South Africa’s defeat of Australia at ‘fortress Brisbane’ was expected but not by such an emphatic 33-7 scoreline or performance.
In the first half the Boks had 80% possession and territory, resulting in a half-time score of 21-0, although it could have been much more.
The saying ‘men against boys’ came to mind, and Wallabies assistant coach Laurie Fisher highlighted a lack of experience when he was interviewed at half time.
Sadly, international performance is about playing well and winning. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how many games you have played, quite simply you have to be good enough. Too many Australian players who have been playing Super Rugby for years just disappeared, and someone needs to teach Rob Valentini to use footwork and off-load skills rather than just running into South Africans!
During my years at Eastern Suburbs in Sydney, I got to know and understand the South African mentality, as their Super Rugby teams trained at our club. They thrive on physicality - it is in their DNA.
However, the impact of the Springboks’ current assistant coach Tony Brown, a Kiwi, should not be overlooked as they continue to become very efficient at team play.
Across the Tasman in Wellington the All Blacks were upstaged by Argentina. I suspect many Kiwi pundits predicted this result as recent narrow wins against England camouflaged key problems for them.
If the All Black forward pack feels the pressure, and that means mentally as well as physically, their team fluency is affected. Wild passes and missed tackles all contributed to their vulnerability as Los Pumas triumphed 38-30.
It seems Argentina could thrive under new coach Felipe Contepomi, an Argentinian himself who will improve the team technically and tactically.
If they are able to defeat the All Blacks at their Eden Park spiritual home on Saturday (Aug 17), then global rugby standings will need reviewing, especially as it would be Argentina’s third victory over the All Blacks in the last four years.
The teams face off again on Saturday, Australia hosting South Sfrica in Perth, while the All Blacks will be at Eden Park in Auckland against Los Pumas.
You can be forgiven for thinking home support might be a factor although the roar that welcomed South Africa on to the pitch in Brisbane suggests otherwise. There is similarly a huge South African population in Perth so the crowd factor may well be mitigated again.
Both Australia and New Zealand have selection problems, with pack changes inevitable for the Wallabies as well as at half back. Jake Gordon is a good player but he left the field last Saturday looking like he had tangled with a combine harvester! I hope he starts again this weekend.
The All Blacks need Scott Barrett to return as they missed his leadership and his influence going forward in last Saturday’s loss. Beauden Barrett may replace McKenzie at 10 with superstar Will Jordan returning at full-back.
The big question is whether New Zealanders are losing faith in the All Blacks as other sports such as basketball and rugby league are on a roll and continue to rise in popularity. Traditionally the All-Black response is always positive at Eden Park and it needs to be this weekend.
Many global pundits consider the Rugby Championship to be a lesser competition than the Northern Hemisphere’s Six Nations. However, on the evidence of last Saturday’s games, I think not and expect more of the same this coming weekend.
The Global Rugby Coach, Mike Penistone, is a globally renowned professional rugby coach based in Phuket who is also an ambassador for the Asia Center Foundation, a charity for disadvantaged children. For more information visit: www.rugbycoachingconsultancy.com.