South Africa 43 Australia 12
Australia were not good enough in every department and thoroughly outplayed by a rampant South Africa but coach Eddie Jones believes they will be better for the lessons learned in their 43-12 Rugby Championship loss in Pretoria on Saturday.
Jones cut a disconsolate figure as he assessed the manner in which his side were picked apart by a Springbok team who scored six tries despite being without several of their regulars who were sent as an advanced party to New Zealand for next weekend’s fixture against the All Blacks in Auckland.
“We were outplayed everywhere, beaten in every department,” Jones told reporters. “Really disappointing but no excuses. We got a realistic appraisal of where we are as a team.”
Australia conceded two penalty tries, received two yellow cards and were forced into numerous errors with ball in hand.
“The discipline breakdown comes from pressure,” Jones said. “If you look at the stats, they [South Africa] had 66 per cent territory and 66 per cent possession. We were forced into the errors.
“There is a game next week [against Argentina in Sydney] and we will be better. It is a bad day at the office and we have to front up and play better than that.
“The only positive we got from the game is the first 20 minutes, we tried to play with pace and we looked dangerous but were not able to sustain that effort.”
Jones praised South Africa’s attack and wing Kurt-Lee Arendse, who scored a hat-trick of tries.
“They were good today. Good with their forward carry, they moved the ball skilfully. They took their opportunities. [Arendse] is a real talent to come out of the South African system.”
“I’m really proud of the boys, it was a fantastic performance,” Springbok captain Duane Vermeulen said. “We played to our strengths. We can still improve, it was not 100 per cent our best performance, but I’m very happy with the result.”
