South Africa got off to a flying start in the Rugby Championship. The Springboks made short work of Australia (43-12) in Pretoria on Saturday.A good omen for the South Africans with two months to go before the World Cup.
South Africa is back on track.On the opening day of the Rugby Championship, the Springboks were impressive.At home, they thrashed Australia 43-12.
The Springboks were already leading 17-5 at the break and took off in the second half when the Wallabies conceded two penalty tries.In the second half, the home side stepped up their attacks and managed to find a way through the Australian defence. Arendse scored his third try after slipping between three helpless Australian defenders.
The reigning world champions finished off the visitors at the end of the match. With six minutes remaining, Pieter-Steph du Toit was rewarded for his first try against Australia and his team’s sixth of the match. Libbok converted the try to complete the rout. Kurt-Lee Arendse, who scored three tries, was voted man of the match.
Six-try #Springboks start 2023 with a bang 🇿🇦#StrongerTogether #RSAvAUS #TRC2023 pic.twitter.com/U69YTADCyT
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 8, 2023
Apart from a first try and a consolation try at the end of the match, the Wallabies were completely disorientated. The Australians were powerless against the pace and intensity imposed by the Springboks.
A fine victory… and some flaws
Despite this comprehensive victory, Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick noted a number of negative points. He says: “There are a lot of things we can improve on, but we’ll take the result any day. If you had said during the week that we would have scored 43 points against Australia, we would have said you were dreaming. But we have something to work on.”
The Springboks still have some way to go in certain areas, Mzwandile Stick still believes. “There was a point in the game where we had a lot of entries into the Australian 22 and we weren’t able to convert them – and there were a few breaks in play as well – and I think that’s where we need to continue to improve. We need to make sure we convert those chances into points – when we play the All Blacks and Argentina, we won’t have ten chances; we’ll only have four or five and you need to convert them.” In their second match, South Africa face defending champions New Zealand on Saturday 15 July. Like the Springboks, the All Blacks hit the ground running in their opening game. They thrashed Argentina 41-12.
🪜 How things stand after Round One. #RugbyChampionship pic.twitter.com/xcT2e4mF6m
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) July 8, 2023
