Aggressive Springboks revive memories of World Cup win

By WYNNE GRAY

Two discards held centre stage yesterday as the Springboks revived memories of their World Cup triumph when they nailed the Tri-Nations title.

The win continued the Wallabies' woes in the republic where they have managed a solitary victory - and that by a single point- in the nine years of Tri-Nations history.

In a match of wild fortunes in Durban, a frenetic 22-minute burst of scoring from the Boks saw off the Wallabies. They built such a lead they were able to withstand losing Percy Montgomery then Breyton Paulse to the sinbin in the last 10 minutes.

Victory for the Springboks completed a series' whitewash for the home teams and one where the Boks' offshore haul of bonus points made the difference.

Key figures in this test were Springbok lock Victor Matfield and Wallaby wing Clyde Rathbone.

Matfield's contract disputes saw him removed from the squad for the away tests while Rathbone rejected the lure of a green Springbok jersey for the gold of the Wallabies.

For the opening 30 minutes his jersey did not glitter.

Rathbone was targeted by the media and the crowd when he returned to his Durban birthplace.

The hostility got to Rathbone. He muffed several catches, was apprehensive and edgy until his grubber kick set up a late first-half try for Lote Tuqiri.

It was a blow to the Boks who had much of the play but made errors in their anxiety to get on top.

The Boks scrum was disjointed although their lineout work, drives and the energy of the loose trio was a compelling compensation. But the Boks had no points until referee Paddy O'Brien awarded them a penalty in the shadow of halftime.

Montgomery slewed a 42m kick over and when the Boks followed after the interval with tries to Matfield and Joe van Niekerk, they had an unlikely 23-7 lead with 18 minutes left.

Matfield was a colossus. A hugely gifted athlete in the set piece, he has also been accused of skirting the trenchwork in favour of freewheeling runs.

He had also been in a pay dispute with administrators before he was excluded for some mysterious injury from the offshore Tri-Nations tests.

The contract wrangle sorted, Matfield was restored miraculously to full health and his influence yesterday was massive. He ruled the lineouts, shunted rucks and mauls, he made many vital tackles and scored a momentous try.

The lock grabbed a rebound from an up and under and then motored 30m as he turned defender George Gregan inside out.

That try gave the Boks the lead for the first time as they continued the revival they have shown this season under first-year coach Jake White.

While the Wallabies scored three tries to two, they were strangely muted. Mistakes littered their struggle. The lineout became so gunshy, hooker Brendan Cannon was penalised three times for delaying the throw-in.

The Wallaby scrum got the wobbles while George Smith and Phil Waugh were matched by van Niekerk and Schalk Burger.

Wallaby coach Eddie Jones was left lamenting the third quarter.

"We probably made more mistakes in that 20 minutes than in all three previous Tri-Nations games."

For White the triumph came in his eighth test in charge. He has a side which is starting to weld planning to their exuberance.

At times the Boks had tunnelvision as they resorted to a physical onslaught. But on the strength of their vitality, skipper John Smit was able to raise the silverware.

It was a close call though. Montgomery went to the bin for a dangerous tackle and finally Paulse for persistent infringing.

Stirling Mortlock scored and so did Smith before the Wallabies ran out of time and ideas.

For the first time since 1998, the Springboks were southern hemisphere rugby kings again.

South Africa 23 - Australia 19