With the conclusion of the fourth week of the Inaugural Rugby Championship the All Blacks have picked up their 7th consecutive win for the season against the Springboks and their 14th win since losing to Australia in the final game of last year’s Tri Nation’s tournament.
The Wallabies who have had a mediocre season this year managed to edge out the Pumas to pick up their second win of the tournament.
All Blacks maintain ruthless winning
All though New Zealand remains unbeaten in 2012 they are yet to have reached their top potential in the Championship but have been ruthless on their opposition, capitalizing on every opportunity and mistake to clinch win after win.
The intensity and adrenaline was clear as the players took the field, the passion during the anthems and fiery glances whilst the All Blacks performed the traditional Haka ensured promise of a cracking game, and that it clearly was.
The Boks came out all guns blazing and had many opportunities to collect early points but a high number of unforced errors prevented them from converting the good pressure into points until Morne Steyn found his mark with his first kick in the 16th minute, which turned out to be the only joy for the South Africans in the first half. Both Morne and Frans Steyn struggled with the boot as they missed a total five penalties between them.
The All Blacks scored just the one try in the first half with Dagg featuring 4 times in the creating of the move before collecting an excellent off load from Keiran Read to finish with a 30m sprint. Cruden was off target with the kick but the Blacks still went in with a 05-03 lead in the half.
The second half also saw many mistakes by the Springboks who repeatedly kicked away possession. They looked unsure as to what the game plan was and appeared to be stuck in between kicking or running the ball. On many an occasion the Boks would break the gain line in the first couple of phases and then kick away possession.
The Kiwi back three showed why they are the best in the world under the high ball swallowing up every kick from the South Africans whilst Dagg and Jane made them pay for bad tactical kicking.
Bryan Habana gave the Boks some hope with some individual brilliance as he collected the ball off the back of a line out, chipped it over Julian Savea and collected to score on the right corner. Steyn’s miss meant South Africa maintained a 3 point lead. Cruden knocked over a penalty minutes later to equalize.
Aaron Smith also displayed individual brilliance when he exploited a weakened fringe defense and jinxed his way around defenders to score his second try in test rugby. Cruden’s accuracy continued and the world number one team led 15-08.
Minutes later replacement prop Dean Greyling got himself sin-binned for throwing a flying elbow at Ritchie McCaw in a ruck. It was done in frustration as the Boks couldn’t find a way to slow down the Kiwi skipper who had the game of his life. The 35 year old was all over the park, chasing down every ball career in defense and putting in the hard yards in attack.
It was in the 67th minute when Johan Goosen finally knocked over a penalty for the Boks to take the score to 15-11. In immediate response Aaron Cruden knocked over a penalty to extend the lead to seven points and the fired over his 3rd penalty after hooter to deny South Africa a losing bonus point.
The Springboks biggest worry is the form of star play-maker and goal kicker Morne Steyn. Steyn who is usually known as the sharp-shooter for his spectacular goal kicking has had a torrid time both with the boot as well as in open play. Heyneke Meyer has admitted he may have made a mistake by persevering with the out-of-form fly-half.
Puma’s go down fighting against a recovering Wallabies
The Wallabies had a torrid start to the Rugby championship with two back to back losses against the All Blacks but came back strong to beat the Boks in the third round and cut back a 10 point deficit to take their second win in the championship.
The Pumas came out strong as they have done in all of their last three games of the championship. Hernandez gave the South Americans a lead early on whilst Berrick Barnes who had not missed a kick all through the tournament missed two back to back kicks early on.
Pat McCabe was sent off in just the 12th minute for a professional foul after he tracked down and tackled Gonzalo Camacho who was in for all money before McCabe’s chase. McCabe was penalized in the ensuing ruck when he prevented the Pumas from recovering the ball.
It took Barnes 24 minutes to finally hit his mark and in the words of referee Wayne Barnes it was third time lucky. The Pumas remained solid in defense and kept the pressure on the Aussies when Digby Ioane was forced to concede a penalty collecting a loose ball from an offside position deep in his own half after Quade Cooper had made a trademark mess running back to collect the ball.
The Wallabies had opportunities late in the half when they crossed the goal line twice but failed to ground the ball. Radike Samo was the first culprit when he lost control of the ball whilst diving over to score. Minutes later Nathan Sharpe went over and was held up by an inspiring Pumas defense.
It was the third consecutive time the Puma’s prevented their opposition from scoring tries in the first half.
Berrick Barnes getting into his stride equalized in the second half with a penalty which was almost instantly annulled when Tomas Leonardi charged down a Quade Cooper clearance kick and scored within seconds of coming on the park.
Not even a minute after Hernandez had missed the conversion the Pumas counter ran an Aussie kick splitting open the defense with Julian Farias Cabello going over right of the uprights to take the pumas to a 16-06 lead. Minutes later Hernandez extended the lead to 13 when he slotted over a penalty from under the posts.
It took a Wallabies a total 60 minutes to cross the Pumas line when Pat McCabe ran on to a flat pass from Cooper just five meters away from the line. McCabe’s speed and power was more than enough to bust the defense and begin a strong Wallaby comeback.
It was not until Nick Phips slipped through the Pumas defense around the fringe in the 68th minute and sent Digby Ioane over the line that the Wallabies began to open the game up. With Barnes conversion Australia took a one point lead for the first time in the game.
Although the Pumas fought hard a Kurtley Beale 40m penalty in the 79th minute sealed the game for the Wallabies while the Pumas still search for their first win.
It must be noted that although the Pumas are ranked 8th in the IRB standings they now pushed all of the top three teams in the rankings to the brink of defeat and it is just a matter of time before they pick up a win. These uprisings in performance can be credited to great spirit and passion by the Puma’s as well as some technical guidance from former All Blacks world Cup winning coach Graham Henry who is now consulting with the Puma’s.
Coming up in two weeks
The much anticipated Puma’s win could come a fortnight from last Saturday when they take on the All blacks in Argentina or more likely when they take on the Wallabies again also at home. The All Blacks will look to seal the tournament in two weeks in Argentina as they need just 2 points to take the inaugural rugby championship.
The Springboks will play host to the Wallabies on the same weekend and will be hoping to exact revenge for their loss two weeks ago in Brisbane. It is a must win game for Australia if they are to have any hope in winning the Championship.
