The margins are so fine at the top level.
The Rugby Championship table will tell a story of one win in five games for Michael Cheika’s Wallabies, but it could so easily be four wins from five.
But for Bernard Foley’s wayward goal kicking in Dunedin, and the two matches against South Africa, the Wallabies would have been on a four-game win streak and rolling towards the culmination of the Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup decider in Brisbane.
As it is, it’s one win in five games and Micheal Cheika’s much talked about win ratio as Wallabies boss continues to sit at an uncomfortably low number.
But for those who watched last night’s game in Bloemfontein, they’ll have enjoyed a cracking game of running rugby and yet more evidence of Cheika’s belief that this squad is trending in the right direction.
Rugby is a funny game, now five games into a six-game tournament, we still don’t know if the Springboks are good or bad. After an arm wrestle with the Wallabies in Perth, they were comprehensively smashed in New Zealand before going blow-for-blow with what appeared to be an impressive Wallabies overnight.
The Wallabies defensive line just about held up to an early examination from the home side, albeit requiring some desperation defence out wide from Tevita Kuridrani, Bernard Foley and the outstanding Marika Koroibete.
And after weathering the early onslaught, the Wallabies struck first through Israel Folau, in-form fullback burst on to a neat, if not slightly forward inside ball from Bernard Foley to cap a superb set-piece play. Folau is having the best year of his rugby career since he first burst on to the scene in 2013.
The back-and-forth tone for the contest was established when the Boks hit back moments later. After successfully negotiating the rolling maul from the line out, the Wallabies were undone by simple phase play around the ruck, the quick recycle of ball exposing Australia’s poor spacing either side of the breakdown.
Since his horror night in Dunedin, Bernard Foley has been in rare form kicking for goal, and he needed to be last night, but his kicking from the hand remains a serious issue.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Foley could only find touch around the 22 metre line from a midfield penalty, which negated any chance of a driving maul. From his next opportunity he put the ball dead in-goal – an unforgivable yet somehow regular occurrence at international level.
On the occasion that Foley did find touch on the full with a kick, it was after the Wallabies had taken the ball back into the 22 and needed to keep the ball in play.
It’s incredible that the Wallabies’ skills coach, Mick Byrne is a former AFL Premiership winner, and yet general play kicking remains the weakest point of Foley’s game.
The officiating of last night’s game will have left both sides unhappy, as referee Ben O’Keefe was clearly exposed as being out of his depth in only his sixth Test match. The scrums were a complete lottery all night, regularly twisting, moving and collapsing leaving both sides at the mercy of the referee’s discretion.
O’Keefe also should have sin binned Israel Folau for tackling Dillyn Leyds by the hair, giving only a penalty for what is clearly a yellow-card offence under the current foul play guidelines.
The local television producer also shrewdly withheld the replay of Springboks’ captain Eben Etzebeth clobbering Folau in retaliation to avoid the referee or TMO seeing it before play restarted- so perhaps justice was done.
(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Up 13-10 at half-time the Wallabies had a terrific opportunity to lay down a marker in Bloemfontein, but a bad Kurtley Beale defensive miss had the Boks back in front after three minutes of the second half.
The Wallabies of recent times may have wilted at that moment, but fly-half Bernard Foley took it upon himself to lift the visitors.
This column has long insisted that Foley is one of the best runners at the line the Wallabies have, and is underused in that role. Foley has the ability to square up defenders and dragged the Wallabies back again, making a sharp line break before finding the chest of Koroibete with a crisp ball that sent the winger over for a sensational score.
The back-and-forth nature of the contest continued as the Springboks exposed some chaotic midfield defending from the Wallabies to hit back, before Foley again stepped up to fire a bullet pass into the path of the flying Koroibete – this time on the opposite sideline – to crash over for his second try.
At times it genuinely felt like Koroibete was playing on both wings for Australia. Kurtley Beale was named the official man of the match but for mine Koroibete, Foley and the tireless Michael Hooper, who dominated the tackle/breakdown area all night, were by far the best three players on the park.
There was time for both sides to win the game late on, Sean McMahon coughed up possession with the Wallabies in great field position, and the Springboks missed a late penalty attempt that would surely have stolen victory for the home side.
Despite once again not getting the result, Michael Cheika appeared amicable post-match, and he can justifiably feel that this Wallabies side is trending in the right direction, despite what the Rugby Championship table says.
If the Wallabies can go to Mendoza and win against the Pumas – by no means an easy task – they will take the field in Brisbane for the third Bledisloe with genuine belief that they can beat the All Blacks.
Who
Roar Rookie
Funny to see Cheika described as amicable after the match when you consider his explosion about Folau's hair pulling. Which was pointless! Why bother blowing up, rather just say, "The ref made his call..." Further, on the ref, the scrum was about the best thing about his reffing. The Boks made an absolute mess of the scrum in Perth, and O'Keefe did a much better job than Jackson did. Lastly, even if Foley had kicked all 5 conversions in Dunedin, that would've been a draw... Given Barrett nailed his kicks. You can't argue the penalty, as that would've changed the entire course of the game (because the next action would have been different - a restart from halfway - whereas kicking or missing a conversion doesn't change the next action in the game). There's a few improvements, but the majority of the issues many of us were seeing in June are still there......
Rebellion
Guest
Hannigan, Phipps and Robertson need to dropped off in Syria on the way hom ego ‘harden up’. Would love to see a coaching trio of Wessels, Jim McKay and an old school defence coach see if they can whip them into a competitive outfit. Hooper had a cracking game but we need output best players in their best positions. Whether that means trialling Hoops and 2 or 6 - something has to change. On a positive note, Naivalu & Koroibete look to be the answers on the wings but Beale needs to stop dropping high balls if we were ever to trust him again at fullback
Kane
Guest
Never said I was stupid ;)
Kane
Guest
Jones is a good coach, nay a great coach, for the honeymoon period. Then time and time again it’s shown that the results trend downhill. He’s a short term miracle worker
tsuru
Roar Rookie
Aaahh, Kane, how about betting your own left nut on it. Not sure I'm confident enough to risk mine.
Hugo
Guest
KANE - England have several things the Wallabies don't. Namely, a good coach, a great pack and amazing depth. The WBs will field a better backline than England, but then the English backline doesn't keep fumbling the ball or throwing forward passes. And their kicker, Farrell, doesn't screw up when he punts for the line. Also, the game against the WBs will be played at Twickenham. England by 15. Maybe more.
Kane
Guest
The Wallabies will beat England, I'm willing to bet your left nut on it.
Hugo
Guest
Jantjies took a knee in the head. They iced his eye/forehead for him. He was clearly struggling yet Eztebeth told him to take a shot. No wonder Jantjies missed it and missed it way wide. A punt to the line and a drive from the lineout would have been the right call. The Boks would have won. As for the quality of both sides they're both mediocre. The Boks are facing more losses this year. They'll go down to the ABs and Ireland and probably Wales as well. The WBs have zero hope against the ABs. Wales and Scotland will come out on top and England will destroy them. Wish it wasn't so but as long as they keep making basic mistakes they'll be basically beaten.
Harry Jones
Expert
Yes, Serfontein finishes his break in Mandela 1 and Elton makes his kick in Mandela 2 ... Still think the 0-57 loss is worth 5 losses ...
taylorman
Roar Guru
South Africa could even more easily be up four from five at this point. Easy to say, bit harder to do.
Jumbo
Guest
The All blacks are going to have to dig deep the next two games, it's extremely hard to get up mentally for dead rubbers. The wallabies will be eyeing Brisbane as their big game and I expect them to come firing, would be a good chance to throw some of our new blood under the bus. Havili, laumape, fifita and dmac to fly half see how they go, it will be a huge test match for them.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
But you could also say one win from five games.
JCMasher
Guest
A win against the Argies and they’ll be confident for a win against NZ! Really! I know the next game against the Boks will put things on perspective but I’m not shore that 2 draws against a 57-0 and whatever happens next week is enough to raise their confidence that high. Everyone wins against the Argies except at the RWC so a win is expected. TBH it’s great to see the Wallabies playing better but they’ve still got a long way to go
Murray
Guest
Chieka is a bully and an oaf and a national and international rugby embarrassment. Is he blind or stupid? Folau grabs the mullet, no doubt about it, accident or not, and Cheika's response is to have a crack at the journo. Should've been yellow card. Pathetic win-loss ratio yet Chieka swaggers around like the Messiah. Sadly he will be there till the next World Cup because no one else is putting their hand up.
Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
2 Losses (kiwis) from 5 games reads better than 4 losses than 5. If the Puagares could just figure out how to play more than 60 minutes of Rugby, the current Wallaby side could struggle to beaten them also.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
Agree Tooly. I thought this was a game Cheika needed us to win. I don't think we are favourites to win next week either. We did need to win which would have helped to justify sending thirty two players to SA of which three have now been sent back to play in the NRC. I feel we need to go back to the future and bring back selectors rather than the coach and his panel selecting the players. Yes it was an improvement but the game was there for the taking and we missed the win again.
Kashmir Pete
Guest
Jack Many thanks, another great read. Am really looking forward to watching a replay on TV, at first practical moment. Best KP
Tooly
Roar Rookie
If the dog hadn't stopped to dump he would have won the race material here . We could easily have been one from five . The problem as Rex Mossop used to say is that despite all the selection agony " We are not making any forward progress " this year . We have I suggest found our level ; par with SA . This will continue under Chekko with a game plan and selection policy based on hope and entertainment rather than one based on common sense and winning consistently .
John R
Roar Guru
Foley's best game since England at the World Cup for sure
Reverse Wheel
Guest
You're so much better to read than Zavos.