SPORTMATTERS • RACING • SOCCER • GOLF • CRICKET BOKS PULL OFF GREAT ESCAPE
(3) 32 Tries: Combrinck, Whiteley, Du Toit, De Allende; Conversions: Jantjies (3); Penalties: Jantjies (2)
(19) 26 Tries: Toner, Heaslip; Conversions: Jackson (2); Penalties: Jackson (4)
PHEW ... what an escape! Allister Coetzee celebrated his first victory as Springbok coach last night after a thrilling come-from-behind win against a fired-up Ireland, but boy it was close to being a disaster of a Test for the new coach. With the three-match series now level at 1-1 after the tourists won the opener in Cape Town, it will all come down to who wins in Port Elizabeth this coming weekend.
Coetzee and his management team would have been in some state at half-time here yesterday: the Boks trailing the visitors 3-19 at the interval. If the Boks’ performance was poor in Cape Town, then it was worse here in the opening 40 minutes yesterday ... and it was no surprise at all the fans booed the Boks off the ground at the break.
But an inspired performance in the second half, led by a host of Lions players, turned things around for the Boks. Ruan Combrinck was sensational after replacing Lwazi Mvovo, and he was followed by his provincial teammates Warren Whiteley, Julian Redelinghuys and Franco Mostert, who all enjoyed great outings off the bench.
But the Lions’ starting players, too, Faf de Klerk, Elton Jantjies and Lionel Mapoe, played their parts in the turn-around – the half-backs particularly effective in the second half showing. What the replacements brought to the contest was intensity, urgency and pace – everything that was lacking in a dull, tired and error-ridden first 40 minutes.
Coetzee must have read his team the riot act at the changeover because the Boks were a completely different team after the break. Where in the first half the home team knocked on balls, got them ripped out of their hands, got pushed back in the scrums and failed to catch the high balls or simple passes; in the second half they hardly put a foot wrong.
Several so-called “experienced players” also failed to live up to their reputations in a first half the Irish took complete control of. With flankers Iain Henderson and Rhys Ruddock leading the way, the tourists controlled and dictated affairs, their tactics working a treat. They pushed the Boks back with smart kicks, espe- cially onto Mvovo, who battled under the high ball, but so, too, did Willie le Roux.
The Boks also gave away penalty after penalty – something that will surely be dealt with behind closed doors in the coming days – and the Irish simply built pressure by slotting the kicks. The Boks never really came close to crossing the whitewash in a very, very poor first half.
But enter the Lions players and Coetzee’s team looked a different, far more threatening beast. First Combrinck powered his way over Jackson to score a stunner of a try and then Whiteley rounded off a passage of good play by the hosts to get the Boks to within striking distance of the Irish.
The comeback was completed when Pieter-Steph du Toit, who was one of the few players to perform admirably throughout the 80 minutes, and Damian de Allende powered their way over the tryline from close range in the final 10 minutes. Jantjies’ late penalty sealed the deal.
It was a stirring second-half effort by the Boks, but the problems of the first half should not be forgotten. There were numerous basic errors, there was a lack of urgency and commitment in several departments and there also appeared to be no discernable plan of action. Leadership seemed to be lacking as well.
Coetzee, though, has got his first win, the series is alive and South Africa is happy. The Boks, though, will need to perform far better than this if they’re going to challenge the All Blacks, and even the Wallabies, later this year.