Springboks open box of tricks as they leave Wallabies at the gate

By PAUL REES

Australia………………………… 7pts

Tries: Paisami 76

Conversions: Lynagh 77

South Africa ……………….. 33pts

Tries: Kolisi 10, du Toit 24, Arendse 35, 64; Smith 62

Conversions: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 11, 25, 36, 63

SOUTH Africans may fear that the latest law changes are designed to depower the scrummaging and mauling game that has delivered the last two World Cups, but the Springboks duly crushed Australia into submission to record only their second victory in Brisbane in the professional era.

And they came up with some novel plays of their own having appointed the innovative Tony Brown as attack coach, something his native New Zealand may be mulling over after the shock defeat to Argentina in Wellington.

Wing Cheslin Kolbe fed the first scrum of the match with scrum-half Cobus Reinach lining up at first receiver alongside outside-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and wing Kurt-Lee Arendse to leave the defence with no analysis to fall back on.

South Africa's first try came from the ritual of a penalty kicked to touch and a subsequent driving lineout. Except this time the throw to the back was taken by flanker Ben-Jason Dixon who immediately sent it back to the front where Eben Etzebeth was waiting.

So when the drive started, three Australia players were out of the maul which wheeled infield before changing direction when Siya Kolisi took hold of the ball. He was left with only outside-half Noah Lolesio to negotiate and the unequal match-up was only going to have one outcome.

South Africa should have had a second try from the ploy on the half-hour but replacement hooker Malcolm Marx lost control of the ball as he reached for the line under scrum-half Jake Gordon's challenge. It was one of a relentless wave of attacks the World Cup holders launched in the opening 40 minutes with the Wallabies only getting out of their own half from a restart.

The visitors led 21-0 at the break, scant reward for their complete dominance. Australia shaped up to accept the physical challenge they knew would be laid down, playing down the middle rather than the sides, but with their scrum under strain from the start in the absence of Taniela Tupou and their lineout cracking under pressure, they struggled for possession and could not hold on when they did manage to snaffle the ball.

It reflected an encounter between the team that won the World Cup and one that shuffled home after the group stage. Australia have forwards to return from injury and the option of La Rochelle second row Will Skelton, but head coach Joe Schmidt lacks quality and his role for a while will be that of plasterer.

There was no faulting the effort of Australia, who had more of the game after the break when they were undone on the counter-attack. Second row Nick Frost and debut flanker Carlo Tizzano packed a presence, but how secure is Australia's place in world rugby with the future of the Rugby Championship in doubt after next year: it will not remain in its current format with New Zealand and South Africa planning to alternate long tours every four years from 2026.

The Boks were also without a number of forwards, and scrum-half Faf de Klerk. They lost lock RG Snyman before the match which meant Pieter-Steph du Toit moving up from blindside and named replacement Dixon packing down in the back row. Du Toit is a player for whom the number on his back is immaterial. He was at it from the start, thumping into tackles and competing for the ball. He carried for more metres than any other forward with only Dixon and Tizzano making more than his 13 tackles.

Du Toit is not one of South Africa's headline players but he is one of the hardest to replace. Duane Vermeulen left a hole to fill at No.8 after taking his final bow in the World Cup, but Elrigh Louw shovelled hard and deep in showing the stark difference in depth in the two countries. Rassie Erasmus is into his second stint as South Africa's head coach and his team selection caused a stir in a country used to the expected when he named 22-year old Feinberg-Mngomezulu at outside-half with the experienced Handre Pollard, whose boot had taken South Africa to two World Cup finals, on the bench.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu scuffed an early 35m penalty so badly it would not have gone over the bar even if it had been on target, but he compounded the bruises tacklers sustained by infecting their heads with doubt.

He showed the ability to take the ball into contact and get it away cleanly. It would have led to a try on 18 minutes when he counter-attacked and found Willie le Roux after gliding between two defenders. The full-back had two players outside him but ignored them and was hauled down by Andrew Kellaway.

It was Feinberg-Mngomezulu's first Test start after four appearances from the bench. He added width to South Africa's game and supplied the pass for their final try, and Kurt-Lee Arendse's second, that put them 33 points ahead with 17 minutes to go.

The one frustration for South Africa, other than the yellow cards received by Marx, Marco van Sta-den and Jesse Kriel in the final 13 minutes that left them down to 13 players when Hunter Paisami scored Australia's try, was a wastefulness in attack.

They had several opportunities before du Toit scored their second try after South Africa switched play from right to left and Feinberg-Mngomezulu held on to the ball to the point where a pass seemed no longer to be an option only to deliver the ball to the second row, and their third six minutes from half-time came when Arendse, whose opposite man Kellaway was in the sin-bin for a dangerous tackle on Reinach, found his way to the line despite picking up the ball running backwards in Australia's crowded 22.

Australia were on top in the third quarter but blew attacking lineouts and were twice hit on the counter-attack as Kwagga Smith and Arendse showed how, the second try after a Kriel break. Australia had the last word, but it was barely a whisper and Schmidt will need every minute of every day as he prepares for the second encounter in Perth on Saturday.