Wallabies bring Springboks down to earth in Brisbane
Last week I was oozing with patriotism in a post about the Springboks’ performance abroad in the Tri-Nations. I’m glad I didn’t look for a ticket for sale for this past weekend’s game. The South African supporters, yours truly and the Springbok team itself were brought back to reality with an astonishing loss against Australia in Brisbane this past weekend. It just shows you, just when you think that a team (in any sport) is unbeatable, the underdogs or team that you least expect to perform brings them back down to earth or at least reminds them that they’re not unbeatable. The Wallabies crushed the Springboks, beating them convincingly by 21 points to 6 and silencing all the critics. The Springboks trailed by 9 points to 6 at half time. Adam Ashley-Cooper and James O’Connor scored the tries for Australia. Matt Giteau kicked over a conversion, 2 penalties and a drop goal. Flyhalf Morne Steyn scored South Africa’s 6 points, kicking over a penalty and a drop goal.
Maybe the Springbok team had a negative connotation in the back of their minds connected with Brisbane. The Springboks have not won a game in Brisbane since 1971. The concept is almost the one the Springboks had with the infamous “House of Pain” in Christchurch, New Zealand, an obstacle overcome by the Springboks in last year’s Tri-Nations competition when they beat the All Blacks in a test there. Besides the loss at the Suncorp stadium this past week, the Springboks still hold a commanding 9 point lead on the Tri-Nations points log. The Springboks have put themselves under pressure, in my opinion. Then again, they can’t be expected to perform at their peak all the time. All they can do is focus on their game. They face the All Blacks this coming weekend in Hamilton, New Zealand. They have to beat New Zealand on their own soil convincingly (with a bonus point) in order to make sure that they win their third Tri-Nations title. To win the Tri-Nations this year, New Zealand must win both their remaining games, with at least one bonus point, against South Africa next week or Australia in Wellington on the 19th of September. Australia have lost 4 of their 5 matches putting them out of the contest for the Tri-Nations Championship title. This is probably why they beat South Africa this past weekend, they had nothing to lose, making them a very dangerous competitor. Should the Springboks loose to New Zealand this coming weekend, every South African supporter will be praying for an Australian victory in the last test in Wellington (not a common trend in South Africa). If this coming weekend’s test was going to be played in Johannesburg or somewhere else in South Africa, the Springboks would probably be a little less worried than now.
South African captain, John Smit sounded confident about his team’s performance against New Zealand in the upcoming test this weekend “Rest assured the guys will be fired up for the final game in Hamilton.” he said. The performance against Australia this past weekend wasn’t the best we’ve seen by the Springboks this year, hopefully they’ll do a lot better against New Zealand this coming weekend. Come on boys! Bring our 3rd Tri-Nations title home!
