Springboks Struggle Once Again at Suncorp Stadium

The Springboks crashed to a 21-6 defeat to the Wallabies at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane on Saturday night.

Brisbane has not been kind to the Springboks, having not won here since 1971. Whilst the Aussies got a couple of tries late in the game to seal it, they thoroughly deserved their victory.

The Springboks started off well, but didn't capitalise on their chances. It looked like it might be a repeat of Perth, but on this occasion the Wallabies defence held firm, and when they got chances they put points on the board. The Springboks don't enjoy playing catch up rugby, and pressure started to mount on the Boks who made uncharacteristic errors.

John Smit said afterwards "The Springboks were a bit flat" but it was certainly not through lack of effort or poor preparation.

At this level there is little separating the top sides, and the Wallabies were able to absorb pressure and create plenty of their own. The Boks were guilty of playing too loose, trying to run the ball too often, and too laterally. This suited Australia who were able to play around the Springbok forward pack.

For Australia, Berrick Barnes was outstanding on attack, asking many questions of the springbok defence, which for the most part held firm. It was only in the last 20 minutes that they started to get on top. The Australians were perhaps unlucky to go close on three occasions and be denied by the TMO.

This was due to desperate Springbok defence, although du Preez's tackle on Will Genia was fortunate not to be a penalty try or a yellow card in my view, as it would have resulted in a certain try had the Springbok defence retired 10m. With such a lucky break the Springboks could not turn something out of it as Australia scored soon afterwards.

The little things that have made the Springboks dominant in the Tri-nations thus far were not evident on this occasion. Poor tactical kicking, and being dominated physically at the breakdown allowed Australia to get the upper hand.

I was surprised the Boks didn't try to slow the game down, use the rolling maul more often and kicks for territory, but that was the result of pressure, and having to play catch up rugby.

There were some good individual Springbok performances, but as a whole the cohesion between forwards and backs wasn't quite there.

I bumped into Springbok selector and former coach Ian Macintosh after the game, who mentioned the second week on tour is always the hardest. Whether that is true or not, the Springboks have to be much better in their last game in Hamilton to wrap up the Tri-nations.

At the press conference after the game, a battle scarred John Smit said "excuses are for losers, so we have no excuses." Victor Matfield backed this up and said they don't need to change anything, they just need to do what has worked for them thus far and execute more accurately.

This Springbok side is a special side. It has a fantastic team spirit and work ethic. Whilst they have wrapped up the Nelson Mandela plate, they'll be hurting immensely by this loss, however they have a chance to make things right against the All Blacks in a weeks time.