Australia v South Africa LIVE rugby: Result and reaction as dominant Springboks rout Wallabies
Australia 7-33 South Africa: The world champions showed their superiority at Suncorp Stadium to open their Rugby Championship campaign with a win
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Your support makes all the difference.South Africa showed their strength in a dominant performance as they kicked off the Rugby Championship with a 33-7 win over Australia in Brisbane.
The Wallabies had been three wins from three under new head coach Joe Schmidt, but were comfortably second best at Suncorp Stadium, unable to match the world champions’ set-piece superiority and physical edge. The Springboks were in total control for the entire contest, scoring thrice before half time having won the territorial battle, and adding two more tries after the interval to make totally certain as hot-stepping wing Kurt-Lee Arendse capitalised with a couple of scores.
Australia had their chances in the second half, but will rue their profligacy inside the visitors’ 22, coughing up possession repeatedly in advanced areas. For a young side in rebuilding mode after Schmidt’s appointment, there were signs of encouragement defensively but the hosts’ kicking game and attacking accuracy was short of the standards required to match Rassie Erasmus’ fearsome side.
The pair will meet again in Perth next week with the Springboks seeking just a second Rugby Championship crown since Argentina’s addition to the competition as they look to unseat defending champions New Zealand.
Follow all the latest reaction from Suncorp Stadium below:
TRY! New Zealand 20-15 ARGENTINA (Mateo Carreras, 38 minutes)
A lightning strike to answer from Argentina!
They just refuse to go away! There’s a healthy stroke of fortune about this score, Sevu Reece tapping back a high hoist with Santiago Carreras beaten in the air and presuming he will find a teammate. But it’s Mateo Carreras instead who collects Reece’s slap, and the wing wizard does the rest, sprinting into spaces left vacant.. Damian McKenzie is bamboozled by a mamba-like manouevre as Carreras cuts across the turf and beneath the posts, allowing his namesake to convert.
TRY! NEW ZEALAND 20-8 Argentina (Anton Lienert-Brown, 36 minutes)
A pretty pirouette and Anton Lienert-Brown is in!
New Zealand find their clinical edge! The forwards batter and beat away in tight, forcing the goalline defence of Argentina to concertina. Damian McKenzie provides the tempo and tune, asking Lienert-Brown to dance as he takes a pass, with the centre’s nifty spin ensuring he evades a tacker and goes in untouched.
New Zealand 13-8 Argentina, 34 minutes
The blue and white bricks in the Argentina wall refuse to budge as the All Blacks assess their armoury, trying a variety of weapons but finding no joy. An offside penalty will afford them an opportunity to mount an assault from a more advanced position.
PENALTY! New Zealand 13-8 ARGENTINA (Santiago Carreras, 31 minutes)
Santiago Carreras takes his time, though it’s the sort of kick he’d have knocked over when first toddling about on a rugby pitch. Argentina narrow the gap.
New Zealand 13-5 Argentina, 30 minutes
Argentina can’t make much of the maul but their feisty fringe thumpers begin to gain ground, edging ever closer to the All Blacks line. Pablo Matera loses control in contact, but there’s another penalty to take.
Matera has a mull, wondering whether to give it another go. Eventually, a reluctant finger is pointed towards the posts.
New Zealand 13-5 Argentina, 29 minutes
Argentina may answer immediately. Pedro Rubiolo pounces on an isolated Jordie Barrett as Thomas Gallo cries “timber!”, swinging an axe at the centre’s ankles.
Well well well. Argentina turn down a shot at goal and instead prod the penalty to the corner.
PENALTY! NEW ZEALAND 13-5 Argentina (Damian McKenzie, 28 minutes)
Three from three from the tee for Damian McKenzie. This is tougher than his first two strikes, just right of centre and 40 metres out, but it’s nothing to unduly trouble a high-class kicker.
New Zealand 10-5 Argentina, 26 minutes
That is somehow Lucio Cinti’s first Test try. He’s bounced between inside centre, outside centre and the wing for club and country over the last couple of years, but I reckon he’s a man to build around in that 13 jumper for Felipe Contepomi.
That will annoy the Pumas boss, though - skipper Pablo Matera concedes a soft ruck penalty.
TRY! New Zealand 10-5 ARGENTINA (Lucio Cinti, 24 minutes)
Cinti-llating!
Ooh, this is a corker from Argentina! They turn over possession near halfway and switch rapidly in transition, spotting New Zealand are lighter than they’d like to be in wide channels. Pablo Matera picks his moment and his man, crabbing across and then sending Santiago Chocobares forth on a lovely angle.
Chocobares looks outside to his centre partner, putting it in the hands of the dynamic Cinti. Anton Lienert-Brown can’t snare the Saracen’s shirt, and in he goes. Delightful rugby!
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