Greg Growden | September 6, 2009

Australia 21 South Africa 6

AT LAST the Wallabies got it together to win their first Tri Nations match of the year, and the Springboks will have to wait another week to find out if they can win the tournament.

In a dramatic improvement from recent weeks, the power and the passion of the Wallabies worked, enabling them to savour a quality victory which will do wonders for the Australian team’s flagging confidence.

The Wallabies had numerous stars, none more so that their loosehead prop Benn Robinson, who was a deserved man of the match.

The Wallabies picked up their act, and the dramatic change had a lot to do with the vastly improved service provided by their new halfback, Will Genia.

Genia provided good, fast service, compared to the erratic, looping passes of Luke Burgess, and it was soon clear that Wallabies five-eighth Matt Giteau felt far more comfortable with the extra space and timing. Suddenly he appeared far more assured.

Wallabies coach Robbie Deans said a crucial factor in the victory was that the team succeeded in taking ”the Springboks out of their comfort zone”.

”The boys kept playing for 80 minutes, which was great, and they always kept their heads up,” Deans said.

”And by the end the belief and confidence kicked in. For a young group, that was the step we were looking for. This is something we have been toiling away at.”

Captain George Smith added: ”To get the reward after doing so much hard work was fantastic. Now we have to build on this.”

The pace of the Wallabies’ attacking play picked up measurably last night, but their poor skills continued to let them down early on. Too many passes wide out on the line were pushed, a sense of excitement saw opportunities ruined, and sometimes they were too clever for their own good.

But those who had waited for Genia to be given his starting XV chance would have been delighted because his involvement transformed the Wallabies’ outlook.

It also had the desired effect of stalling the Springboks, who looked somewhat mesmerised by the improvement in the Wallabies game.

Still, the most crucial moment of the first half came in the 32nd minute when the Wallabies were awarded a vital scrum penalty after Robinson had smashed his opposite, John Smit, and Springboks captain was popped out.

That moment proved once and for all that the Springboks’ whinge to the International Rugby Board about the previous week’s scrum penalties was sheer folly. At last Springboks coach Peter de Villiers will have to admit that Smit is the problem.

Robinson has now for three Tests running trounced Smit at the set piece, and de Villiers’ bleating won’t change that. It was also pleasing that referee Wayne Barnes realised that the Springboks scrum was at fault. Although there were no tries in the first half, there were enough moments of extravagant play to keep the crowd of 47,481 fascinated. Each side made great midfield breaks, but stoic defence by both teams led to just a trickle of points.

There were guffaws when Giteau booted a field goal in the 32nd minute, with everyone loudly wondering why didn’t he try that a few weeks ago in the final minutes of the All Blacks Test in Sydney, as it could have led to a Bledisloe Cup Test win.

The high intensity of the Test was also emphasised by the Wallabies having to make two changes through injury, with winger Lachie Turner (shoulder) and hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau (ribs) replaced.

The Wallabies began the second half with even greater passion, and it appeared that they had at last scored their first try when Genia followed a a bustling midfield charge by Rocky Elsom with a cheeky tap kick and appeared to score under the posts in the 52nd minute.

However, Genia lost the ball over the line and the try was disallowed by video referee George Ayoub. The crowd issued their disdain at the decision but anticipated that points were looming as the Wallabies appeared to be getting on top.

Eight minutes later, the Wallabies had another try disallowed when Giteau grabbed a wayward lob from Springbok replacement Adi Jacobs, but put a foot over the sideline while attempting to ground the ball.

At last the agony ended in the 64th minute when a tight pass from inside-centre Berrick Barnes put centre Adam Ashley-Cooper away to give them a 10-point lead.

James O’Connor sealed the win in the 76th minute when he seized a loose ball to score the second try.