith prevented the scoreline from being a rout and put a better look to the final result than the performance deserved.

With it the hoodoo of playing in Australia continued, and again it was a similar script to so many other test matches down under for the Springboks.

Once again the Boks dominated the setpieces and the mauls, once again they had more than enough chances to go ahead and once again they were not good enough to take them when they needed to.

There is a lot of truth that calls went against them, and Australia got away with murder in some cases. From a no-arms tackle by Marika Koroibete to a side entry on his own tryline by Colby Faingaa, the Wallabies milked cynical penalties and were not penalised with cards.

In a game where once again the 5050s went the way of the Wallabies, the loss was not down to the refereeing decisions, but they certainly didn’t help.

While there may be many who would want to point a finger of blame, the Boks have nobody to blame but themselves.

In a combination of players lacking game time, a lack of finishing when the opportunity is there, and some players who are a shadow of themselves, the reality is that some of the World Cup winning squad seem so entrenched that they can get away with mediocre performances, and there will be no consequences.

And with the loss, the Rugby Championship hopes are out of the window.

(Pic: Dailymail) It was a Manchester United performance of intensity, commitment and passion - and it was long overdue. Liverpool simply couldn’t contain them and the result was a deserved first win of the Erik ten Hag era following a display poles apart from the losses to Brighton and Brentford. But the win also owed much to the bold changes in team selection made by Ten Hag even before a ball had been kicked. Reacting to the catastrophic 4-0 loss at Brentford last weekend, the new manager dropped Cristiano Ronaldo, captain Harry Maguire, Fred and Luke Shaw, while also resisting the temptation to throw Anthony Martial straight back in. The big question now, after such an improved display, is whether those players will now be able to get back into Ten Hag’s team going forward.