Australia 7 - 33 South Africa: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu stakes claim as Springboks 10 in Rugby Championship landslide

Noah Lolesio kicked off to the Springboks in good conditions at Suncorp Stadium, but Pieter Steph du Toit made an early statement of intent with ball in hand as he sent Andrew Kellaway flying with a thunderous carry in the wide channel.

Siya Kolisi’s men chose to keep the ball in hand and despite applying heavy pressure to the Australian line, an Etzebeth knock on and subsequent penalty infringement allowed Lolesio to kick an outstanding exit.

In his first start, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu had a shot at goal, but shanked the kick, ending his 100% record from the tee. This did not matter though, as an exciting lineout play led to a Kolisi try and a subsequent Feinberg-Mngomezulu conversion with 10 minutes on the clock.

A du Toit line break looked certain for points, but Filipo Daugunu refused to be rag dolled like his back three counterpart Kellaway and punched well above his weight to smash the much larger man into touch.

Unfortunately, this would be Daugunu’s last meaningful contribution to the match, as he was replaced by Dylan Pietsch due to an injury. Not to be outdone by the Australian backs, the mercurial Feinberg-Mngomezulu broke Allan Alaalatoa’s tackle before the Wallabies, hanging on for dear life, forced a knock on through Len Ikitau.

Another poor Wallaby exit was recycled by the Springboks and led to a du Toit try and Feinberg-Mngomezulu conversion, with 24 minutes played. The Wallabies were on the backfoot again almost immediately, with poor kicking in their own half, a Lolesio tackle off the ball leading to a penalty and a Kellaway yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Malcolm Marx.

Following a dominant scrum, South African flyer Kurt-Lee Arendse seemed to step the entire Australian pack of forwards, going in for his team’s third try. This was duly converted by Feinberg-Mngomezulu, as the sides enter the changing rooms with the scoreboard reading 21-0 in favour of the Springboks.

With the Wallabies seemingly unable to fire a shot, their first half was best summarised by the fact that the first Australian ruck in the South African 22 occurred at 37 minutes played and this ruck was penalised immediately for Carlo Tizzano going off his feet.

Seemingly to counteract the impending South African ‘Bomb Squad’, Josh Nasser and veteran James Slipper were brought on early in the second half, however the Australians proceeded to lose the first scrum of the half anyway. Despite this early setback, the Wallabies began to click, with Pietsch stepping up physically and Tizzano applying pressure at the breakdown, before the Springboks won back possession.

The South Africans set up camp on the Australian 22 but against the run of play Rob Valetini intercepted a Reinach pass, and grubber kicked the ball into the South African 22. Some strong phase play gave the indication that the Wallabies could score, but a knock on by Pietsch led to the introduction of the ‘Bomb Squad’ who unsurprisingly won a penalty at the ensuing scrum.

South Africa marched the Australians up the field, before earning a scrum in the Australian 22. Kwagga Smith, fresh from the bench, picked from the base at 8 to make valuable metres, before carrying again 2 phases later to score his side’s bonus point try, again converted by Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

With the score 28-0 at 62 minutes, it jumped to 33-0 by 63 minutes. Smith received the kick-off from the newly introduced Tom Lynagh, before the ball was recycled wide to Jesse Kriel, who muscled his way through the Wallaby defence, before feeding Arendse for his second try of the night. Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed the kick, but it is unlikely he will rue the miss considering his side were scoring a point every 2 minutes at this stage.

The territory gained from a strong Pietsch carry was undone by a mistake from Tate McDermott, who played the ball with a foot in touch. However, with a yellow card apiece for Marx and van Staden, Australia finally scored a try with 75 minutes played through Paisami, albeit against 13 men.

Lynagh converted his sole kick of the game, but all this consolation try succeeded in doing was preventing the Wallabies from being nilled on home soil. Kriel earned his side a third yellow card for a deliberate knock on, but it was too late to influence proceedings. The Springboks continued to attack after the hooter, before a collection of handling errors led to the final whistle, with the score reading 33-7 to South Africa.

AUSTRALIA: 7

TRIES: 1 (Paisami 75)

CONVERSIONS: 1(Lynagh, 76)

PENALTIES: 0

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 1 (Kellaway 30)

RED CARDS: 0

15. Tom Wright 14. Andrew Kellaway 13. Len Ikitau 12. Hunter Paisami 11. Filipo Daugunu 10. Noah Lolesio 9. Jake Gordon 8. Harry Wilson 7. Carlo Tizzano 6. Rob Valetini 5. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto 4. Nick Frost 3. Allan Alaalatoa (c) 2. Matt Faessler 1. Isaac Kailea

16. Josh Nasser 17. James Slipper 18. Zane Nonggorr 19. Jeremy Williams 20. Luke Reimer 21. Tate McDermott 22. Tom Lynagh 23. Dylan Pietsch

SOUTH AFRICA: 33

TRIES: 5 (Kolisi 9, du Toit 23, Arendse 34, 63, Smith 61)

CONVERSIONS: 4 (Feinberg-Mngomezulu 10, 24, 35, 62)

PENALTIES: 0

DROP GOALS: 0

YELLOW CARDS: 3 (Marx 67, van Staden 71, Kriel 78)

RED CARDS: 0

15. Willie le Roux 14. Cheslin Kolbe 13. Jesse Kriel 12. Damian de Allende 11. Kurt-Lee Arendse 10. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 9. Cobus Reinach 8. Elrigh Louw 7. Ben Jason-Dixon 6. Siya Kolisi (c) 5. Eben Etzebeth 4. Pieter-Steph du Toit 3. Frans Malherbe 2. Bongi Mbonambi 1. Ox Nche

16. Malcolm Marx 17. Gerhard Steenekamp 18. Vincent Koch 19. Salmaan Moerat 20. Marco van Staden 21. Kwagga Smith 22. Grant Williams 23. Handre Pollard

1. The Rassie Erasmus factor impacts the action

Sometimes a polarising figure, but clearly a rugby visionary, who is always trying to revolutionise his team’s approach to rugby, and this match was no different. At the first scrum of the game, Cheslin Kolbe was stationed at scrum half. Whether this was to use his running threat from the base or to tie in defenders to free up space out wide is yet to be seen, as the Australian front row was marmalized by the South Africans. The evolution of Kolbe’s role did not stop there, being used as an option running onto a long lineout throw (usually reserved for bigger ball carriers) and attempting a drop goal.

South Africa’s first try was a product of a lineout move to be expected of the free running, fun style of the Barbarians, not this brutal Springbok side. The Wallabies, clearly expecting an upfront assault, were caught napping by the swift transfer of the ball from the back lifting pod to the front pod in mid-air, leading to Kolisi’s try. A second attempt of this move squandered possession, but Erasmus’ innovation continues regardless.

The Wallabies were well beaten in every aspect of this test match. South Africa’s forwards were bigger and more brutal than their Australian counterparts, dominating the scrum, the breakdown and the lineout, whereas the backs looked faster, sharper and were able execute a cohesive kicking game, dominating the skies and exiting well. Nick Frost, Rob Valetini, Harry Wilson and Dylan Pietsch can hold their heads high, but they could only have a limited impact when they were constantly on the backfoot. Regardless of the reasoning for his non selection, this was the type of game that Will Skelton could have really impacted on if selected by Joe Schmidt.

Erasmus’ battle stats, which detail meaningful contributions to a match, would probably paint a stark picture of this game from a Wallabies perspective. Kwagga Smith, fresh from the bench, made a positive carry from the base of the scrum, scored off of a second carry moments later and received the resulting kick-off, carrying to set up a platform for Kriel’s assist to create the Arendse try. It’s not unrealistic to suggest that Smith’s 2 minutes of meaningful contributions had a larger impact on the game than many individual Australian players.

In the media Erasmus has spoken of the age profile of his squad, and how younger players need to be gradually phased in. Based on the efforts of today, the conveyor belt of South African test stars is very much in full swing. In the build-up to this match, Erasmus had noted that starter RG Snyman had a foot niggle and said that Ruan Nortje would step up if needed to replace him from outside the 23-man matchday squad.

However, both Snyman and Nortje succumbed to injuries, leading to a pack reshuffle, as Salmaan Moerat joined the bench, Ben Jason-Dixon started at flanker and Pieter Steph du Toit shifted into the second row. All were playing in positions or roles that were unexpected, but all performed to a high standard, particularly du Toit, playing in a position he has rarely played under Erasmus. Outside of the flexibility shown by the above players, Erasmus will be further buoyed by the performances of test rookies Elrigh Louw, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Gerhard Steenekamp.

4. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu shines upon his fly half step up

Although mentioned previously, Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s performance deserves its own focus. With all his previous caps coming from the bench as a utility back, this match was the test to determine whether he has the skills and the mentality to steer this Springbok side in the number 10 jersey.

At just 22 years old he is skilled enough for flyhalf, strong enough to cover the midfield and fast enough for the back three, but rather than a jack of all trades, he is simply proving himself to be a supreme talent. Despite an early penalty miss, his confidence remained high, nailing 4 conversions, kicking out of hand well and even breaking the tackle of the much larger Australia captain Allan Alaalatoa. His arm wrestle for the starting shirt with two-time world cup winner Handre Pollard will be a joy to watch in this tournament.

Despite a three-game winning streak to start Schmidt’s tenure, the Wallabies inability to fire a shot until South Africa went down to 13 men will bring back memories of the 40-6 loss to Wales in 2023 under Eddie Jones. Losing star flankers and leaders in the build-up to this game in Wright and McReight were a massive loss, but regardless, Australia would have expected to put up more of a fight on home soil. Sweeping personnel changes, a new gameplan or even a call up for proven internationals such as Will Skelton may be required during the Rugby Championship.