Former Wallaby prop Matt Dunning reviews the first test and casts an eye to the second. He talks Nic White’s antics, the Boks picking their best front row and his memories of Jannie du Plessis after playing against him in the Sydney 2007 test.
I felt the Springboks saw how the Wallabies were susceptible under the high ball and came with the same game plan which the Pumas beat us with. However, the difference was that Reece Hodge, who is safe under the high ball, was at fullback in Adelaide. The Boks’ didn’t get the desired results from their aerial tactics and kicked away possession.
The Springboks play a very good contestable kicking game and I know it’s part of their DNA. But in the last quarter of the match, we saw the inroads the Boks made when they played a bit more. When they held the ball and were free-flowing, they looked really good and I just think you got your game plan wrong. The Boks were so fixated on contestable kicks and trying to win the ball back that the visitors didn’t test the Wallabies with ball-in-hand for most of the match. The Boks had multiple opportunities from lineout mauls where execution was their enemy, along with some neat Wallaby defence.
WHY WORLD RUGBY IS TO BLAME
When I saw the Nic White incident, initially I was very critical of him but after further reflection I apportion the blame to World Ruby. If you want to change the laws of rugby to make it more like soccer, you are going to get soccer players playing the game. Our game’s laws are all about interpretation but when it comes to accidental contact to the head, we have taken away the ability for the referee to make interpretations and discretion is not allowed. As we saw with White, the nature of human beings is to use the laws to their advantage. Five years ago, had White done that to Nigel Owens, the Welshman would have said, “This is not soccer!” Owens wouldn’t have copped that but the laws are different now. I’m not suggesting referee Paul Williams is to blame – he really had no choice and World Rugby need to be held accountable for where we are at.
ONLY MR INCREDIBLE IS MISSING
The Boks have picked their best front row this week and the Wallabies are going to have a very tough assignment. With Malcolm Marx and Steven Kitshoff starting, I think it will be a different story for the Boks. But I can’t see any reason why they wouldn’t pick Vincent Koch aka Mr. Incredible on the bench because I think he’s very good… When the Wallabies’ starting front row was on, I thought they were solid and gained parity at scrum time. Allan Ala’alatoa played well at tighthead and James Slipper was excellent again. For me, he is one of the most underrated players in world rugby at the moment. He makes tackles, clears out, works hard and his scrumming is getting better with age.
In the backline, the Boks have made five changes and it will be interesting to see Damian Willemse at flyhalf because he hasn’t played there since the Wales series. The backline changes could cause disruption but, with Willemse at 10, there is going to be a lot of running. He’s a very exciting player and he may be just what the Springboks need.
JANNIE WAS GOOD FOR A YARN
The last time I played against the Springboks in Sydney was in 2007. I scrummed against Jannie du Plessis, who was big, strong and most importantly smart (As they say, God invented beer to stop frontrowers from taking over the world!) What I liked about Jannie was he was one of those props who came from the school of when getting on top of another prop, not rubbing it in. He just let the opposition prop go into his shell and wallow in his own misery of having no answers. He would not give his opponent a reason to snap out of it. However, I remember most of my time with Jannie after games. My memories are of sharing a beer together and having a chat about scrummaging at a nightclub or pub as late as four o'clock in the morning. The Bok front row back then of Du Plessis, Gary Botha and CJ van der Linde was somewhat comparable to the current front row. The big difference is Marx compared to Botha, who are very different players. Botha was a smaller, high work-rate hooker and wasn’t as big or as powerful as Marx.
KOROIBETE IS WORLD-CLASS
The Wallabies are known to keep the same team if they’re winning, like most sides, and that has proved to be the case. I thought Dave Porecki starting at hooker ahead of Folau Fainga’a might have been an alteration they could have made. Porecki was the initial first-choice coupled with the fact that Fainga’a missed a few throws and gave away some penalties. Other than that the balance was really good. Meanwhile, in the backline, Marika Koroibete was outstanding and is world-class. His try-saving tackle on Makazole Mapimpi was one of the most incredible things I’ve seen. He used his arms in the tackle but it wouldn't have mattered if his head had hit Mapimpi’s head. If Koroibete, who is the best winger in the game, had got it wrong he would have likely copped an eight-week ban because the onus is on the defender in terms of head-on-head contact.
ELECTRIC TEST MATCH AWAITS
The redeveloped Sydney Football Stadium, which is brand new and sold out, is going to produce an electric atmosphere in the 92nd test between the nations. We haven’t seen a game like that in the city of Sydney for a long while, and it’s going to be pretty special.
The Springboks are going to have their backs against the wall, especially in the backline, with the injuries they have picked up and the disruptions it has caused. I’m not a bookmaker but I would suggest that the Wallabies might start as favourites this week.
*** Dunning debuted for Australia against Namibia in 2003 at the Adelaide Oval and played the last of his 45 tests in 2009.