Young Springboks vanquish the Wallabies
Rookie Moodie helps bring the Wallabies the blues
● The Springboks ticked an obvious box as they vanquished the Wallabies on home soil for the first time in nine years in Sydney, but it is the advancement of the next generation that was perhaps most pleasing.
Flyhalf Damian Willemse delivered a man-of-the-match performance, scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse enhanced his credentials and 19-year-old debutant Canan Moodie splendidly rose to the challenge on the game’s highest stage.
Their performances hugely contributed to the Boks ticking another box under the present coaching regime as they kept their Rugby Championship hopes alive in their 24-8 win over the Wallabies.
Since 2018 the team won in New Zealand, clinched a Rugby Championship, lifted a Rugby World Cup, reached the number one ranking in the world, won a series against the British & Irish Lions and now got the Wallabies off their backs with a first elusive away win over the hosts since 2013. It was also their first win in Sydney since 1993.
“We were disappointed about last week and winning here has been in the back of our mind,” admitted Willemse.
Proud moment
Coach Jacques Nienaber delighted in the performance of his tyros.
“We are very happy and proud of him,” he said about Moodie.
Many questions were asked about Nienaber’s much changed line-up in the build-up but they played with far greater poise and purpose and displayed more variety in their attack.
There was considerable forward grunt but the Springboks’ much-vaunted scrum, lineout and maul did not make the inroads expected and their lineout lost its potency in the second half.
The Boks won the tactical kicking contest and in spite of some poor decision-making in the first half on attack, the team profited richly from befriending the ball.
It took the Wallabies 25 minutes before they made an attacking foray into the Springboks’ 22.
On the rare occasion they did go on the attack they were frustrated at the ruck where Siya Kolisi proved a real menace. This was a performance of much greater authority from the Springbok captain.
Setting the mood
Damian de Allende scored an early try before Moodie had a coming-of age moment on debut. The lanky right-wing towered above a passive Marika Koroibete just before halftime, collecting the ball close to the Wallabies 10m line and sprinting clear to the delight of the Springbok substitutes who were a perfectly placed welcoming party inside the hosts’ goal area.
Franco Mostert’s try, however, provided tangible proof of what was possible when the Springboks played with more attacking ambition. On that score, the Boks eschewed penalty kicks at goal.
The visitors hit left with Kolisi charging down the flank before the ball was shifted to the right with Malcolm Marx straightening the line before sure hands helped send Mostert try-bound.
Boiling over
Willemse’s average goal-kicking and the Springboks’ general inability to put the result beyond doubt by the hour mark meant every scrap was contested with uncompromising zeal. Pent-up frustrations started to surface with Wallabies scrumhalf Nic White’s agent provocateur antics a constant irritation.
Matters got tetchy and boiled over after Makazole Mapimpi rounded off another splendid attack in the left-hand corner.
This time he rode Koroibete’s last-gasp tackle but his foolish attempt to rub it in on his opposite number backfired as it started a scuffle that saw the Bok wing yellowcarded.