Tevita Kuridrani has scored a dramatic post-siren try to drag the Wallabies to a 24-20 win over South Africa in their Rugby Championship opener on Saturday night.
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In a case of genuine highway robbery, Australia snatched the scarcely-deserved win at the death with Kuridrani’s fifth Test try, muscling over the line and somehow sneaking the ball down amidst a mess of bodies more than a minute and a half into red time.
Video referee Ben Skeen pored over the footage and sparked near-bedlam amongst the 37,633 crowd at Suncorp Stadium – and the Wallabies players – when he gave the green light.
It was a tentative first step on the road to the World Cup with the scoreboard flattering the Wallabies, who only came back into the contest when South Africa rung the changes and swapped out their entire front row.
The ferocious Springboks were a class above for most of the night, easily winning the scrum battle, dominating the breakdown and standing firm at the right moments to pose a new set of questions to Australia coach Michael Cheika.
The win was soured by an injury to Will Genia, who limped off at half-time with a medial ligament strain in his knee and didn’t return, throwing a monkey wrench into Cheika’s playmaking plans.
Genia’s replacement, Nick Phipps, played out the match and depending on the severity of the injury may have the chance to stamp himself as Australia’s first-choice halfback in next weekend’s Test in Argentina.
But Cheika may opt to re-examine his options with Quade Cooper unconvincing and eventually shown up by his replacement at five-eighth, Matt Toomua, who helped straighten up the Wallabies in the last 15 minutes.
South Africa rode the trusty boot of Handre Pollard to a 6-0 lead but the Wallabies stormed in front with the first try of the match in the 33rd minute.
Straight from a line-out, the ball went from Genia to Matt Giteau and then to Cooper, who played a no-look inside ball for Adam Ashley-Cooper to power through and touch down next to the posts.
Cooper converted to give Australia a 7-5 lead, but five minutes later the Springboks went back in front when Bryan Habana cleverly batted back a high ball to Willie le Roux, who played in Eben Etzebeth.
Five minutes after the break, South Africa were in again as Jesse Kriel cut through Australia’s left side with ease, brushing off the advances of James Slipper and Israel Folau and throwing off Phipps to touch down.
The Wallabies struck back in the 73rd minute through Michael Hooper, closing the gap to 20-17, and then found enough petrol in the tank to will themselves to the win through Kuridrani’s late effort.
Socrates
Guest
Great friendly / trial game. The result: Either teams could have won. Substitutes for both teams were for trail purposes only Not a fan of Hooper but he played well on Saturday. Wallaby forward pack although heavier do not have physical strength Result academic only Didn't see much difference from last year Wallaby performances. Why the excitement when Folau catches a ball and makes a run. Isn't that what he is expected to do?
Jerry
Guest
You can figure that out from the positions of other people though. For instance in this case you can see that when Burger is there reaching down the ball is over the line, so when the other angle shows the ball touching the ground AND Burger reaching down, etc. It's not the same thing as assuming "Well, the ball MUST have touched the ground there" or "Well, you can't actually SEE Nadolo's foot on the line, but it almost certainly did". The try last night was able to be given based on actually seeing all the elements required. Not in the same image perhaps (though as I said, I actually think you can see it's over the line in the side on image anyway) but seeing them all none the less. What I'm opposed to is people making calls on things they haven't seen.
soapit
Guest
but you have to assume to two images are occurring over the same time jerry as theyre not time linked as far as i know. there is a small amount needed.
soapit
Guest
yep agree on that its forward though i reckon not by as much as 2 feet with the line of cooper the passer (ie the forward pass line) in the second still being between AAC and the ball like i said tho they never seem to call those inside ball forward passes and ive seen much worse let go. a good way to show it tho (and one ive been espousing for some time - only fails if the passer changes speed after he passes for example if he gets nailed)
Taylorman
Guest
Yes zero, and when Pocock says they'll review it like a loss it's all very positive, in effect what I was pointing at. I suppose it just depends on who says it huh zero?
Phantom
Roar Rookie
Except the pass was forward but not ruled.
Phantom
Roar Rookie
No clear evidence of a try.
Jerry
Guest
There's no assumption needed here though. One angle shows it's over the line. The second shows it touched the ground (to be honest, the second angle showed both - you could make out the line in the image that showed the ball touching the ground). I've never had any problem with those sorts of calls. It's not really an assumption to make a conclusion of timing/position based on combining two sources. I have a problem with the sort of calls like Nairavaro's try that Ayoub gave earlier in the year where there is no actual video evidence one element required. In that case - you could assume, based on the position of the ball - that it had been grounded over the line. But without actual video showing it touching the turf, it shouldn't have been given. That's not the case with the try last night, there was video evidence showing all elements.
Jerry
Guest
I took a couple of screen grabs - definitely forward. https://40.media.tumblr.com/79f99e187fc9332af04d19e919691287/tumblr_nrpwbbSDJ61sg3nzko2_540.png https://41.media.tumblr.com/a18b2902a64b92dbfa12471938d0a7fa/tumblr_nrpwbbSDJ61sg3nzko1_500.png The ball in the second picture is outlined by that Bok defender's jersey. It's in front of where Quade has ended up and that's after him taking a half step forward. Abou 2-2.5 feet forward I'd say.
Phantom
Roar Rookie
U Must have been watching a different game to the rest. Cooper is ordinary and showed that last night.
soapit
Guest
well thats going to make it difficult to discuss it with you. i'll try again. in the past youve heavily espoused video refs making decision only on what they could conclusively see with no room for logical assumption. the try awarded last night had no single shot conclusively showing the try and simple logic was used to award it. i'm surprised you are happy with it all. if that doesnt make sense to you perhaps we should leave it
soapit
Guest
i thought it might have been forward jerry but they didnt show a good angle for the replay. having said that i've seen much worse let go, they are always lenient on those inside balls
Cros
Guest
Well done Wallabies, and without wanting to take anything away, it was a 'miracle' win. Still it took fortitude in Moore's decision and team having belief to pull this off. Comments on whether the final try should have been awarded are pointless and baseless. Wallaby forwards outplayed for much of the night, but rallied in last twenty minutes to deliver the 'knock-out'. I still don't know what to make of this. The obvious take is that Wallaby replacements did better than the Springbok replacements, & perhaps Toomua made a difference in straightening the attack, or maybe we just got lucky! Forward pack seemed to struggle for much of the night, but were never out of the contest. Wins like this come rarely, but they will need to find more muscle and consistent effort to reclaim top positions. But there is reason to hope. Go Wallabies!
RobC
Roar Guru
GotHimYeah, It was once in BD. Poey at 55'. It was a major turning point. This was the only time SB had the pill in attack in their half after their try. Every scrum and lineout after Big Willy was replaced was dominated by WBs. Hence territory and possession
tinfoil hat
Guest
They were not the better team all game. Unless you are suggesting letting tries in indicates a teams superiority? Changing a successful strategy of play attacking rugby in the first half to deciding to hand the wallabies vast amounts of possession and territory is not the sign of a 'better' team. The Wallabies were good enough to take advantage of this perplexing change in strategy and take a well deserved win.
dahl
Guest
Wah wah wah. Wah wah.
dahl
Guest
He penalised burger for not rolling away in the first half. I thought it was a bit harsh to be honest.
Dink
Guest
We do need a decent goal kicker...
Dink
Guest
This is what I would like to see.
RobC
Roar Guru
Just watched the game again. Springboks had ZERO territory after the beaut 46' try by fullback Kriel, created by fullback WLR Taking off Big Willy was the most important event by the WBs, Im sad to say The match was won by WB set piece and continuing to challenge the wider spaces: 1. 5' WB in SB half/redzone - WBs get into SB redzone again through midfielders - 48' Poey charges BdP after another SB TOW - 49' Habana stops a QC / K-train shortball on his tryline 2. 5' WB straightens their attack earns 3 points - 10 phases w/QC Gits taking on the line 3. 5' possession by WBs thanks to Poey - 55' HUGE TO. Poey kills off a SB raid before it starts. Cheap slap by Eben on Big Kev - 10 more phases by WB making 40m - 60' WB win a scrum penalty after Schalk holds up Giteau. Shocking miss by QC 3. 10' WB with territory thanks to SB sideline fubars - 61' QC to Gits in space. But muffed his try assist to Folau - 64' Mitchell saved Pollard's penalty kick for touch - 68' Strauss fubars his LO after a pen TOW by Pollard 4. 5' WBs camped in SB redzone after midfielders make metres, this time via Toomua - 69' SB concedes a ruck penalty. Schalk and his scrum hammered - 73' try by Hoops off a WB power scrum 5. SB ahead in points. boxes away possession - 76' Toomua kicks for LO. SB harassed by WBs and boxed to WB - 79' After Gits missed his penalty, WB loses the pill. - 79' 30 seconds to go. SB has all but won it. But SB pinged for sealing off - 80' no more end to end stuff. The pack and K-train just runs between defenders