The Springboks had to withstand a strong first-half onslaught by Italy, coupled with a whole host of unforced errors by the visitors from South Africa, to win their one-off Test at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa by 54-26.
The Boks scored eight tries, the Azzurri two, but one can't help feel that there were still too many mistakes by the visitors.
Despite the win, Bok coach Harry Viljoen will not be sleeping well, with England looming at Twickenham next weekend. His biggest concern will be the penalty count, one area where the visitors ran away with the game, giving away 18 penalties to Italy's six.
The Boks made most of their penalisable errors on the ground, going off their feet at the ruck, using hands on the ground and not releasing in the tackle. Against Jonny Wilkinson these mistakes are equal to suicide, as the English flyhalf will surely punish the Boks for every indiscretion they commit.
A positive for the Springboks were the way in which they ran straight at their opponents, and after last weekend's drifting by the backs, this was good to see.
Luckily for the Boks the Azzurri were not very effective in turning tap penalties into points close to the visitors' try-line, or the score-line would have been much closer.
On three occasions the Italians only had to spin the ball wide for a try from a tap penalty, but the Springboks' resilient defence held out and the home team were stopped in their tracks.
Probably the best try of the game came from one such move, where the Italians lost the ball five metres from the Bok try-line.
Debutant Joe van Niekerk snapped up the ball and passed it to Conrad Jantjes, who had a forgettable first half. The flying fullback sped away before passing the ball to skipper Bob Skinstad, who flipped it to Trevor Halstead, who passed back inside to Van Niekerk and eventually the best Bok on the day, Victor Matfield, got the ball, racing away from 25 metres out for the try under the uprights.
That try, 15 minutes into the second half, put the Boks ahead by 35-12 after they lead 21-12 at the break.
But it was Italy who smelt first blood after just five minutes when the trusty boot of Diego Dominguez slotted his first penalty goal of the day. Twelve minutes and two more penalties (by Dominguez) later Italy were leading 9-0, as the Boks were made pay for their ill discipline on the ground.
They hardly got into the Italian half during this period, and Dominguez, with pinpoint tactical kicking, made sure the Springboks were on the defence in the opening 20 minutes even though he was playing against the strong wind in the first half.
A heap of handling errors, more mistakes on the ground and general poor execution on the attack cost the visitors dearly. If it was not for three tries in the second quarter of the game, Italy may well have been leading at the break.
But hats off to the Boks, who, despite the shaky start, took their chances when they got them.
First Joost van der Westhuizen got over for his 35th Test try when he made a marvellous break from the base of a ruck and side-stepped past Luca Martin for the five-pointer. Braam van Straaten duly converted.
Ten minutes later big Dean Hall, who put in a number of strong runs during the game, crashed over for his first try in the green and gold after the visitors managed to pile on the phases.
Then, on the stroke of half-time, Halstead got his first of two tries on the day, dotting down after John Smit brilliantly ran into space. Van Straaten's third conversion, and a 34th minute drop-goal by Dominguez, meant the teams changed sides with the visitors leading by 21-12.
The Boks started strongly in the second half and dominated the game after the break. John Smit extended their lead in the 47th minute when he crashed over for the visitors' fourth try from close-in.
Matfield's brilliant try came next, but still the Boks made mistakes, passes not going to hand and even more knock-ons stopping potential scoring opportunities.
Another moment of Matfield magic saw Willie Meyer also getting a try. The big lock drove up the side of the field and threw a clever inside pass, behind his back, to Meyer, who burst over for the Boks' sixth try.
Dominguez, who already placed and dropped points for Italy, then broke the Bok line for a brilliant solo try, and by converting his own try, he scored in every possible way on the day.
Skinstad also scored a late try and Marco Bortolami got a consolation try for the home team, but by that time it was already game, set and match to the visitors.
Italy's best players were Alessandro Troncon, Dominguez, Mauro Bergamasco and Carlo Checchinato, who never gave up trying for the Azzurri.
Matfield was the Boks' best player on the day, providing good, clean ball from the line-outs, defending like a brick wall, providing the spark in many good forward drives and once even snatching the ball from the air from an attempted penalty goal by Dominguez. He was well supported by Willie Meyer, AJ Venter, Louis Koen, who fared well in the No.10 jersey, and Hall.
If they can stop giving away penalties and knocking on good attacking ball, the Boks may just be in with a slight chance against England next weekend.
It's back to the drawing board for Brad Johnstone and his Italian team, and although they were not humiliated, they still lack that big match temperament when playing against the top teams in the world.
Man of the match: Although Victor Matfield played a massive game for the Boks, Italy's little general Diego Dominguez, whose third penalty goal saw hime become only the second man in history to pass 900 Test points, wins the award for his brilliant try, good goal-kicking (which included a conversion, three penalty goals and a drop-goal) and solid all-round play for the Azzurri.
Moment of the match: Victor Matfield's try in the second half. The Boks turned over possession on their own try-line and through good support and handling Matfield scored under the uprights.
Villain of the match: Only because he got the only yellow-card of the game, for a shoulder charge, Braam van Straaten "wins" this award. But the game was generally clean and without niggles.
The Teams:
South Africa: 1 Ollie Le Roux, 2 John Smit, 3 Willie Meyer, 4 Victor Matfield, 5 A.J. Venter, 6 Joe Van Niekerk, 7 Andre Vos, 8 Bobby Skinstad (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Louis Koen, 11 Dean Hall, 12 Trevor Halstead, 13 Braam Van Straaten, 14 Breyton Paulse, 15 Conrad Jantjes
Reserves: Deon De Kock, Adi Jacobs, Lukas Van Biljon, Corne Krige, Percy Montgomery, Andre Venter, Cobus Visagie
Italy: 1 Andrea Lo Cicero, 2 Alessandro Moscardi (c), 3 Andrea Muraro, 4 Wim Visser, 5 Mark Giacheri, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Carlo Checchinato, 9 Alessandro Troncon, 10 Diego Dominguez, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Walter Pozzebon, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Massimiliano Perziano, 15 Luca Martin
Reserves: Andrea Benatti, Samuele Pace, Marco Bortolami, Giampiero De Carli, Francesco Mazzariol, Tino Paoletti
Unused: Juan Manuel Queirolo
Referee: Erickson w.
Points Scorers:
South Africa
Tries: Halstead T.M. 2, Hall D. 1, Matfield V. 1, Smit W.J. 1, Meyer W. 1, Skinstad R.B. 1, Van Der Westhuizen J. 1
Conv: Koen L.J. 2, Van Straaten A.J.J. 5
Italy
Tries: Benatti A. 1, Dominguez D. 1
Conv: Dominguez D. 1, Mazzariol F. 1
Pen K.: Dominguez D. 3
Drop G.: Dominguez D. 1
No comments:
Post a Comment