‘Winning is really important’: Schmidt kicks off a new era for the Wallabies
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World champions South Africa returned to the top of the Rugby Championship with a 30-12 victory over Australia in Perth on Saturday morning.
The Wallabies are looking to avenge their disappointing 33-7 loss to the Springboks in last week’s opening game, and South Africa have made 10 changes to the team that dominated Australia.
The close first half ended with just two points difference, with South Africa going into half-time 11-9, highlighted by a great try from Afelele Fassi, but the Wallabies took the lead after Noah Lolesio missed a penalty. It was unfortunate that there wasn’t one. At halftime.
However, the second half was a completely different story due to the rainy weather in Perth, with the South Africans taking control of the game and converting three mauls into three tries.
Ahead of their tour to New Zealand on August 31st, they won 30-12 against the world champions, who are fighting to win their first Rugby Championship title since 2019.
Follow live updates and reactions to the Perth clash below.
australia vs south africa live
to the next
The Wallabies’ next two games will be a friendlier double-header against Pumas in Argentina. Their first match will kick off on August 31st in La Plata.
The Springboks will host the All Blacks in a rematch of the World Cup final in Johannesburg on the same day, followed by round two games in Santa Fe and Cape Town, respectively, a week later.
Chris Wilson August 17, 2024 14:00
rugby championship table
Here’s a summary of how the current championship table looks.
1 – South Africa – P2, W2, 9pts
2 – Argentina – 2nd place, 1 win, 1 loss, 4 goals
3 – New Zealand – P2, W1, L1, 4pts
4 – Australia – P2, L2, 0pts
Chris Wilson August 17, 2024 13:55
full time! Australia 12 – 30 South Africa
Jesse Kriel is the next Springbok to step in front of the camera.
“With Lassie, I think it’s more about his mindset and encouraging us as players to go out and express ourselves without being afraid of making mistakes. “I think getting out and trying something is probably the key,” he began.
“He told us, ‘Go out there, go offload, play the ball wide, express yourself.’ With Tony Brown coming in, that complements that even more. I think it was.
“I’m really excited to be part of this team at this point and play the brand of rugby that we’re trying to play. (I’m) really excited and really happy to be a part of them.
“The best thing about a true world-class coach is how they can simplify, get their message across and simplify their attack, and I think Tony does that in an exciting way.
“He makes the players feel like six-year-old kids in practice, which is great in international rugby. It’s encouraging the players to work on their own moves and getting them thinking about the game. That’s something I enjoy and I think a lot of other players see on the field as well. You can.”
Chris Wilson August 17, 2024 13:50
Rugby Championship 2024 schedule: South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina fixtures
The championship continues on August 31st – here’s a rundown of the remaining matches.
Saturday, August 31st
South Africa vs New Zealand, 4pm (Ellis Park, Johannesburg)
Argentina vs Australia, 11pm (Estadio Uno, La Plata)
Saturday, September 7th
South Africa vs New Zealand, 4pm (Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town)
Argentina vs. Australia, 8pm (Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López, Santa Fe)
Saturday, September 21st
Australia vs. New Zealand, 6.45am (Accor Stadium, Sydney)
Argentina vs. South Africa, 10pm (Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades, Santiago del Estero)
Saturday, September 28th
New Zealand vs Australia, 8.05am (Sky Stadium, Wellington)
South Africa vs Argentina, 4pm (Mbombela Stadium, Mbombela)
Chris Wilson August 17, 2024 13:40
full time! Australia 12 – 30 South Africa
“This is the best team in the world. It’s not an easy team to play against at the moment, so we want to play against those teams.
“We knew we had to move them. We couldn’t just go head-to-head with them. To do that, we looked at ourselves a little bit. We didn’t want to kick too much. They can be very physical up front, but also very tough in terms of speed.
“You can’t fault the effort, it’s hard enough trying to counter the Springbok maul with a fully fit pack.
“I’m still proud of the way our players fought in the second half, and the way they fought in the first half. It might have been easy for them to stay, but at halftime it was 12-11. It could have been a great encouragement to the boys.”
Chris Wilson August 17, 2024 13:35
full time! Australia 12 – 30 South Africa
Joe Schmidt then stands in front of the media and gives a pretty detailed analysis of the match.
“Well, it was tough. At half-time I thought we were close to scoring, but that must have been a boost for the players. “As always against the Springboks, they didn’t play until half-time. He was a little beat up and was very physical.
“We’ve got some guys walking with injuries, and it was a bit of a scramble in the second half, and we found it very difficult to keep the collisions down with our big guys.
“They took advantage of it. It became quite a tough task. We had some chances. Lekan dropped one in front of the post that we were close to. Those were really my fault. They made things very tough for us on the rebound.
Chris Wilson August 17, 2024 13:30
full time! Australia 12 – 30 South Africa
Harry Wilson came to the Wallabies microphone and said South Africa “showed up, played well and won the big moments tonight” today.
“We felt like we were not far away, but we have to win the important moments. We are a new team, but we are working hard together. We will continue to work hard.
“We know that if we continue to work hard and keep improving, we can win moments like that. Maybe if we just learn a little bit of front football and make a few stupid mistakes, we’re basically I think we didn’t do what we’re proud of, and that really hurt us in the second half.”
Chris Wilson August 17, 2024 13:20
full time! Australia 12 – 30 South Africa
Eben Ezebeth spoke to the media for the first time and said: “It’s been a great two weeks with two wins.”
“That doesn’t happen very often. The Wallabies are a quality outfit. I think the players played well tonight and last week.
“Especially in the first half. They were firing. We had fun and we knew they were going to work hard tonight. That’s exactly what they did. Good result in the end. was obtained.”
Regarding the changes made by Rassie Erasmus, Etzebeth says:
“They were great. Obviously the guys that came off the bench played until the end. They were a good team the whole tour.”
Chris Wilson August 17, 2024 13:10
Rugby Championship Summary
So today’s result means South Africa now have two wins from two on the mini-tour Down Under, winning the tournament opener 33-7.
The full results are below.
Australia 7 – 33 South Africa
New Zealand 30 – 38 Argentina
New Zealand 42 – 10 Argentina
Australia 12 – 30 South Africa
Chris Wilson August 17, 2024 13:00
full time! Australia 12 – 30 South Africa
So a close game at halftime with just a two-goal difference ended in an 18-point victory for the Springboks. Their collective strength spoke volumes when they were able to score three tries from mauls and be more disciplined than their Australian opponents.
There will be a two-week hiatus before activities resume, and we’ll bring you more details and reactions soon.
Chris Wilson August 17, 2024 12:54
