The Sydney Morning Herald's Greg Growden reflects on Australia's Tri-Nations victory over South Africa in Durban.
"The Wallabies have always been good defenders. But they really pushed it up a level at Kings Park, tackling with tenacity and stopping an always direct opposition who were as intent as the Wallabies on ignoring every safety warning. It was head down, bum up, and stuff the circumstances if you knock yourself out. As Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom said: ''The Springboks came absolutely charging at us … so it was all or nothing.''
Advertisement: Story continues below At the ground, you could hear the collisions as the bodies of the Wallabies and Springboks hurtled at each other, and you shuddered. This was Test football at its most physical and most engrossing. And often in the past, the Wallabies have been distracted, even overwhelmed by such intensity.
Not this time. There were countless great tackles, with replacement centre Anthony Faingaa's charge to smash Springbok winger JP Pietersen in the 65th minute the turning point of the match, as it resulted in the penalty that put the Wallabies in front."
RSS feed
