The Southern Hemisphere four nations Rugby Championship has got off to a spectacular start with four teams going head to head for Southern Supremacy.
We are now two weeks into tournament and the world champions New Zealand are at the top with two back to back wins against their arch rivals Australia. South Africa on the other hand will be disappointed with their performances only gathering a win and a draw against new comers Argentina.
All Blacks retain Bledisloe cup for 10th year
The All Blacks came travelled to Sydney in week one and put up a clinical performance taking down the Wallabies in a 27-19 win. The Wallabies were left to bemoan the unforced errors made in the 80 minutes while the All Blacks put up a rusty but good enough performance to take the first round.
Though not at their best New Zealands defense held up well enough and tries from Jane and Dagg pushed the blacks over the line. “It’s probably not the most perfect game in the world but when you get two sides coming off the breaks we’ve had, playing at the intensity we’re playing, there’s going to be errors,” Hansen told Reuters.
The Kiwis did well to create a few chances for their outside backs but were unable to apply the finishing touches. Having come off just a seven day preparation the All Blacks did well to finish where they did but were definitely expected to lift their game in upcoming weeks.
For the Aussies on the other hand it was not a pleasant performance. Coach Robbie Deans had a big decision to make with selecting a five-eight and opted to go with Berrick Barnes ahead of Cooper. Deans could have been happy with Barnes performance but will definitely expect better in weeks to come.
The Aussies did not play well as a unit and could not control the pace of the game nor could they adapt to the pace set by the Blacks. The Wallabies were good in the set pieces except for a few lapses in concentration. “To their credit they put us under pressure but it was really the unforced errors that put us in a difficult position,” commented Deans after the game.
Round two saw the All Blacks pick apart a lackluster Wallaby performance at Eden Park with a massive 22-00 win. It was just the 6th time in 143 encounters that the Kiwis had held Australia to a score of nil and just 1st time since 1962.
Carter kicked five penalties and a conversion while Dagg scored the only try of the game in a precise performance by the Champions. All though they were not yet at their best the All blacks did well with a rock solid defense and a clinical attack.
They dominated the possession and the territory right through out and the big difference was the number of successful offloads which gave the All Blacks quick ball to move forward forcing Australia to make 148 tackles.
The All Blacks’ victorious skipper Richie McCaw highlighted his side’s defensive display in nilling the Wallabies and hinted the Kiwis would be expecting further improvements as they continued their pursuit of the inaugural Rugby Championship title.
Both teams performed well in the set pieces but it was the unforced errors which came back to bite the Aussies for a second week. They were forced to defend for 60% of the game and could not cope with the relentless Kiwi attack.
Australia was falling off their tackles and was struggling around the contact zone and the breakdowns; they missed a total of 21 tackles over the 80 minutes. The biggest issue for the Wallabies was their discipline. Starting from the captain Genia who was shown a yellow card in the 1st half the Australians conceded way too many penalties, 11 in total.
“It was an outstanding performance by the All Blacks. They gave a masterclass in rugby. I don’t think any side in the world would have stayed with them tonight, including us, obviously”. Was Robbie Deans description of the game.
Pumas hold back Springboks
It was a historic moment for Argentina as they took flight to Cape Town to play the Springboks in their first game of the Southern Hemisphere competition.
South Africa put up a good enough performance to down the new comers comfortably with a 27-06 score line. Despite the scoreline, Argentina competed well at the breakdown and defended with plenty of determination, leaving skipper Fernandez Lobbe upbeat at the final whistle.
Argentina let a couple of soft tries slip through in the first half and it proved too much to come back from for the South Americans. Place kicker Hernandez also missed three fairly easy kicks early the second half which could have instigated a comeback.
The Pumas were solid in both the set pieces and the breakdowns where they hassled the Boks third row and forced to turnovers. They were just unable to capitalize on their excellent forward play and the backs struggled to hold on to the ball against the much bigger South Africans.
“I think it was a good first step,” said the Argentine skipper. “We realise how intense it is in this type of rugby. We can take a lot of positives from this game, but it was very intense. We are going to improve and that’s our main goal.”
Coach Phelan echoed his skipper’s sentiments, praising his side’s commitment and vowing to learn from the experience of playing the world’s best sides on a regular basis. We need to improve a few things, but the attitude … they gave 100%,” he said. “Our first goal is to grow up in our rugby to improve by playing the best teams in the world.”
South Africa did well to control the game from start to finish but would definitely have been disheartened to have not collected the bonus point. Tries from Bryan Habana, Marcell Coetzee and Zane Kirchner gave the Boks the win with Morne Steyn contributing the rest of the points with the boot.
The Springboks can be happy that they didn’t let the Pumas cross their goal line. They have clearly improved on their defense since the mid-year test series against England.
Fly-half Steyn was superb for the Boks with him keeping the scoreboard ticking over from the tee and also executing the cross-kick for Habana’s try superbly. Steyn was under pressure going into the match after struggling against England but Coach Heyneke Meyer was delighted with his performance.
The South African’s only worry was the trouble they were having around the break-down. The likes of Fernandez-Lobbe and Alvaro Galdino were causing them trouble around the contact zone. “I would like us to have got the four tries that would have given us a bonus point,” Meyer told the media. “But this is Test rugby and tries don’t come that easily. I felt we could have finished better than we did, although the team is improving.
Game two kicked off in front of a sold out crowd in Mendoza and the Pumas came out guns blazing looking for their first win against the Boks only to end up with a 16 all stale mate. Although they could not cross the South African line in Cape-Town the Pumas with the support of their crowd led 10-00 half way through the 1st half.
The Pumas lost their number 10 Hernandez to an injury during training which gave a different but talented five-eight Nocholas Sanchez a chance to show his worth. The Boks came in with a just one change in their 3rd row with Alberts moving to #8 from the open side in place of Keegan Daniel and Jacques Potgieter filled in on the open side flank.
The Pumas had a couple of simple penalty chances early on but Martin Rodrigez was off target, possibly a mistake in giving him the goal kicking duties as Sanchez is one of the more reliable place kickers in the Pumas outfit.
To their credit the much smaller Pumas pack was rock solid in the set pieces except for a few timing issues in the scrums. Their maul was spectacular and time and again penetrated the Boks defense to gain ground and provide the backs with good ball. Fernandez-Lobbe was excellent in the lineout and made a nuisance of himself on defense. Argentina had also improved immensely under the high ball.
Pumas captain Juan Fernandez Lobbe was satisfied with his side’s performance but was disappointed not to have grabbed their first win over the Springboks.
“It’s good what we achieved but this team wants to improve,” said Fernandez Lobbe. “Everyone saw our disappointed faces when the match ended. It’s true we’ll remember this match all our lives, but we like to win and victory slipped away by very little.”
The Springboks on the other hand will be extremely disappointed with their performance having taken too long to settle into the game. They had too many unforced errors in the first half. They had many a chance to take the game away from the Pumas but did not capitalize. They were lucky to escape defeat after a charge-down try from Frans Steyn rescued a draw for the visitors.
The breakdown was an area of particular concern for the Springboks as they were second best in that department, especially in the first half. They also struggled with their discipline conceding 12 penalties of which five were in kicking range.
“We let our country down and we let ourselves down, it is unacceptable,” said Meyer. “We always knew it was going to be very difficult here, there is a lot of passion. A lot of the guys are inexperienced, but that is not an excuse.”
Points Table thus far;
TeamPWDLPts
New Zealand22008
South Africa21106
Argentina20112
Australia20020
This Weeks Fixtures
The Rugby Championship has some entertaining rugby lined up for this week. The matches will be played on Saturday the 8th of September.
It will definitely be interesting to see the Pumas playing in Wellington against the All Blacks for the first time since their 33-10 defeat at Eden Park in the Rugby World Cup Quarter final. While the Springboks have taken flight to Perth in order to play the Wallabies in the for the Nelson Mandela Challenge Shield.
