Australia lose 24-16 to Springboks

JOHANNESBURG – Australia’s woeful away record in the Tri-nations continued with a 24-16 defeat to South Africa on Saturday.

Both sides made numerous errors in a scrappy encounter, but replacement wing Breyton Paulse’s cool finishing gave the Springboks a second try and they shut out Australia for the last eight minutes. Australia have not won in South Africa since 2000 and without a victory at the high-altitude Ellis Park since 1963, “We created enough opportunities, but we’re really disappointed with our execution,” Australia coach John Connolly told reporters.”We trained so well but we never took it on to the field in certain areas.We just didn’t gel, we became anxious and we probably became a bit flat in the backs, we didn’t hold our depth,” he added.It was South Africa’s second successive victory, after losing their opening four games but it came too late to overhaul Australia for second place in the Tri-nations, which New Zealand retained with two matches to spare.”When you consider where this team was a month ago, to win two consecutive games, and today against the most-capped backline in the history of the game, is amazing,” South Africa coach Jake White said.”Most sides would have thrown in the towel in such a difficult time.When you get into a downward spiral like that, usually the players fall apart and things go pear-shaped.”But everyone put their weight behind the effort today and the team has learnt a lot of things these last two weeks, a huge amount of positives have come out of it,” White said.ATTACKING MOMENTUM The Springboks enjoyed dominance in the scrums and used their backline more extensively than usual.Australia dictated the early exchanges but their attacking momentum was stifled by a slew of ruck penalties awarded to both sides by referee Steve Walsh.Their first points came in the 17th minute from the boot of centre Stirling Mortlock.South Africa drew level four minutes before the break when Andre Pretorius slotted home an angled penalty.The flyhalf gave South Africa the lead early in the second half with a penalty from the kick-off but then Australia lock Victor Matfield turned over possession.Wallaby captain George Gregan broke on the blindside to set up a break by flank Phil Waugh and the ball was switched back to the left for Larkham to jog in an unopposed try.Pretorius pegged the lead back to 10-9 with a penalty and then added a drop goal.Three minutes later, South Africa’s forwards set up a thundering rolling maul, which led to the Australians being penalised.Scrumhalf Fourie Du Preez immediately tapped and ran, before bursting through a handful of defenders to score.Lapses of concentration by South Africa allowed Mortlock to kick two penalties and bring the score to 19-16 but JP Pietersen, on his debut at fullback, sparked an attack and the ball was spread out to Paulse, who drew a defender before stretching over the tryline in the tackle.Nampa-AFPAustralia have not won in South Africa since 2000 and without a victory at the high-altitude Ellis Park since 1963, “We created enough opportunities, but we’re really disappointed with our execution,” Australia coach John Connolly told reporters.”We trained so well but we never took it on to the field in certain areas.We just didn’t gel, we became anxious and we probably became a bit flat in the backs, we didn’t hold our depth,” he added.It was South Africa’s second successive victory, after losing their opening four games but it came too late to overhaul Australia for second place in the Tri-nations, which New Zealand retained with two matches to spare.”When you consider where this team was a month ago, to win two consecutive games, and today against the most-capped backline in the history of the game, is amazing,” South Africa coach Jake White said.”Most sides would have thrown in the towel in such a difficult time.When you get into a downward spiral like that, usually the players fall apart and things go pear-shaped.”But everyone put their weight behind the effort today and the team has learnt a lot of things these last two weeks, a huge amount of positives have come out of it,” White said.ATTACKING MOMENTUM The Springboks enjoyed dominance in the scrums and used their backline more extensively than usual.Australia dictated the early exchanges but their attacking momentum was stifled by a slew of ruck penalties awarded to both sides by referee Steve Walsh.Their first points came in the 17th minute from the boot of centre Stirling Mortlock.South Africa drew level four minutes before the break when Andre Pretorius slotted home an angled penalty.The flyhalf gave South Africa the lead early in the second half with a penalty from the kick-off but then Australia lock Victor Matfield turned over possession.Wallaby captain George Gregan broke on the blindside to set up a break by flank Phil Waugh and the ball was switched back to the left for Larkham to jog in an unopposed try.Pretorius pegged the lead back to 10-9 with a penalty and then added a drop goal.Three minutes later, South Africa’s forwards set up a thundering rolling maul, which led to the Australians being penalised.Scrumhalf Fourie Du Preez immediately tapped and ran, before bursting through a handful of defenders to score.Lapses of concentration by South Africa allowed Mortlock to kick two penalties and bring the score to 19-16 but JP Pietersen, on his debut at fullback, sparked an attack and the ball was spread out to Paulse, who drew a defender before stretching over the tryline in the tackle.Nampa-AFP