A VIEW FROM DOWN UNDER: The Matt Dunning column, vol 3

Former Wallaby prop Matt Dunning talks about how the Springboks are tracking ahead of the World Cup after beating the Wallabies, what he made of Eben Etzebeth’s crazy eyes and if he ever shared a post-game beer with Bakkies Botha.

I was fortunate to attend the 92nd test match between the Wallabies and Springboks at the newly-minted Allianz Stadium. It’s an awesome start-of-the-art venue and is going to be a pretty special place in Sydney for years to come. However, to be fair, it was disappointing the crowd had nothing to cheer about in terms of Australia’s performance.

I didn’t read all the press in South Africa last week but I imagine they copped a fair bit after their performance in the first test match. They would have taken it personally and would potentially have been embarrassed like the Wallabies were after their loss to the Pumas in Argentina. It was clear South Africa wanted to show that the Springbok jersey meant a lot to them and that another defeat to Australia was not going to happen again.

WILLEMSE WAS A 10 AT FLYHALF

The Boks had a mixed game plan which worked really well. They kept the Wallabies guessing and I thought Damian Willemse at 10 was fantastic. There could have been an argument for Siya Kolisi to win man of the match because that is the best I’ve seen him play in a long time but Willemse brought balance to the Boks.

When you’ve got run, pass, kick options both contestable and for territory and on the front foot, all of a sudden the contestable kicks get a lot harder to take when they’re not predictable or happening when the defensive line isn’t set on static ball. It was evidenced for Canan Moodie’s try when Marike Koroibete appeared unsure whether he should come forward or go back.

ETZEBETH WAS UP FOR THE FIGHT

A lot of people said that the Boks could and should have won by more but the bottom line is that they were smart. They played a game that wasn’t going to get beaten and didn’t let the Wallabies back into the game. To offer a boxing analogy, the Boks didn’t try to get a knockout and took a bloodied points victory.

I don’t think there is bad blood between the Boks and Wallabies. It opened up a bit in the 72nd minute after Makazole Mapimpi scored. With the players squaring up, it was good theatre and the facial expressions from Eben Etzebeth were great.

Nowadays, owing to the repercussions all you can do is get really angry. As much as a part of me would have loved to have seen Allan Ala’alatoa throw a haymaker, the Boks have a very high opinion of Etzebeth. I imagine he can throw a decent punch so it could have made for a heavyweight stoush!

I don’t know if Ala’alatoa sharing a beer with Etzebeth was a stunt but it was a nice touch. I don’t think there are any hard feelings between those two. My experience of rugby is to have a beer afterwards with the opposition but, to be fair, I never enjoyed a cold one with Bakkies Botha after a match. I probably wouldn’t have been as nice and given him a beer because he wasn’t my cup of tea either! But the beauty about our game is that it’s ultra-competitive on the field and then gracious, with camaraderie off it.

CURRENT GAME IS SO COMPETITIVE

If you look at the landscape of world rugby now, the reality is the ninth team in the world – Wales – can beat the world champion Boks. The current game is so competitive and while I’m not suggesting any of the top nine can win the World Cup, nine teams can beat each other on any given day. In terms of winning a World Cup, that’s a different story because it isn’t just about beating someone on the day but winning consecutively.

Realistically, can the Boks defend their World Cup title? Yes they can. The All Blacks, France and Ireland are the other main contenders I see for the title. But 12 months out, there’s still a chance for England and Australia as well. With the money and resources they have, I wouldn’t write England off. But they will have to come up a couple of pegs to win it and Australia are no different. An exciting 12 months lies ahead in world rugby.

OFFICIATING BECOMING TOO PEDANTIC

The game has changed in some ways for the better with regards to player safety but if you ask me in some ways for the worse. I saw David Campese’s comments this week. I like the fact that Campo doesn’t sit on the fence and I agree with him on this occasion in terms of referees and TMOs potentially ruining the game.

If it takes seven minutes to assess potential foul play from a clear out, and it’s not in the act of scoring a try, then we are getting pedantic. There is going to be accidental head contact and if it’s without malice and just centimetres off being legal then we just have to get on with the game.

I don’t think there was much in the Ala’alatoa clear out. It was probably a penalty by the letter of the law but if you take seven minutes to work it out then to me it’s not worth it…

The Rugby Championship is still wide open and I think what the unpredictable nature of this year’s tournament is saying is that we have got teams here who aren’t quite mature yet. Mature teams put in consistent performances and don’t have those ups and downs.

*** Dunning debuted for Australia against Namibia in 2003 at the Adelaide Oval and played the last of his 45 tests in 2009.