By Gavin Rich.
Eddie Jones must really be starting to hate the sight of the Springboks and Kurt-Lee Arendse in particular as his new job as Wallaby coach started in the same way as his stint with England ended as the South Africans powered to a 43-12 victory at Loftus.
The Boks scored six tries, two of them penalty tries, as they used their opening Castle Lager Rugby Championship game to get the 2023 World Cup year off to a powerful start with a statement performance to subject Jones to a nightmare start to his second stint as coach of his home nation.
Last November Arendse was a thorn in the England side as the Boks scored the comprehensive win that ended Jones’ stint with the northern hemisphere nation and on Saturday he was even more of a torment for the Wallabies as he scored a hattrick of tries. It certainly wasn’t the historic day Jones was looking for as he set his team the task of scoring their first ever win in Pretioria, and instead it was nearly a historic day from a negative perspective for the visitors.
If you consider that Arendse is probably playing in the position that 2019 World Cup hero Cheslin Kolbe will fill in France, Arendse’s performance certainly underlined the embarrassment of riches the Boks have available to them in some areas. Some areas? You could say most areas, as this was far from a Bok full strength side, but it is hard to pinpoint a player that did not shine on the day.
The Boks mixed up their game in the way they had on the last end of year tour, with a big mauling drive early in the second half almost coming as a surprise to the Wallabies. Usually it is considered the Bok staple.
Yes, there were mistakes, and coach Jacques Nienaber would have hoped for more profit from his team’s many visits into the Wallaby 22 metre area, but those are to be expected in a first game of the year and it would really be churlish after an emphatic win like this to criticise. Had the Boks scored off every opportunity, they would easily have managed a record win to eclipse the 61-22 win in Pretoria by Gary Teichmann’s team in 1997.
As the score reflects, the Boks were dominant in every aspect of play, with the forwards in the ascendancy from the outset, and debutant Jean Kleyn producing a performance that completely justified the decision by the Bok coaches to ask him to come home and play for the land of his birth.
Good start for visitors then it becomes a nightmare
The Wallabies couldn’t have asked for a better start. Although it was evident from even the first seven minutes that the Boks were on their game, it was the visitors who scored first, with their old nemesis Marike Koribete being freed down the left touchline in the seventh minute after some unstructured rugby had created the overlap from which the Wallabies capitalised.
It had though started with a good Jean Kleyn contest at a lineout, with the Boks just failing to control the ball they’d won against the throw and big Allan Allaalatohoa coming through to get the ball and setting in motion the attack that momentarily had the Boks looking a bit stunned. Stunned in the sense that the score came against the run of play.
But if the score came as a surprise it wasn’t something dwelled on by the Boks, who were quickly back onto the attack. Manie Libbok, wearing the Bok No 10 for the first time, had been just short with a monstrous penalty attempt in the third minute, but his next chance was from an easily kickable position and he quickly cut the Aussie five point advantage to just two.
That penalty, kicked in the 14th minute, hadn’t come at the first set scrum, it came just after it as the Wallaby defenders were pinged for being offside. But the Bok scrum was dominant at that first set piece and would have sent the warning bells jangling through the Wallabies.
The Bok scrum is a known strength of theirs to their opponents, however. The strength Michael Hooper’s men appeared less aware of was the Bok ability to attack space, and also their new willingness to run back kick receipt, something they started on the last end of year tour. It was after Willie le Roux fielded a kick deep in the Boks’ own half that the hosts scored their first try, the fullback popping up later in the attack with the pass that put Canan Moodie into space down the right.
The wrong footed Aussies always looked like they then had a deficit of numbers once the Boks switched the attack to the left and sure enough Arendse was able to go over quite easily for the try. Libbok’s conversion made it 10-5 after 17 minutes and Duane Vermeulen’s men were now settled and on the march.
And they were even more so 13 minutes later as a set move from an attacking lineout just outside the Wallaby 22 saw hooker Bongi Mbonambi peel around the blindside to put Arendse’s pace in the frame for the Boks’ second try and the 17-5 lead that the Boks took to halftime. Give how much they dominated possession and how dangerous they looked when they found space it could easily have been more.
Arendse could have had four
Arendse’s third try came in the 50th minute and effectively ended the match as a contest. The buildup featured everything that was good about this Bok performance, like a strong carry from Marco van Staden, one of several from the Bulls openside flanker, and another from skipper Vermeulen, and then the silky skills of the likes of Lukhanyo Am who produced the late pass that gave Arendse the modicum of space he needed to squeeze over in the left corner.
Make no mistake though, Arendse still had plenty to do when he got the ball, and the try capped an outstanding personal game from the wing. He could easily have had four, as he was the would be receiver when the Aussies tapped the ball down later in the game to concede their second penalty try.
Minutes after Arendse completed his hattrick the Boks drove over the line and a penalty try was awarded by referee Ben O’Keefe for hooker Dave Porecki bringing the maul down. Porecki got a yellow card for that, as if the Wallabies weren’t already up against it enough without being a man short.
Sure enough, more Bok pressure created an opportunity for Libbok to pick up the ball and go through untouched for what looked like the fifth try, but unfortunately Pieter-Steph du Toit had got a touch on the ball so it was deemed a knock-on once the TMO was consulted.
It didn’t stop there though for the Boks, with Du Toit scoring later on in addition to the second penalty try as the Boks edged towards what would have been a record winning margin before Wallaby debutant Carter Gordon scored a late consolation try on the final whistle to get his team into double figures. Had the Boks topped the 60 mark it would not have put a false gloss on the score. Far from it.
Scores
South Africa 43 – Tries: Kurt-Lee Arendse 3; Pieter-Steph du Toit; Penalty tries 2; Conversions: Manie Libbok 4; Penalties: Manie Libbok 1. Australia 12 – Tries: Marike Korobete and Carter Gordon; Conversion: Carter Gordon.