by Rajitha Ratwatte

The second game in the final round of the rugby championship takes precedence as far as reporting goes for the simple reason that it was one of the best games of Rugby union seen in a long time. The Springbok – All Black rivalry is legendary, and this game was second to none. The referee Mathew Carley of England was up to the task and kept a firm hold on the game, made good decisions on the field and got sucked in by insidious professional fouls only as often as the situation warranted when making decisions at speed.

 The Africans opened scoring with some slick handling of the ball by Lukhanyo Am (no13) sending their no 12 Damian de Allende over mid-right. Handre Pollard couldn’t convert and 0–5. Jordie Barret pulled a penalty back for the ABs’ from far left of the field 3–5. The ABs’ conceded another kickable penalty soon enough (as was the situation through the game) taking the score to 3–8. Willie Le Roux had a forgettable game for the ‘Boks dropping the ball off the next kick off and giving the Abs’ a good attacking position which they capitalised on when Seevu Reece went over the line in spite of brilliant cover defence from no 8 Vermeulen. Only five points and the scores tied up eight all. The first scrum of the game took place in the 18th minute and the ‘Bok tight five began to dominate and complement the great work of their third row with skipper Salesi playing his usual inspirational game. Akira Ioane was pinged for offside right in front of the posts and gifted another three points to Pollard and the lead to the Africans 8–11. The ABs’ picked up the pace of the game and this was the only period in which they seemed to have the Springboks on the back foot. Ardie Savea went over the line with a rather dramatic dive off a break made by Rikko Ioane with Seevu Reece joining the line and covering good ground. Jordie Barret converted, and the All Blacks were back in the lead 15–11. At this stage we were into 30 minutes of the first half and Jordie Barret broke the Springbok line covered good ground and the Blacks won a line out on the ‘Bok throw (a very rare occasion in this game) and Brad Webber wormed his way over the line and scored extreme left. The kick was too much for the youngest Barret and the score read 20–11.

The Africans regained their dominance of the line out and Handre Pollard’s boot brought them back into the game 20–14. We were just five minutes from halftime and the ‘Boks replaced their entire front row! A tactic not seen before and the commencement of what was prove to be total dominance by the ‘Bok tight five in all aspects of the game. A notable happening just before halftime was the referee giving the South African “water boy” a severe dressing down for attempting to intimidate the touch judge by chasing after him and yelling at him and trying to influence a decision.

The second half started with another penalty conceded to the Africans taking the score to 20–17. The renewed energy and commitment shown by the Africans in the second half was not matched by the ABs’ and even Beauden Barret seemed to be suffering from what can only be described as a “brain freeze” when he forgot the 50–22 rule which is being trialled and conceded a line out throw to the ‘Boks.! (When a kick made by the team in their own half lands in the field of play and goes out inside the opposition 22, the team who kicked the ball is rewarded with a line out.)

The All Black defence was caught out of position by probing kicks and even guilty of simply watching and conceding territory. The ‘Boks went back into the lead after a scrum penalty won by them was turned into three points by Pollard 20–22. There was some rather “sophisticated” lying on players by the ‘Boks in loose play that fooled the referee for a while but either with or without off-field help he got onto it, but only after a couple of penalties were awarded. One such penalty resulted in a further extension of the lead to 20–25. A late tackle to Jordie Barret resulted in three points off his boot and the All Blacks got within two points 23–25. Another penalty taken by the youngest Barret in the 73rd minute took the ABs’ back into the lead 26–25 but there wasn’t time for spectators to even think before Elton Jantjies on as a sub for Pollard slotted a drop goal and took the ‘Boks’ back in front 26–28. The ‘Boks were playing under a penalty advantage and the commentators wondered if this was actually a mistake as they could have run the clock down further if the place kick was taken. With around two minutes remaining in the game, Jordie Barret got a chance to try and repeat history with a penalty and he duly obliged 29–28 to the New Zealanders. Elton almost ruined his brilliant drop goal by fluffing the kick-off and conceding a 50-meter scrum to the ABs’ with less than a minute to go. However, the dominance of the African tight five prevailed, they won a penalty gained territory and the New Zealanders who seem to concede a penalty every time for their defenders coming up too soon and being caught offside did so again giving the substitute no 10 a golden opportunity to win the game for his side with an unmissable penalty right in front of the sticks. He did what was expected and the side with the better forwards won a real “humdinger” of a game of Rugby Football 29–31.

 The old adage in golf when one “drives for show but putts for dough” when translated into Rugby parlance should read something like “backs are for show but the tight five make things glow”! The presence of Sam Whitelock, Dan Coles (unknown reasons) and the early exit due to injury of Scott Barret were sadly missed and the team with superior commitment and on-field nouse (ability to think on their feet) won a game that removed many doubts about the South Africans’ right to be ranked among the top teams in the world.

fromoutsidethepearl@gmail.com