SUNDAY 8.00PM:
SOUTH Africa on Saturday beat an Australian team at home for the first time in five years when they won their first Tri-Nations match 14-13 at a rain-lashed Subiaco Oval in Perth.
The match was an exceptionally tight affair, with both teams chalking up eight points at the break. The Australians took an early lead when winger Ben Tune crossed the line in the second minute from an attacking scrum. The try was, however, a doubtful one, as the scrum should have been a penalty to South Africa after Wallaby centre Daniel Herbert up-ended Percy Montgomery under a Steve Larkham high ball.
Joost van der Westhuizen got some payback for the South Africans in the 27th minute, when the Wallabies were caught off guard on their goal line. Van der Westhuizen tapped-and-ran to cross for his 21st Test try, thereby exceeding James Small’s South African record of 20 tries.
Both teams struggled in the wet, with neither able to play their usual expansive games. The ball was frequently lost forward or turned over, and when an attacking move got under way, it was quickly snuffed by outstanding defence from both sides.
The South African midfielders were superb, with Pieter Muller particularly potent on defence. Muller’s strong tackling and running put the fear of god into the Wallabies on more than one occasion. Wallaby fullback Matt Burke had a shoddy day with the boot, kicking one from five. His Bok counterpart, Montgomery, did pack in his kicking boots and slotted three penalties.
The Wallabies scored their second try through scrumhalf Georgie Gregan in the 56th minute, but Burke’s poor kicking allowed the Boks to take a 14-13 lead in the 64th minute, which they held to the end.