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Teams like Ireland have found success with single-digit penalty hauls, but the Wallabies have only kept penalties below 10 in six of the 47 Test matches they have played since 2020.
Some experts argue that penalties don’t necessarily correlate with winning or losing. But it’s also true that disciplined teams win trophies, and there’s no doubt that teams have a bad reputation in whistleblower circles. In those 47 Test matches, the Kangaroos “won” penalties just 14 times.
If you look at the match cards, it has gotten worse, with the Wallabies rarely fielding a full squad for the full 80 minutes now in fact.
As if winning Test matches wasn’t hard enough, in 47 Test matches, the Wallabies conceded a total of 43 cards (yellow and red), leaving 14 or fewer cards on the field.
World Rugby’s crackdown on head contact goes some way to explaining the increase in cards, but Australia’s stubbornness is still evident compared to their opponents, who received a total of 29 cards in the same Test match.
Since mid-2021, the Wallabies have lost players in 25 of their last 35 Test matches.
Discipline is the result of pressure; the ability to apply pressure and the ability to withstand it. It is therefore no surprise that strong teams have clean records, and worse still, their dark arts work is often overlooked.
The weaker team therefore had to work harder and be smarter to claw their way back. Creel’s tackle was brilliant, but it was the ‘unforced error’ foul Australia committed in the same match that really hurt Australia.
Australia’s battle and early attack was thwarted by penalties from Alan Araratoa, Lukehane Salakaya-Loto and Harry Wilson. This allowed the Springboks to continue to get into the Australian box and eventually win.
“Discipline comes when our pitching isn’t accurate, so it’s basically about focusing on whether we can be more accurate,” lines coach Jeff Parlin said. “You don’t want to have a team like South Africa in your 22-man squad and you don’t want them to have the ball.”
A kicking error also took its toll, but Australia persisted in their attack, even leaving space on the right wing when Tom Wright overlooked an unmarked Andrew Kellaway and the ball was stolen from them.
The referee may have called the Springboks offside at the end of the game, or Le Roux may have failed to let go after being tackled. But the stronger team got the ball, so the Springboks didn’t get a home chance and play on with the score tied at 7, but scored later through Pieter-Steph Du Toit.
Kellaway picked up an avoidable yellow card shortly afterwards and Kurt-Lee Arendse scored the third try in his absence.
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The Wallabies have shown they can contend with a physical Springbok side and they will aim to do so again in Perth.
But first they must find a solution for the team that has hurt them the most: themselves.
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