After being bullied by the Wallabies in the Rugby Championship last weekend, the Springboks bounced back in Sydney on Saturday not only to win the match 24-8, but also the fight.
Outscoring their hosts four tries to one, it was the fourth try which proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the hosts nine minutes from time that sparked an all-out brawl on the field.
With Makazole Mapimpi diving over in the corner after he was put away by Willie le Roux, Wallabies wing Marika Korioibete dove on the Bok flyer - in an effort to repeat his corner flag heroics in the Wallabies’ 25-17 win in Adelaide last week.
This time it didn’t work, and he only pissed off Mapimpi, who then shoved him while he was on the ground.
The scenes that followed summed up just how passionate the Boks were after losing some face last week, with Eben Etzebeth giving Allan Alaalatoa the stare of death while rukking each other rond.
Bok captain Siya Kolisi, who had an outstanding game at No.6, says of the incident: “We always want to make sure we keep the game as clean as we can… we want to encourage kids to play the game.
“But stuff does get heated sometimes - from both teams it got heated in the moment and I’m glad it didn’t get too hectic...”
With the Boks suffocating Australia in their own half for most of the game, coach Jacques Nienaber adds of their fire on the day: “We want to produce a performance that we are proud of. We’re not proud with how we started last week and we had a lot of internal pressure on ourselves…
“Our preparation was good this week.”
The win was South Africa’s first in Australia in nine years and kept alive their hopes of winning this year’s Rugby Championship.
Back home in SA, meanwhile, reports are doing the rounds that SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux is set for the axe.
According to a report in Rapport, sports minister Nathi Mthethwa wants Roux out after he lost his appeal to the guilty findings of misappropriation of R37m from Stellenbosch University back when he still worked there between 2002 and 2010.
dudley.carstens@inl.co.za