Heat rises on Foster
Dominant win for Boks puts further pressure on NZ coach
WING Kurt-Lee Arendse scored his first international try and was then red carded as South Africa piled more misery on struggling New Zealand with a comfortable 26-10 victory in their Rugby Championship opener at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday.
The Springboks were more dominant than the scoreline suggests as they bossed the setpiece and breakdown, with hooker Malcolm Marx particularly devastating in the latter in his 50th test.
Replacement back Willie le Roux also crossed for a try while out-half Handre Pollard kicked 17 points for the home side, who recorded their biggest win over the All Blacks since 1928 despite finishing the game with 14 players after Arendse was sent-off for a dangerous tackle in the air on 75 minutes.
New Zealand managed a late try through flanker Shannon Frizell, but it is a fifth defeat in their last six tests that will pile more pressure on head coach Ian Foster, especially with the manner of a loss in a game they never looked like winning.
Foster maintained his side have improved their performance from the historic 2-1 home series loss to Ireland, despite their heaviest defeat by South Africa in 94 years. ‘Congratulations to South Africa, they were more clinical than us,’ Foster said. ‘They played their (style of) game well – under pressure they went to the kicking game and that put us under a lot of pressure.
‘For us, I actually thought it was a step-up in performance from the last series. The line-out worked well, the maul defence was good and our overall defence was pretty solid.
‘We perhaps just missed a little bit of timing in terms of our attack. We will have to go and look at that.’
New Zealand conceded 11 penalties to the Boks’ seven, but Foster says that is all down to the pressure put on his team.
‘It felt like we weren’t getting the rub of the green in the first 20 minutes and that put us behind a little bit,’ he said.
‘The third quarter was critical for us in terms of getting back into the game, but all the Springboks did was carry hard and get a few penalties. That is their game, which is a pressure game.
‘You saw as the match unfolded the opportunities did start to come, there were just a couple of handling errors. I thought we made some strides (forward), but we have to prove that next week.’
New Zealand made too many unforced errors with stray passes and knock-ons from carries and will have to show a vast improvement ahead of the second Rugby Championship match-up between the two sides at Ellis Park in Johannesburg next Saturday.
The Boks crossed for the first try on eight minutes as Pollard kicked a high ball that was not collected by All Blacks out-half Beauden Barrett and Lukanya Am sent Arendse away to dot down in the corner. New Zealand got their first points in the 36th minute with their first scoring opportunity as Jordie Barrett landed a penalty from in front of the posts, and will have been somewhat relieved to go into the break only 10-3 down.
Pollard landed two more penalties and a drop-goal, but Arendse’s red card with five minutes remaining gave the visitors a chance.
They scored a try after a superb break from wing Caleb Clarke, playing his first test in two years, was finished by Frizell.
But the Springboks had the last say as Le Roux crossed for an easy score after yet another loose All Blacks pass in their own 22 provided him with the easy walk-in opportunity.