Possible IRB 2009 player of the year?

The Springboks managed to shed their “boring rugby” label at the weekend when the comprehensively beat the Wallabies in Perth, silencing their critics. The Final scoreline was a lot closer than the actual game, with the Springboks falling asleep in the last 5 or 6 minutes, allowing the Wallabies over for two tries, to put them in reach for the bonus point loss.

The Wallabies took heed of Robbie Deans’ threat concerning their poor discipline earlier on in the 2009 Tri Nations, only conceding 4 penaltiesto the Springboks 16 in the Perth test. They did well to hold on and play for the full eighty minutes. On more than one occasion the Wallabies took the ball through 8+ phases, once making it to 16 phases and spending a total of over 7 minutes in the Springbok’s 22m area. The Wallabies played a lot more with the ball than the Springboks did, having double the amount of breakdowns, scrumhalf and flyhalf passes than the Boks and having to make less than half the amount of tackles the Boks did.

These stats could be viewed either way. Some might applaud the Wallabies for their fighting spirit in giving it a go right to the end, some might say how it enforces how much better the Springboks were on the day. They used the ball they did have more effectively, making 4 line-breaks and 11 offloads. The Springboks became the 1st team to score the 4 try bonus point in the 2009 Tri nations competition.

Congratulations to Fourie Du Preez on his 50th international test. Week after week he puts in performances that highlight why he is arguably the most complete rugby player in the world.

It was good to see Schalk Burger and his tackle rate back on the pitch, making an impressive 8 tackles during his 26 mins on the park.

Standout performances:

Australia: Rocky Elsom performed well, both with the ball in hand and at the breakdown. Gaining a total of 101m with ball in hand and performing 5 turnovers. He was one of the best Wallaby performers on the day.

South Africa: Heinrich Brussow remains a revelation on the flank, making a total of 21 tackles. He must surely be up for nomination at the IRB awards come the end of the season.

Absolute “mares”: Richard Brown had an absolute shocker, knocking 2 balls into touch early on in the game, as well as missing 4 tackles, the most by any Wallaby player on the day.

On the same note, I can’t see Deans able to justify the continued selection of Luke Burgess. His service has been below par all season. Genia may not have the most experience, but the became noticeably quicker once he took the field.

Whilst Enrico Januarie missed 3 tackles during his 5 mins on the field.

Personally I would have sub-ed Morne Steyn early in the second half, moving Pienaar to flyhalf and Bringing Frans Steyn on at fullback. Removing the risk of Morne picking up an injury, as well as allowing Ruan Pienaar to open the game up a little more from the #10 berth. Although Morne Steyn has really put his hand up for continued selection this year, his defence remains a big worry. Missing 6 tackles on the day, and cumulatively by far the most of any player in this year’s competition.

It was great to see the solid centre pairing of Jean De Villiers and Jacques Fourie back to it’s best again.

Here are the try highlights:

Followed by post match interviews with Lachie Turner and Will Genia: (compliments of the Australian Rugby Union website)

I think everyone should go have a look at the quality of the Australian Rugby Union’s website. They post all kinds of clips on the site, including players interviewing each other, footage of the team training, one on one sessions with player, and generally the kinds of things that the average fan wouldn’t be able to have access to otherwise. I think it is great how they try to personalise the players for the fans to enjoy.

All Stats in this post are with compliments of Rugby Stats.

Who is the best newcomer in the Springbok team between Morne Steyn and Heinrich Brussow?