Rugby Championship LOG after Round 1
The Wallabies produced arguably their finest comeback in the professional era to defeat the Springboks in Johannesburg. Image: SANZAR
The Wallabies produced arguably their finest comeback in the professional era to defeat the Springboks 38-22 in Johannesburg.Down 22-0 after 18 minutes, the Australians were all at sea against a rampant Springboks side.
However, the Australians rallied and crossed for 38 unanswered points for their first win in South Africa in over a decade.
It was their first victory at Ellis Park in 62 years, with Harry Wilson crossing for a double.Flanker Fraser McReight was immense with several turnovers as a deserving player of the match, typifying the Wallabies' fight in defence.The world champions were on their game early as they ran away with the win thanks to a powerful first quarter.It started with Kurt-Lee Arendse diving over on the corner as the Springboks won several contestable kicks early. Manie Libbok's boot added to the lead before the centre pairing of Jesse Kriel and Andre Esterhuizen set up their second try.Number eight Siya Kolisi continued the onslaught as the captain dived over under the posts for the 22-0 lead.Then the comeback began as the Wallabies delivered a world-class counter-attacking display to haul the hosts in.It started through Dylan Pietsch, with the winger diving over untouched, set up by a loping play from Len Ikitau and an O'Connor offload.The injection of Angus Bell at half-time delivered an instant impact when the prop showed off his hands to put Harry Wilson over untouched.
When Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii snatched an intercept and raced 60 metres, the Wallabies were down by just three and were growing in confidence by the minute.
Stunned, the Springboks kept trying to fire shots and kept being repelled by Wallabies defenders.It set the platform for Tom Wright to deliver, breaking the line and putting over Wilson for his second and the lead.Max Jorgensen quickly followed him over, breaking Manie Libbok's ankles with a sharp step off a beautiful James O'Connor long ball.It was one of several classy moments from the veteran flyhalf on his return to the Test arena.Wright then sealed the win with eight minutes to go as he capitalised on a Springboks error.The win came at a cost, with captain Wilson limping off with injury, while Pietsch came off second best after a heavy collision with Kolisi.
But it's a win that will go down in history for the Wallabies.
Meanwhile, New Zealand's Samisoni Taukei'aho scored two late tries to seal a 41-24 Rugby Championship win over Argentina and return the All Blacks to the top of the world rankings on Saturday.
Dominant on the scoreboard but cluttered during the third quarter, the All Blacks opened their Rugby Championship campaign with a win in Cordoba.Out by 31-10 at half-time, the All Blacks struggled as Argentina battled back to 24-31 as loose forwards Pablo Matera and Marcos Kremer, and hooker Julian Montoya, pushed the All Blacks hard while first five-eighths Tomas Albornoz controlled their performance and scored a superb try.But, once they cleared their mistakes, the All Blacks looked the dominant side, especially in lineouts where loose forward Tupou Vaa'i, lock Fabian Holland and replacement Patrick Tuipulotu took charge.In the loose, Ardie Savea was in his element, and Vaa'i continued his growth on the blindside flank.After an exchange of penalty goals to All Blacks flyhalf Beauden Barrett and his opposite Albornoz, the All Blacks put their lineout maul to use for hooker Codie Taylor, Holland, and prop Fraser Newell to each charge at the line before the ball was released to the backs. Fullback Will Jordan passed over the head of his marker for wing Sevu Reece to reel the ball in before it went over the sideline and scored in the eighth minute.
Argentina got their first chance in the All Blacks' 22m area and made the most of it with several attempts to break through the middle of the rucks. But it wasn't until they fed their backs that a pass from inside centre Santiago Chocobares was lobbed to wing Rodrigo Isgro, who scored out wide.
However, in play after the restart, a cynical foul by prop Mayco Vivas resulted in him receiving a yellow card. It took the All Blacks six minutes, but they finally took advantage after Savea, who was again in his burgling best in mauls, drove through tackles to get momentum.The ball was moved wide through the backs, where Jordan side-stepped inside a defender to run into space and feed the supporting scrumhalf Cortez Ratima, who scored in the 23rd minute.Argentina's desperation resulted in them conceding penalties that allowed the All Blacks to kick deep to the corners for lineouts, twice in the last five minutes.
First, at their second attempt, it was Savea on the back of a lineout maul who scored in the 37th minute, and then after inside centre Jordie Barrett was used to gain extra distance from inside the All Blacks' half.
Another lineout drive allowed Ratima to probe deep into the red-zone, and after centre Billy Proctor and flanker Du'Plessis Kirifi carried on, it was moved wide for Reece to score his second try, two minutes into extra time.
The first 10 minutes of the second half were untidy from both sides before the All Blacks made their first substitutions before a scrum 15m from their line. But Argentina struck when replacement scrumhalf Finlay Christie and Jordie Barrett were unable to contain Albornoz, who took advantage, running against the grain, to score under the crossbar.
As Argentina lifted the tempo of their game, and utilised more possession, the All Blacks started to concede penalties in their 22m, and the home benefited, with centre Billy Proctor infringed as Matera ran hard to the line, and was sin-binned. Argentina's confidence lifted as it opted to take a scrum from a penalty, and then next used a tap penalty.
From that play, it was No 8 Joaquin Alviedo who put the ball down beside a goalpost to get Argentina to 24-31 down.That proved the spark to ignite the All Blacks' response, and it was the choice to kick to the corners from penalties that, at the second attempt, saw replacement hooker Samison Taukei'aho use his strength off the maul to score and put more distance between the sides.A carbon copy in the 73rd minute saw Taukei'aho over again to frustrate the home's ambitions.There was still time for the All Blacks to concede another yellow card when replacement centre Anton Lienert-Brown was involved in a head-on-head clash with Chocobares three minutes from the end.
Consistency and fluidity across the game were still elusive for the All Blacks, but they showed that when they were able to gain control, they had too much skill for the Argentinians to contain.
Saturday, 23 August
South Africa vs Australia, Cape Town Stadium – 17:10
Argentina vs New Zealand, Estadio José Amalfitani – 23:10 (SA time)
Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1
Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Citizen
32 minutes ago
- The Citizen
Rassie to rethink make-up of Bok team for second Test against Wallabies
The Springboks are set to make some changes to their side for the second Wallabies Test, with Cheslin Kolbe and Damian de Allende expected to be back. Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus says they will need to change their lineup ahead of the second Rugby Championship Test against the Wallabies in Cape Town, after a disastrous first Test at Ellis Park over the weekend. The Aussies stunned a packed Jozi crowd, recovering from a 22-0 deficit after just 18 minutes, to score six unanswered tries to pick up a full house of points, and clinch their first win at the iconic ground in the professional era, and just second in their history after their only other win in 1963. It is an incredible turnaround from the men from Down Under, after they were thumped 33-7 and 30-12 on their home turf by the Boks a year ago. Speaking to the media after the match on Saturday, Erasmus said the coaches had to look at themselves before the players, and said that the team would accept any negative feedback coming their way after a dismal effort. 'I can sit here and say they beat us in most departments. As coaches, we got it terribly wrong, and we must look at ourselves before we point fingers at the players,' said Erasmus. 'A player doesn't just do what he wants out there, we guide them and we pick the combinations. If it doesn't work, maybe the combinations were wrong, maybe the plans were wrong, maybe the half-time talk was terrible. 'From now until next Saturday, we'll take a lot of flak. We take the credit when we are doing well, so we must take the flak when we're doing badly. We're very disappointed, and feeling bad for our supporters and our players.' Team changes Erasmus said that the team for the game at the Cape Town Stadium had already been announced internally, but that it was likely to change due to the result on the Highveld. Cheslin Kolbe and Damian de Allende, who missed the match due to injury niggles will almost certainly be slotted straight back into the starting team, while Handre Pollard will be another likely starter, and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu could come onto the bench. Captain Siya Kolisi picked up an injury in the first half at Ellis Park, and it is unknown if he will be fit for the second Test, and if he is he might not be wearing the No 8 jersey as he did in the first Test. 'We have already picked next week's team internally, but as we have always said, if we lose momentum or don't play well, and we did both, that things could change,' explained Erasmus. 'So the players already know who has been picked to play next week. But we had a chat now in the change room and that team will probably change a little bit. 'We wanted to get Ethan Hooker in, we wanted to give Canan (Moodie) a start, and we wanted to give Krappie (Morne van den Berg) a start, but (now) we will have to rethink it.' Erasmus will name his lineup around midday on Tuesday.
The South African
an hour ago
- The South African
Is Springboks' Rugby Championship title defence already over?
Before the opening round of the Rugby Championship, the Springboks would have been widely expected to secure a bonus-point victory over the Wallabies at Ellis Park to start their title defence with momentum and confidence. Instead, the Springboks are reeling from a shock defeat, which also saw them fail to even collect a losing bonus-point. By contrast, the All Blacks secured a full five log points with a big win in Argentina. The Springboks now simply have to bounce back in their 'rematch' against Australia this weekend, but even if they can achieve this, they will then need to navigate extremely challenging fixtures against arch-rivals New Zealand. Besides the improvements the All Blacks have made over the last year, they will also be excited by the prospect of facing the Springboks at their home fortresses in Auckland and Wellington. From there, the Springboks will welcome Argentina to Durban before finishing the tournament against the same opposition in London, where this neutral venue could add an air of unpredictability to proceedings. All in all, it looks set to be extremely difficult for the Springboks to get their Rugby Championship campaign back on track, with even one more defeat almost certain to bring an end to any hope of a title defence. 'We still want to win the Rugby Championship,' prop Ox Nche insisted. 'Next weekend is a must-win Test (against Australia in Cape Town), and we have to get as many points as we can.' REMINDER OF THE REMAINING SCHEDULE FOR 2025: 23 August: vs Australia, Cape Town. Kick off: 17:10 . . 6 September: vs New Zealand, Auckland. Kick off: 09:05 . . 13 September: vs New Zealand, Wellington. Kick off: 09:05 . . 27 September: vs Argentina, Kings Park, Durban. Kick off: 17:10 . . 4 October: vs Argentina, London. Kick off: 15:00 . . 1 November: vs Japan, Brighton. Kick off: TBD. 8 November: vs France, Paris. Kick off: 22:10. 15 November: vs Italy, Turin. Kick off: 14:40 22 November: vs Ireland, Dublin. Kick off: 19:40. 29 November: vs Wales, Cardiff. Kick off: 17:10. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The South African
2 hours ago
- The South African
Confirmed: When Springboks will name team for Wallabies rematch
The Springboks had a predetermined selection plan in place for the first two Tests against the Wallabies, but the shock defeat at Ellis Park has seen Rassie Erasmus already admit that a rethink is needed. 'We had already picked next week's team, but that will probably change a little bit now,' the Springbok coach admitted. 'We wanted to get Ethan Hooker in, we wanted to give Canan [Moodie] a start, we want to give Krappie [Morne van den Berg] a start. We'll have to rethink it.' The new-look Springbok team will be named on Tuesday at 15:00. The Springboks made the trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town on Sunday and will begin their on-field preparations on Monday. 'We have always said that if we don't play well and we lose momentum – and we did both, we played badly and lost momentum – we might change our thinking (in terms of selection),' Erasmus added. 'We had a chat now in the change room and that may now happen.' Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
