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The Kangaroos saved face with a late goal when the Springboks were down to 13 players, and after trailing 21-0 in the first half, the home side got a little consolation when they were down 12-7 in the second half.
However, for the most part, the Kangaroos struggled to penetrate the Antelopes’ strong defense, and their second-half scoring opportunities were thwarted by turnovers near the sideline. They entered the Antelopes’ red zone nine times and scored only once. The Kangaroos were under pressure from the first minute of the scrum.
Len Ikitau of the Wallabies takes off his jersey.Credit: Getty Images
Lockers Nick Frost and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto showed great physicality, while back-rowers Harry Wilson and Rob Valetini also played well to add some colour to the proceedings.
But it was primarily a man-versus-man afternoon match, and while that may have accurately reflected the respective Test maturity levels of both sides, the enormity of the rebuilding job ahead of next year’s Lions tour was already apparent to Schmidt.
“That’s a benchmark for us,” Schmidt said.
“We’ve had three Tests before this but that’s really the starting point against the really good teams. I think I said this week that they’re at a different stage in their evolution.
Springboks’ Pieter-Steph du Toit is playing.Credit: Getty Images
“They have a lot of experience and some players are very mature and have played for a long time at the top level and have been very successful. Our team is very young and is still coming together but we have to unite better than we did today.
“They don’t give you much breathing space. It was hard to find breathing space in the first half, especially when we conceded eight or nine penalties and they didn’t concede any.
“It made it difficult for us to get out of our half. When we got out of our half, we kicked the ball away a few times but it wasn’t accurate. We didn’t participate in the aerial duels and obviously on the counter-attack we weren’t efficient enough.”
Kolisi said the Antelopes were delighted to get a bonus point win at a venue where they have historically struggled and which “is a bastion of Australia”.
Erasmus said he was cautious about the Wallabies’ ability to bounce back in the team’s second game in Perth next week, saying the team could bounce back within a week of a big defeat.
“Joe Schmidt is a great coach… I was certainly very nervous before this game because I didn’t know what Joe was going to do,” Erasmus said.
“But he’s only played four games with the team. Next week will be better. Next week will be tougher. I can’t speak for Joe, but … he’s busy building something.
“He will change this team, just like he changed Ireland. So we start making plans tomorrow morning.”
However, the team’s staying power is not great. Taniela Tupou remains uncertain following the death of his father, Fraser McWright is still a few weeks away and even Frost is uncertain because of a serious eye injury. Filippo Daugunu limped out of the team at Suncorp, but Marika Koroibet is set to return.
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With Will Skelton out of the squad, it was hard to have more options up front, with the Australian Super Rugby aerial winger only making his debut in a Roosters training shirt after being passed over by Schmidt.
“Some guys will improve their performance, maybe not in time for next Saturday, but we do need to have a long-term plan,” Schmidt said.
“We have a much younger squad than South Africa. We have a lot less caps and a lot less experience, so I think if we change the team too often then it will be hard to build cohesion.
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