The Springboks kept their unbeaten record against Australia, coming away with a 43-12 victory in Pretoria on Saturday.
The Springboks kept their unbeaten record against Australia in Pretoria intact as they outclassed the Wallabies 43-12 in the Rugby Championship opener on 08 July 2023. Picture: Twitter/@Springboks
JOHANNESBURG – The Springboks kept their unbeaten record against Australia in Pretoria intact as they outclassed the Wallabies 43-12 in the Rugby Championship opener.
The World Champions scored six tries on their way to an emphatic victory.
The Wallabies began the game with a bounce in their step as they put the home team under pressure. They then silenced the excitable Loftus Versfeld crowd when wing Marika Koroibete scored in the corner to take a 5-0 lead.
That proved to be a wake-up call for the Boks who began dominating the forward exchanges and finding key gaps.
Wing, Kurt-Lee Arendse scored two first-half tries and Manie Libbok was flawless with the boot in the opening period as they overturned the deficit to take a 17-5 lead into the break.
The Bok forward pack was dominant and overpowered the Aussies in the scrums and mauls. Flank Marco van Staden and captain Duane Vermeulen were powerful ball carriers on the night and along with centre Andre Esterhuizen were full of running and getting their team over the gain line.
Despite fumbling a couple of opportunities to score in the early parts of the second half, the Boks were able to put daylight between themselves and their opponents when Arendse completed his hat trick in the 51st minute to make it 22-5.
Wallabies hooker Dave Porecki was given a yellow card three minutes later for collapsing maul illegally and the home side was awarded a penalty try, and a crucial bonus point on the Championship stands, as they led 29-5.
The Springboks were awarded a second penalty try in the 69th after wing Suliasi Vunivalu received his yellow card for a deliberate knockdown when he was the last line of defence and clearly prevented Arendse from grabbing a 4th try of the evening
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Hard-working flank Pieter-Steph du Toit scored the Springboks’ sixth try with five to go to make it 43-5 before Carter Gordon scored a consolation try to cut the Boks’ winning margin to 31 points.
The performance was a great effort for the start of the season but the Boks will know that they can be a lot sharper and will need to be when they play the All Blacks in New Zealand next week.
Six-try #Springboks start 2023 with a bang ????????#StrongerTogether #RSAvAUS #TRC2023 pic.twitter.com/U69YTADCyT
‘ Springboks (@Springboks) July 8, 2023
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