An 11-man Wallaby team survived an epic late comeback from the Springboks to rock the World Champions and win their one-off test 42-38 in Perth on Sunday.
The game turned out to be one of the most bizarre test matches ever played, and included another failure in communications between the officials, four yellow cards, several disputable calls, and a performance from the Boks which was far below their normal standard.
The comeback may have covered up some of the cracks, but in essence, Australia were the far superior team in the contest and were for a long time looking as if they were to give Rassie Erasmus’ side their worst-ever beating since he took over in 2018.
That the Boks finished just four points behind, and were trying to get a victory, said more about their resilience and the Wallabies’ late implosion than the rest of the game.
Certainly if drama was what the contest wanted, it got that in droves, but in terms of an advert for the game, this would hardly have made the list for rough drafts in a country where rugby is the fourth most popular sport.
DRAMA
The drama would take away from an excellent performance by the Wallabies - helped on by some of the strangest calls from referee Andrea Piardi and his team - as the flat-footed Bok team, which showed 13 changes from Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, were disjointed and out of sorts for much of the match, until the more experienced bomb squad arrived off the bench.
The problem was, by that time, Australia had racked up such a lead that it would have taken a superhuman effort to haul them in. An intercept try by Max Jorgensen off a Springbok dropped ball by Canan Moodie seemed to be the final nail in the coffin for the Boks.
Incredibly, the Boks accepted the impossible task and almost got there, although they will be reminded that they never should have been 25 points down in the first place had they managed the game a lot better.
It certainly underlined that not all of Rassie Erasmus’ plans work out, and making 13 changes against a rising Aussie side can backfire on you, especially when the referee and TMO have an oversized say in matters.
That will disappoint Erasmus, but it isn’t the end of the world. It does highlight, though, that while the Boks have incredible depth, they can’t just change up against good sides without consequences. And that the team that played against the All Blacks is still by far the most trusted for the defence of the World Cup.
HEAD CLASH DECISIONS WERE PERPLEXING
To say there were some strange calls in the game would be an understatement. None more so than the “head clash” called in by the TMO on Ethan Hooker, and two of the replays showed no head clash at all. The third and fourth showed a glancing touch if anything, and certainly nothing worth stopping the game for.
But they did stop the game, and it gave the Wallabies a crucial penalty that they converted through Ben Donaldson to take a handy lead into halftime.
What made it even more ridiculous was that when the comms failed, there was a clear shoulder to the head on Malcolm Marx, which was first ignored by the TMO, then said to be just a penalty, and then - once another two minutes of match time had been eaten up - was put on the screen and decided that it was a yellow card and a bunker review on Wallaby captain Harry Wilson after all.
KEYSTONE COPS
In terms of keystone cops, this took the cake. While technology failures are normal in life, rugby has had too many of them in recent times, and how the officials ignored the clear head contact when it first was on the screen - despite desperate calls from Bok players on it - is beyond anyone that was watching.
It is a failure that undermines all the good work done by referees across the competitions, and will be cited by both sides as something that was profoundly wrong with the contest in general. Showing both incidents and telling someone one was a penalty, and the other ignored at first, makes no sense at all.
Unfortunately for the Boks, while they did get the yellow in the end, they were too far behind. A poor first half - very little physical dominance from their rejigged forward pack, no scrum platform to speak of, and an ability to give away a series of penalties in a row cost them early on and gave Australia belief.
GROBBELAAR FIRST ON SCOREBOARD
The Boks had scored first from Johan Grobbelaar’s lineout drive that crashed over, but the Wallabies were simply more clinical when they got the chance. A series of mistakes that led to penalties allowed the Wallabies to march downfield, and it wasn’t long before Len Ikitau got over the line to score the first of his brace.
Ikitau’s second came from the Boks losing the aerial battle - something that happened for most of the game - as Aphelele Fassi lost the contest and the ball fell into Ikitau’s hands to run and score untouched. A crucial error cost seven points.
The Boks did hit back with a beauty of a try - a backline move where Moodie moved a bit wider to beat his man and sent Fassi into space to return the favour to Edwill van der Merwe to score.
But then the “head contact” put them on the back foot again; Hooker was penalised and the Wallabies kicked downfield. A lineout move caught the Boks off-kilter, and Jorgensen found space. The recycled ball allowed Donaldson to put them into the break in the lead.
WALLABIES EXECUTED WHEN NEEDED
The Boks survived several more early second-half scares - Van der Merwe saved a try by tackling Jorgensen into touch in the second half but it didn’t stop the home side. Wilson took a five-metre penalty up (after the Boks had conceded three in a row) and powered over to extend the lead.
The dropped ball came shortly afterwards and the Boks looked dead and buried.
At 42-17 in the 63rd minute, the Boks were heading for their worst defeat under Rassie Erasmus, but the bomb squad changed the tide with little time remaining.
The power game took over, and Wilson was eventually carded. Ryan Lonegan stopped Morne van den Berg from going over from an offside position but got away with it as Van den Berg lost the ball over the line. The second time the scrum rumbled over the line and Lonegan dived onto the ball - penalty try and a yellow card for his efforts.
Down to 13, the Boks had a sudden surge of hope. A break by Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu got Moodie close and SFM’s cross-kick looked to have found Van der Merwe for his second, but replays showed he lost the ball. In the attack, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii was carded, and the Wallabies were down to 12.
YELLOW CARDS GALORE
Van den Berg got his try the second time around, and the Boks were closing in.
It all looked lost again as Andre Esterhuizen threw an intercept to Tom Wright for the fullback to score against the run of play. But lo and behold the TMO emerged on the phone, and Hunter Paisami was shown a yellow for a head shot on SFM in the lead-up.
Down to 11, the Boks simply needed to score twice, but time was running out. Deft time-wasting by the Wallabies counted down that clock, but it couldn't stop a turnover and eventual Ox Nche try.
The Boks were within distance, but time was up. They got the ball and had to launch out of their 22. And then Quan Horn got his running lines mixed up with Esterhuizen, and gave the Wallabies the gift of obstruction and the game. Celebrations ensued as the 13 men on the field (Lonegan and Wilson were back) realised what they had done.
The result was a fair one; the Wallabies were too good, and the Boks paid for their changes, rust and disjointed play. But the comeback was dramatic, and the contest deserved so much better than the technology and the officials offered.
But this was the Wallabies’ night, and they deserved the victory.
SCORERS
Wallabies - tries: Len Ikitau (2), Ben Donaldson, Harry Wilson, Max Jorgensen. Conversions: Ryan Lonergan (4). Penalties: Lonergan (3)
Springboks - tries: Johan Grobbelaar, Edwill van der Merwe, Penalty try, Morne van den Berg, Ox Nche. Conversions: Handre Pollard (2), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2). Penalty: Handre Pollard.