Only when the Wallabies had four players in the sin bin did the Springboks look like they could come back to win it.
Edwill van der Merwe runs through to score the Springboks’ second try against the Wallabies. Picture: Antony Dickson/Gallo Images
The Springboks were far from their best when they lost 42-38 to the Wallabies in their one-off Test in Perth on Sunday.
South Africa almost fought back from a 42-17 deficit at Optus Stadium, but their errors proved costly, and a huge disappointment after winning the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against the All Blacks.
It will hurt more for André Esterhuizen, who became South Africa’s 68th Test captain, and Jasper Wiese, who reached his 50th Test milestone on the day.
Here are five takeaways from the match.
Countless Springbok errors
Many mistakes by the Springbok starting XV may or may not have been due to the 13 changes being made to the starting line-up.
Only nine players remained in the match-23 from the Springboks’ emphatic win against the All Blacks in Baltimore two weeks ago.
There was evidently a lack of cohesion, but the innumerable handling errors and non-existent aerial constests speaks to nerves or their lack of game time.
A multitude of knock-ons, especially, acted as a double-edged sword: halting Springbok advances while providing the Wallabies with escapes as well as opportunities.
Canan Moodie’s dropped pass, collected by Max Jorgensen for a try, summed up the game.
Big Bok ‘bomb squad’, poor Wallabies discipline
The Springboks showed good intent early in the second period, facing a 24-17 deficit.
All eight substitutions were made in the 47th minute but they made little impact despite seven of them coming from strong performances against the All Blacks.
Australia scored 18 unanswered points until a penalty try was finally awarded to the Springboks with nine minutes to play.
It was only when poor discipline from the Wallabies started costing them – four players were in the sin bin at one stage – did the fightback seem on.
The Wallabies had four players in the sin bin at the end but the Springboks still could not score the points they needed, tries from Morné van den Berg and Ox Nché only closing the gap before another error at the end cost them their chance to steal a victory.
The Bok management will have to re-look how they made sweeping changes to the team and the fact that their star-studded “bomb squad” didn’t perform.
Lonergan upstages Pollard
Springbok flyhalf Handré Pollard may have the reputation of being clinical off the tee, as seen in not missing any kicks at the 2023 World Cup, but he was upstaged by Ryan Lonergan.
The Wallabies scrumhalf slotted his first seven kicks, only missing a difficult eighth attempt.
Pollard nailed all three of his kicks, and perhaps would have had more opportunities if the Springboks did not commit so many errors.
Lonergan’s yellow card for offside near the end was poor, however.
Hotly-contested breakdown
The breakdown battle was one of the few Springbok strengths on the day, though the Wallabies also found dominance at times.
Referee Andrea Piardi was quick to award penalties for players holding on, and Paul de Villiers, Freiser McReight and others made full use of this.
No Springbok scrum dominance this time
While the Springboks will rue the fact that they did not gain scrum dominance like they did against the All Blacks, the Wallabies will see this as a major positive.
Neither side seemed to gain any ground even after Springbok heavyweights Ox Nché, Wilco Louw and Malcolm Marx came on in the second half.
Only later in the game did the Bok scrum finally get their reward.
