Brisbane, Sept. 18 (BUS): Australia reclaimed Mandela’s plate with a 30-17 victory over World Cup champions South Africa on Saturday, giving Dave Rainey a back-to-back win for the first time as head coach at Wallabies.
His counterpart Jack Nenber later apologized to South African rugby fans, saying the Springboks’ performance was not shirt-worthy.
The Wallabies needed a last-minute flyhalf Quade Cooper call-up goal last Sunday to snatch a 28-26 win over the Gold Coast, but took the lead for most of the game in front of nearly 40,000 people at SunCorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Lin Iketao scored two attempts in the first half while Marika Kuropeti crossed twice in the second half to earn a Rugby Championship bonus point for Australia.
It was an unforgettable win for Michael Hopper on the occasion of his record 60th test as captain of the Wallabies.
The winning streak was the first since Rinnie took charge after the 2019 World Cup, and a real boost for the Australians after three defeats to New Zealand.
“We talked a lot about going back here. Building one good performance, but we wanted to keep up with these guys again,” Hooper said. “That’s the luxury of playing twice in a row.”
The South Africans scored three attempts at rolling strokes on the Gold Coast but were not as successful at Suncorp, as the Wallabies rose in this division and held steady in defense despite conceding the majority of possession and nearly twice as many. Treat.
“We weren’t able to scratch last week in the hits game (and) knew they were going to come back a lot harder there,” Hooper said. “We matched that.”
The Australians led 15-12 in the first half, with South Africa’s points coming from Handry Pollard’s four goals from penalty shootouts.
Both sides gave up their one-man advantage in the first half, with Springboks scrumhalf Faf de Klerk receiving a yellow card for a mock foul while Australia were in an attacking position early on while Wallabies winger Lachie Swinton was hampered by a stinger on the shoulder. With No. 8 Duane Vermeulen before their heads collided in the 33rd minute.
South Africa led 17-15 less than two minutes into the second half as de Klerk carried out the attack. Veteran scrumhalf made a quick penalty kick to put the defense on the back foot and later sent a perfectly weighted goalkeeper from the blind side of the running base to center Lukhanyo Am to score a corner attempt.
But Cooper regained the lead of Australia 18-17 in the 51st minute, then winger Korobet opened the match with a pair of attempts in the 62nd and 68th minutes.
His first stunning feat up front was followed by coach Taniela Topo, who jumped down the left sideline, directed the defense and then, without looking, moved from his right hand under his left armpit to his flying wing to support him.
And Corbetti gave Australia a tally of 13 points when he slipped over the ball after a break in the midfield from substitute Pete Samo.
The Springboks opened the tournament with consecutive victories in South Africa with their home wins against the British and Irish Lions. They are now 2-2 ahead of two matches against competition-leading New Zealand, including the 100th Test between the two countries next weekend. Australia face Argentina in the final two weeks of the tournament.
Nynaber said his Springboks should improve dramatically.
“We got really hit in every department,” he said. “We were defeated: the defense, the kicking game, the attack. We made a lot of mistakes.”
Captain Sia Colsey said the Springboks didn’t take their chances and “I thought we wasted a lot of power.”
“We had a lot of ball in a good position, we played mostly in 22 but they put us out of play,” he said. “All credit to Australia, they played really well today and I congratulate Michael Hooper on his 60th game as captain, but for us (for now) the big game is coming next week.”
NS