The Springboks left themselves with too much to do as they fell agonisingly short in a chaotic one-off clash against the Wallabies in Perth on Sunday, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.
The double world champions looked dead and buried trailing 42-17 with 17 minutes remaining before the Nuke Squad eventually blew up, igniting a spirited fightback that led to three Bok tries and four yellow cards for the hosts.
The Wallabies were well and truly on the ropes, but accidental obstruction doomed the men in Green and Gold’s final throw of the dice and saw Australia, who were the better team for three quarters of the contest, clinch the Mandela Challenge Plate with a 42-38 win.
Ultimately, Rassie Erasmus’ gamble of making 13 changes to the starting XV that secured a famous series win over the All Blacks two weeks ago didn’t pay off, as the Wallabies remained unbeaten under new coach Les Kiss.
Our top three Springbok standouts were:
Ox Nche
The most destructive loosehead in the world spearheaded the Boks’ fightback in a freakish display of dominance as a key member of the Nuke Squad.
Nche caused absolute chaos at scrum time, earning the Boks two tries, the first a penalty try in the 71st minute, and the second being scored by Morne van den Berg three minutes later. I would not be surprised if PETA received some calls after the way he feasted on the helpless Wallabies.
The 31-year-old then went over for his first Test try with 25 seconds remaining to keep the comeback alive, but it was not to be. Earlier, the big man made an important intervention at a ruck when he went for a steal. He ended up knocking on but crucially slowed the Wallabies down, buying the Boks precious time.
Paul de Villiers
Like a Rolex watch, the Bok rookie has delivered time and time again in his maiden Test season.
De Villiers hadn’t played since the 33-16 loss to the All Blacks in the opening Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, and yet he didn’t skip a beat.
The breakdown was always going to be a particularly key area against the Aussies, and De Villiers did a fantastic job. A ferocious forager from start to finish, “Paulie D” produced three turnovers. The first allowed Handre Pollard to open the Boks’ account, while the others came in minutes 36 and 42.
The 23-year-old was a workhorse in open play as well; he made some strong, leg-driving carries and was tireless in defence.
Morne van den Berg
A number of players were in contention for the final place on our podium.
Pollard shook off an early mistake (failing to find touch) to have a solid game, which included a perfectly executed and timed pass to Canan Moodie that sparked Edwill van der Merwe’s try, slotting all three of his kicks at goal and making two try-saving tackles, both on Max Jorgensen.
Moodie was strong for the most part, starting with a good defensive read and big hit on Ben Donaldson. Then there was the break leading to Van der Merwe’s try and his show of speed to reel in Hunter Paisami. However, the knock-on that resulted in Jorgensen’s try took some gloss off his performance.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu brought some magic off the bench, but it was his fellow halfback super-sub who got the nod in the end. Continuing his rich vein of form, “Krappie” brought speed, energy and x-factor to the Bok attack and got onto the scoresheet.
