Up against an Australia side who doesn’t mind getting down and dirty for the win, the Springboks will keep it clean when the two teams clash again in Sydney on Saturday.
While Australia smashed South Africa 25-17 in Adelaide in last weekend’s Rugby championship clash, it was Wallabies scrumhalf Nic White, and not the result, that “grabbed the headlines” on social media.
The little scrumhalf was slammed for his Oscar-winning performance when his opposite number Faf de Klerk accidentally smacked him in the face after trying to klap the ball out of his hand at the back of a scrum.
White then fell to both knees, hande op die gesig, like a watse Neymar to get De Klerk sent to the naughty corner.
Former Springbok captain John Smit then famously tweeted: “Yellow 9 just killed a little piece of Rugbys soul today.”
Yellow 9 just killed a little piece of Rugbys soul today
— John Smit (@JohnSmit123) August 27, 2022
But the Aussies did what they had to on the day to get the result and it worked.
Asked about the dark arts of the game, Springbok replacement prop Steven Kitshoff says: “It’s a difficult one to answer. As a team we never look for any opportunities to either… [allow me to rephrase], you want to play the game inside the lawbook with as much aggression, power, speed as possible. We never look for shortcuts. Games are played and you want to try and get the upperhand as much as possible. It all comes down to ref interpretation…
“I don’t want to comment on them getting away with certain tricks or tactics, we just want to play a great Test match.”
Dead last on the Rugby Championship log after two defeats from three matches, the Springboks, who will name their squad for the clash today, will be desperate to bounce back with a win in Sydney.
dudley.carstens@inl.co.za