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Eddie Jones' Wallabies plastered in Pretoria by Springboks

South Africa's flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit (C) is tackled by Australia's number eight Rob Valetini (L) and Australia's flanker Michael Hooper (R) during the Rugby Championship first round match between South Africa and Australia at Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria on July 8, 2023. (Photo by WIKUS DE WET / AFP) (Photo by WIKUS DE WET/AFP via Getty Images)

The Wallabies have turned in a horror first Test under coach Eddie Jones, falling 43-12 to South Africa to continue their 60-year drought in Pretoria.

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The Australians arrived at Loftus Versfeld, where they have never tasted victory, looking to usher in a winning era under Jones in his second stint as Wallabies coach.

But their plans of opening the Rugby Championship with a victory on Saturday were left in tatters with few Wallabies boosting their World Cup stocks.

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They started with a bang, as star winger Marika Koroibete barrelled across the line in the seventh minute before the home side piled on 41 unanswered points.

That included two penalty tries, with hooker Dave Porecki and winger Suliasi Vunivalu both handed yellow cards for sloppy attempts to stop South Africa scoring.

Debutant five-eighth Carter Gordon scored in the 80th minute, putting his hand up to replace Quade Cooper in the No.10 jersey next week against Argentina.

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The Au stralians’ defence was in disarray throughout, making more than double the amount of tackles with the burly Boks winning the collisions.

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They also looked clueless in attack, with playmaker Cooper failing to take control and put their opponents under pressure while his own team felt the heat, conceding 13 penalties.

The Wallabies repeatedly played into South Africa’s hands by kicking away possession while handling errors cruelled many an attacking raid.

Lightning winger Kurt-Lee Arendse bagged a hat-trick, exposing Vunivalu who had a shocker in his first Test start.

Arendse scored twice in the opening 40 minutes as the home side surged to a 17-5 halftime lead and added a third in the 50th minute.

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Reece Hodge’s radar was off target, with the inside centre missing all three first-half attempts including a late 66m effort which fell short and he was replaced by Samu Kerevi early in the second stanza.

A number of Springboks sta rs missed the match to head to New Zealand to prepare for the All Blacks but they showed their depth across the park.

Jones rang the changes but his replacements were unable to much of make an impact on the world champions, who were cheered on by more than 50,000 in the stands.

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4 Comments
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Jeremy 529 days ago

Sets up a very interesting game next week with the All Blacks.

R
Rob 529 days ago

As an Irish fan that game just put the fear of god in me for our upcoming match with the boks

A
Al 529 days ago

Eddie Jones is great for the first two years with every team he coaches, isn't he?

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Tom 5 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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