Six-try Boks swoosh past Wallabies in Pretoria

The Springboks were leading 17-5 at the break and raced away in the second half, when the Wallabies conceded two penalty tries as they reverted to all sorts of illegal tactics to stem the green and gold onslaught. Three tries by local hero Kurt-Lee Arendse also earned him the Man of the Match gong.

Apart from an early score and a late consolation try, the Wallabies never looked comfortable against the pace and intensity of the home side.

Bok flyhalf Manie Libbok had the first attempt at points four minutes in, but his 55m effort was just short. The first points from the Wallabies came soon after.

They moved the ball wide from a lineout play – originally won by the Boks off a Wallaby throw and then lost again – and Marika Koroibete found some open space between himself and the Bok try-line. The conversion was wide, but the Aussies were on the board.

The Springboks started to find some fluency on attack and that forced Australia to try and slow them down, but they did so illegally twice in a row and was penalised. Libbok got his first points on the board 12 minutes in, courtesy of a penalty goal.

From the restart, the Boks were at it again. Canan Moodie made a lovely run on the outside and as the ball was worked back infield and then to the other wing, Arendse found himself with enough space to score without being bothered by a defender. Libbok converted and after 17 minutes the Boks were 10-5 up.

Reece Hodge had an opportunity to cut the deficit with a long-range penalty 25 minutes in, but as with his conversion attempt, the flags stayed down.

Arendse then struck a second time, but where his first effort came from patience in the lead up, this time, a swift and decisive strike from a lineout extended the lead. Marvin Orie won the ball in the air, Marco van Staden came around the front and off-loaded to Bongi Mbonambi who found Arendse with the deftest of passes. The Bok speedster ran in and Libbok converted for a 17-5 lead.

Hodge had a third attempt, but this time after the half-time hooter, but he came up short from 60m out. The Boks kicked the ball into touch and the end of the first half. The Wallabies would have lamented the Springboks’ discipline as they only conceded two penalties during the whole of the first half, and neither were in easy kicking range.

The Boks started off the second half with more attacking purpose and again struck gold out wide. Arendse scored his third after stepping inside three desperate Australian cover defenders. The desperation came from another good attack out wide with Lukhanyo Am delivering his now trademark delayed pass that just held up the defence.

Libbok pushed the conversion wide but did not need to take aim for the Springboks' fourth try. A strong Bok maul was pulled down by David Porecki and after consulting with his TMO, Ben O'Keeffe awarded a penalty try to the home side and a yellow card to the Wallaby hooker.

Libbok seemingly scored soon after when he picked up a stray pass but was called back after TMO intervention found a knock-on by the South African defender.

Bok coach Jacques Nienaber called his bench into action after an hour, with Thomas du Toit, Vincent Koch and Joseph Dweba replacing Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe and Bongi Mbonambi, while RG Snyman made his anticipated return to test match rugby two minutes earlier in place of Orie. It also reunited him with his Munster locking partner, Jean Kleyn, who impressed in his first Test for South Africa.

Deon Fourie and Grant Williams also made their presence felt immediately, with Koch held up over the line soon after he replaced Malherbe. From the resulting goal line drop-out, Australia kicked it straight into touch, handing the dominating SA scrum the feed five meters out.

From the resulting play, Suliasi Vunivalu, slapped down the final pass from Grant Williams to Arendse and a second penalty try was awarded. That pushed the lead out to 36-5 with 12 minutes to play.

The relentless Boks were far from done and with six minutes left Pieter-Steph du Toit's industrious shift was rewarded when he crashed over for his first test try against Australia and his team's sixth of the match. Libbok converted to complete the rout.

Aussie debutant Carter Gordon scored a late consolation try, but by that time, the 50089 crowd was already dancing for a while.

Scorers:

Springboks 43 (17) – Tries: Kurt-Lee Arendse (3), Penalty Tries (2), Pieter-Steph du Toit. Conversions: Manie Libbok (3). Penalty goal: Libbok.

Australia 12 (5) – Tries: Marika Koroibete, Carter Gordon. Conversion: Gordon.

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