The Wallabies remain at the bottom of The Rugby Championship ladder after a 38-12 trouncing at the hands of the Springboks in Brisbane on Saturday night.
Australia produced another dismal performance following consecutive losses to the All Blacks, handing South Africa their biggest ever win in Australia and their first ever at Suncorp Stadium.
The first half saw both teams put on error-riddled and penalty-laden performances, with Springboks flanker Willem Alberts sent to the sin bin within the first 10 minutes, and recalled Wallabies winger Nick Cummins, aka ‘The Honey Badger’, dropping the ball with his first two touches.
South Africa went into halftime with a 10-point buffer and plenty of momentum, having had more sustained attack with simple, smart play.
On the other hand, the Wallabies looked dangerous in patches, but their high turnover rate denied them any quality possession.
Australia began to show more enthusiasm in the second half, with more possession and phase sets, but poor ball security and disorganised attack kept the home side tryless.
The sin binning of flanker Michael Hooper in the 50th minute further added to the Wallabies woes as their forward pack continued to struggle at the breakdown.
The Springboks piled on three more tries in the space of 10 minutes to seal the win and move to the top of The Rugby Championship ladder, leaving Australia without a win under new coach Ewen McKenzie.
Three key stats sum up the Wallabies’ recent performances: turnovers, possession, and tries scored.
Australia has scored just three tries in as many matches and has turned the ball over 18 or more times in each of those games, yet they have had more possession than their opposition.
If it wasn’t for the deadly accurate boot of centre Christian Lealiifano, Australia would be in all sorts.
If the Wallabies want to compete in this year’s Rugby Championship, they have to revert to the basics. This means significantly minimising turnovers and capitalising on possession by scoring tries.
Simple as that.
Israel Folau’s move to fullback is a sensible one which guarantees him more ball and freedom to roam in open field play, but Folau has to be careful not to isolate himself when on the attack.
There were a couple of instances against the Springboks where he ran the ball without support and was consequently left stranded at the breakdown, resulting in turnovers.
Quade Cooper showed glimpses of his attacking prowess against the Springboks with some slick passing and a couple of deft chip kicks, but failed to ignite the Wallabies’ attack.
Cooper’s discipline in defence also needs to improve considerably if he is going to remain Australia’s first-choice flyhalf, after conceding some crucial penalties on Saturday night.
The Wallabies face a tough task against Argentina this Saturday in Perth, with the Pumas boasting a giant, aggressive forward pack that will certainly test the home side.
Australia must avoid playing catch-up rugby in order to catch up to the other teams.
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