South Africa too good for Australia

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South Africa too good for Australia

The Springboks have kickstarted their Rugby Championship with a bonus-point win over the Wallabies in Brisbane. Honestly, I'm not the only one who expected this from the Boks, especially considering how they played against Ireland in the first test. 

Nevertheless, It was a good game to watch. The Boks absolutely refused to give Australia anything. They raced to a 21 - 0 lead at halftime through Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, and Malcom Marx (who came on as a tactical substitute for Bongi Mbunambi). Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted all three tries. 

Australia, on the other hand, had only one visit to the Springboks' 22-meter area. They really struggled throughout the game. Their only try came in the 75th minute through Hunter Paisami but, by that time it was too little too late. To be very critical and honest, there was no sense of urgency from Australia in the whole game. 

South Africa completely dominated them despite having received three yellow cards in the space of 12 minutes (Marx 66', Van Staden 71' and Kriel 78'). Despite this, the Boks never backed down. They even compromised by letting Cheslin Kolbe throw into the lineout. With this as well as throwing into the scrum and attempting a drop goal, Kolbe really showed his versatility. 

On the flip side, I wasn't quite THAT impressed with Cobus Reinach in this game. I felt that he was holding back a bit. Why? I don't know, but that's just my opinion. Willie le Roux wasn't at his best either. He had two players beside him when he made a break but, in typical Willie style, he decided to go for the line himself. 

Handré Pollard wasn't even mentioned. It was as if he was just there. I have to be honest, with the way they started the game, I surely expected them to put up a much bigger score.  Okay, okay, we are the only team who took away five points in round one. Full-time score: Australia 7 - 33 South Africa. 

These two teams will meet again in round two next weekend in Perth with kickoff a little bit later at 11h45 CAT. 

Team selection: 

Starting XV:

15 - 1: Aphelele Fassie, Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi, Handré Pollard, Cobus Reinach, Kwagga Smith, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (c), Salmaan Moerat, Eben Etzabeth, Vincent Kog, Malcom Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp

Bench:

16-23: Johan Grobbelaar, Ox Nche, Thomas du Toit, Ruan Nortje, Marco van Staden, Elrigh Louw, Morné van der Berg, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 

I am not quite sure how Australia picked their squad but I do know that Joe Schmidt will have to make some harsh calls come next week Saturday. 

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