QANTAS WALLABIES AND SPRINGBOKS CAN’T BE SPLIT FOR SECOND TIME IN 2017
The Qantas Wallabies have played out another exhilarating draw with the Springboks, the stalemate finishing 27-all at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein.
Marika Koroibete scored a brilliant double in his first start for the men in gold, with Israel Folau also crossing for a five-pointer.
There were four lead changes in a thrilling contest, all coming in a second half stacked with big moments.
Folau was the first try scorer of the afternoon, crossing from a pinpoint set play and similarly sharp pass from flyhalf Bernard Foley.
The Boks hit back through some typically terrific work from their tight five, Ruan Dreyer stretching out to score under the posts before Elton Jantjies added the extras.
That left the score poised at 7-all through the opening quarter of the match and the two teams traded penalties for the remainder of the first term, Foley’s boot proving the difference as the Wallabies took a 13-10 lead into the sheds at half time.
The second half was where this match clicked into top gear.
There were three tries in the first 10 minutes of the second stanza, Siya Kolisi setting up the first with a powerful run down the right hand sideline, brushing Kurtley Beale before flinging the ball inside to Jan Serfontein, the inside centre cleaning the ball up and diving over.
Koroibete nabbed his first in the minutes that followed, a slicing Foley run putting the winger away for his first Test try.
The South Arfricans immediately hit back through Courtnall Skosan, opening up a 24-20 lead with 30 minutes to play.
That was a whirlwind 10 minutes and it was that Foley-Koroibete combination that linked up again to score the Wallabies’ next, the flyhalf hitting the flying Fijian in front with a slick cutout pass on the left wing.
Another 10 minutes passed before Jantjies had his chance to level things up from 49 metres out and he did just that, showing a cool head in doing so.
A controversial finish followed and Jantjies had a chance to be the hero with two minutes to play, lining up a shot from 45 out, five metres in from touch.
But the Lions star sliced the shot and after a Wallabies knock on and some frenetic play once the final siren had rung out, referee Ben O’Keefe blew his whistle to call a halt to proceedings with the teams still locked up.
Falling agonosingly short of a sort-after win on the high veld, the Qantas Wallabies will now travel to Argentina to take on Los Pumas in Mendoza next Sunday morning (October 8, AEDT) to conclude their 2017 Rugby Championship campaign.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
10 mins: Israel Folau try, Bernard Foley con AUS 7-0 RSA
17 mins: Ruan Dreyer try, Elton Jantjies con AUS 7-7 RSA
22mins: Bernard Foley pen AUS 10-7 RSA
25 mins: Eltion Jantjies pen AUS 10-10 RSA
34 mins: Bernard Foley pen AUS 13-10 RSA
HALF TIME
42 mins: Jan Serfontein try, Elton Jantjies con AUS 13-17 RSA
45 mins: Marika Koroibete try, Bernard Foley con AUS 20-17 RSA
49 mins: Courtnall Skosan try, Elton Jantjies con AUS 20-24 RSA
56 mins: Marika Koroibete try, Bernard Foley con AUS 27-24 RSA
70 mins: Eltion Jantjies pen AUS 27-27 RSA
Australia 27 (Marika Koroibete 2, Israel Folau tries; Bernard Foley 3 cons; Bernard Foley 2 pens) drew with South Africa 27 (Ruan Dreyer, Jan Serfontein, Courtnall Skosan tries; Elton Jantjies 3 cons; Elton Jantjies 2 pens)
Related Posts
« Coetzee disappointed with result but takes positives from draw with Wallabies QANTAS WALLABIES SQUAD UPDATE FOR ARGENTINA CLASH IN MENDOZA »
