After a brutal encounter with South Africa last Saturday, the Wallabies won a torrid affair and came out on top at the end of the battle.
Saturday's game with the Springboks was not as entertaining a game as the Duneden and Sydney Tri Nations clashes this year, but it truly was a war. With the South African public putting an enormous amount of pressure on their team, the Boks were never going to give in easily, and it showed.
Defence won the game for the Wallabies, forcing errors and keeping the Boks on zero until well into the second half. Apart from the Auckland encounter this year (when everything went against them), the Wallabies defence has been rock solid.
Australia face a tough test this weekend against South Africa at altitude in Johannesburg (where they have not won since the 1960s), but this game will have no bearing on the outcome of the Tri Nations, so the Aussies can go into the game with no pressure.
- B/R Ticket Guide
They also have the Luxury of being able to blood players like Tahu at inside centre and Dean Mumm at No. 6.
South Africa, on the other hand, will have the weight of their country on their shoulders. With the media looking more like a lynch mob, the Boks will have to perform—nothing short of a win will be good enough.
The Boks coach will have his job on the line, as well as many of the players. It is a tough call on who will win at this stage.
No matter the outcome in Jo-burg, the Tri Nations will be decided in Brisbane, where the Wallabies will have a great chance to upset the over confident Kiwis. No one outside of Australia seems to rate the Wallabies, and that is just the place the Aussies like to play from.
In reality, the sides are very evenly matched, but with a home town advantage, I believe the Wallabies will upstage the more fancied All Blacks and walk away with the Tri Nations.
I believe the Wallabies have more youth and backline flair than the Kiwis. As long as the front row can perform, and the team can play as such, they should have the ability to overcome Carter and McCaw and bring home the trophy.
My only hope is we don't end up with Mark Lawrence as the referee. I would rather a Kiwi ref than Lawrence in the decider. Like Johnathan Caplan he is not up to the standard required in international rugby.
My prediction is the Boks win by three in Johannesburg, and the Wallabies win by 10 in Brisbane.
comments (14) write a comment »
write a new comment
3 months ago
''I believe the Wallabies have more youth and backline flair than the Kiwis'' hahahaha are u serious your captain about 70 and doesnt know what a side step is your wings are about as fast as my grandmother and dont even get me started on your big fat sponges you call a front row lol.
ps. good game last night ae what you lose by 50 or something lol what a f**k wit you dont no what your talking about do you, have you ever played a game of rugby in your life?
from 3 months ago
Wow thats harsh. You must be a Kiwi. I have 76 games of Rugby (39 of those as captain)and over 100 in League. The Full strength wallaby backline has all but 2 players 25 or under. The Springboks played fantastic , and the Wallabies experimented with their backline and it showed. Defence was worse than poor last night, and the Boks showed they wanted it (and needed it ) much more. It will be a different story with the prefered line up. With Barnes, Giteau and Burges i believe they have more flair in the backline, its the fowards where they can be week. If the fowards play well, i stand by my comment that they can beet the Kiwi's in Brisbane. I dont read too much into that game. I remember Australia beating England by 70 with a less than full strength team, but then England won the World Cup.
3 months ago
thats england who gives a s**t and 76 that it i got about 200 and im under 20 lol but serious who is burges i can honestly say i dont know 1 thing about him and please dont ever say aus have more flair again because everyone knows they dont apart from ausies and the great thing is we could have another team built up of overseas players and current players that would clean up the ab's team at the moment by 50 and just wait for sbw to arrive then i hope that will shut you up.
oh and you took our reject coach how sad lol.
3 months ago
Under 20 sounds about right. Dont waist my time
3 months ago
your waisting you own time writing that they can win lol
3 months ago
I think the wallabies will win both encounters
the youth of their backline will be to strong for
montgomery and habana
3 months ago
I think the wallabies will win both encounters
the youth of their backline will be to strong for
montgomery and habana
2 months ago
Nathan, mate - your comments aren't cool. The article is good - well written, informative, and Jim obviously knows what he's talking about. I think you're out of your league, and your agression shows it, Nathan - so if you have nothing constructive to add, don't add - yeah?
Jim - love the article. Although I'm afraid I can't agree that the All Blacks are going to lose by 10 :D I pick New Zealand to win by 13+ - looking forward to the game!
from 2 months ago
Thanks Israel, By ten is probably too far fetched i know, with Barnes, Vickerman and Burges maybe not playing now, it will be tough. I picked the Boks by 3 and they won by 45 haha. But i can only hope they bring their real game this week or you will be more than right. With the last two great wins for the AB's i hope they feel a bit over confident as they have in the past(which is good for us), because when their backs are to the wall, as in Auckland, it would be very difficult. Looking foward to the game too bro.
PS; since 1996 neither team has won at Lang Park by more than 7.
from 2 months ago
Very interesting stat - so, the All Blacks will need to make history to win by 13+
Watch this space :D
2 months ago
oh jim good times mate good times lol
2 months ago
Was a good game, wallabies just could not execute well enouph, missing Barnes and Burges , we only lost by four, and really should of won. I'm happy with the way the Wallabies played. The future looks very bright for us.
2 months ago
it was a great game with an even better finish best in years.
2 months ago
Ha Ha.
write a new comment