In the first round of the Rugby Championship, the Wallabies produced an incredible comeback to stun the world champion Springboks at Ellis Park before the All Blacks got the job done against Los Pumas in Argentina.
Australia quickly found themselves 22-0 down in the first half, but Joe Schmidt’s side rallied to score six straight tries and secure a 38-22 victory at a venue where the visitors had not won in 62 years.
New Zealand, meanwhile, were much more comfortable in dispatching Argentina 41-24, having led 31-10 at half-time.
South Africa vs Australia
Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus expressed his disappointment with the disastrous collapse and lamented the host team’s lack of energy, especially in the second half.
“I can try to butter it up and bottle it up to sound cool and respectful. The effort was maybe there but the accuracy or precision wasn’t,” he said to Supersport after the loss.
“It was a bad loss in a bad way. Not against a bad team – we just didn’t have fight right until the end, and that’s not what we want to give South Africa.
“There was a stage where I felt our heads were dropping and shoulders were slumping, and that was part of the disappointment. We didn’t scrum them and they beat us in the lineouts.
“In the first 25 minutes, I thought we were really good in the breakdown. After that, when Siya [Kolisi] got injured and Marco [van Staden] went for a [head-injury assessment], it slipped away.
“They beat us in most departments. We as coaches got it terribly wrong and we must look firstly at ourselves.”
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Argentina vs New Zealand
All Blacks captain Scott Barrett felt that New Zealand’s clinical win in Córdoba was something to be proud of despite there being clear room for improvement.
“We talked about starting well. I think we did that and we finished the second half quite strong, with a bit of a statement there,” the lock told local media.
“In the second half, we were a little bit slow, and a little bit of indiscipline fed their game and allowed the crowd to get in behind them.
“I’m glad that the guys who finished the game were able to win a few arm wrestles, get some territory, and come away with the win.”
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