The Springboks overcame an early Wallaby onslaught to win 44-31 in their Tri-Nations test at Loftus Versfeld.

Springboks 44

Tries: Juan Smith, Gurthro Steenkamp, Pierre Spies, Frans Steyn, JP Pietersen
Conversions: Morne Steyn (4), Butch James
Penalties: Morne Steyn, Francois Steyn

Wallabies 31

Tries: Will Genia, James O’Connor (2), Dean Mumm
Conversion: Matt Giteau
Penalty: Matt Giteau

BOKS OVERCOME BY EMOTION?

The Wallabies weren’t able to capitalise on a dream start, and it was the Boks who had more gas in the tank as they produced a stronger second half performance to close this match, and keep their Loftus record against Australia intact.

Whether the Boks just don’t deal with the emotion of milestones well enough I’m not sure, but the Wallabies struck early through some poor defence.

Initially it was Jean de Villiers and Victor Matfield who missed Will Genia close to the Bok line, and then from a kick, poor Springbok chasing, and missed tackles from de Villiers and Matfield again, let the Wallabies score a superb long range effort.

The Boks struck back with a great inside ball to Juan Smith, something they don’t use often enough.

However from the restart Bryan Habana produced one of the biggest shockers of his career as he missed the ball and gifted James O’Connor a try.

The Boks once again ensured the Aussies weren’t able to build a substantial lead, scoring through a well worked try at the attacking lineout to Gurthro Steenkamp who showed great determination to barge over.

However more poor defence allowed the Aussies to score a bonus point try after just 25 minutes! At this level, conceding 4 tries is not good enough, let alone just after the first quarter of the match is completed!

At half-time the score was 28-24 to the Wallabies, who probably felt they deserved a greater lead as they had the better of the half.

BOKS STRONG IN SECOND HALF

The Springboks came back stronger as the match wore on, and actually outscored the Wallabies 20-3 in the second half.

The Boks were able to stop the Wallaby runners by making the game tighter. More lineouts, where Victor Matfield could dominate, played into the Springboks hands.

The Wallabies had their chances, but passes weren’t sticking like the initial exchanges. I think the altitude got to them, and Robbie Deans made a coaching hash as he failed to utilise his bench and inject fresh legs.

The Boks meanwhile appeared to have learnt from Soweto, and Peter de Villiers used his bench much better and showed confidence to substitute his captain John Smit and goal kicker Morne Steyn (for Chiliboy Ralepelle and Butch James). Although I am not convinced you should sub either your captain or flyhalf/goal-kicker.

NOT A COMPLETE PERFORMANCE

Whilst the Boks were satisfied to have gotten the win, it was not a complete performance at all.

The Springbok player ratings reflect the wide range of inconsistency in individual performances, which stifle the sides ability to be consistent.

Some players are excelling (Francois Hougaard), others displaying the Bok attitude without always executing correctly (Juan Smith, Victor Matfield, Morne Steyn, Jean de Villiers), and others just woefully inadequate and needing to be dropped (John Smit, Bryan Habana, Pierre Spies).

The Boks did hold onto the ball better than previous performances, and were even rewarded with a great try to Pierre Spies as they went through 10 phases. This kind of play needs to be replicated more.

There was still a propensity to kick away too much ball (and Frans Steyn was guilty of that), but I felt Morne Steyn started to vary his kicks well as he mixed up the high kick with long range kicks for touch.

DE VILLIERS IS SAVED!

Just as in 2006 when a victory over the All Blacks saved Jake White’s career, this win probably ensures de Villiers will remain coach until the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

The onus now is for the Boks to keep improving, and produce more consistent performances away from the fortresses of Loftus and the Highveld, in places such as the UK and New Zealand.