BLOWN AWAY IN BOK LAND

 

(Image taken from BBC)

 

Well the last time we faced the Boks, England were solidly beaten 25-14 at Twickenham and this was only a week after a 23-21 win over the Boks at 'rugby HQ' which was the only bright spot in the disasterous back end of the Andy Robinson era. Beating the South Africans on their patch tends to be a much harder task. However the omens were certainly good, we beat them on the neutral ground of the Subaico Oval in the group stages of the '03 World Cup 25-6 and the last time we played them on their turf, at Vodacom Park, it was the first warning that we'd go on to pick up the World Cup under Clive Woodward, a 27-22 win in the summer of 2000!

Now Brian Ashton is in charge and the result so far had been a very hit and miss Six Nations! Why he felt the need to take a team to South Africa I'm not quite sure, we're due to lock horns with them in the World Cup later this year anyway! Either way, a virus wound up hitting the squad beforehand so the team we fielded at Vodacom Park wasn't the best! The South African journos took the mick out of the inclusion of names like Kevin Yates, Alex Brown and Chris Jones. I certainly wasn't expecting much.

Well I didn't get much in the first half! Percy Montgomery opened the scoring for the Boks and England wound up responding with what was a very flat attack. Fine by the Boks who added another Montgomery penalty but the home fans were only interested in tries and they got one when Balshaw halted Bryan Habana only for the ball to switch to Ashwin Willemse who went over the line for Montgomery to convert. England immediately countered, but there is no great wisdom giving the ball to Bryan Habana anywhere, even deep in your own half, he'll just get himself a try, Montgomery converting yet again. Wilkinson finally opened the scoring for England but it was just a drop in the ocean and not only did Montgomery reply with another pen of his own before Jean de Villiers found his way through a weak England defence for a third Bok try. Montgomery converted. 30-3 to the Boks at halftime and the game was a write off.

So what did England do? Forget about the first half. They blasted into the Boks with nothing to lose and set up camp in the opposition's half. The Bok defence were able to handle matters but England gained even more respectabilty when Flood set up Simpson-Daniel to run throw and Wilkinson to convert. That respectability didn't last the match though as the men in white somehow fell apart completely in then last ten minutes. Pierre Spires set up both Shalk Burger and Mark Steyn within two minutes. Habana surged past Robinson and CJ van de Linde joined the party late on. Montgomery converted the lot, Boks won 58-10 and more of this to come next weekend!

England weren't the only British side in action in the southern hemisphere. Wales faced Australia at the Telstra Stadium. Unlike England, the Welsh started by hammering the home side, Gareth Thomas and Jamie Robinson both grabbing tries that were converted by James Hook before the Welsh kicker added a penalty. Wycliffe Palu finally got the Aussies rolling with a try and Nathan Sharpe added a second which Stirling Mortlock converted. Hook added a second half drop goal to keep the Welsh scoreline ticking over but the Aussies had saved the best for last. A Matt Giteau try, converted by Mortlock who added a later penalty leveled the scores. Then in the dying seconds Stephen Hoiles secured a miraculous win for the Aussies with a try which Mortlock converted to rob the Welsh to the tune of 24-17.

Ireland faced Argentina at the rugby stadium in Santa Fe. Paddy Wallace opened the scoring for the men in green before converting a Brian Carney try. Felipe Contepomi(who plays in Ireland) replied for the Argies by kicking three penalties. The Irish got given a penalty try which Walace converted to give them breathing space, a couple of sinnbinnings followed before Contepomi slotted another pen before converting a Hernan Senilosa try to give his side a late lead. Gavin Duffy replied for Ireland by kicking a pen of his own but Contepomi hit a drop goal to give the Argies a 22-20 win and Ireland were the second side to get robbed that day.

Click here to go to 'other sports' archive

Comments go here

Click here to return to sports homepage

Click here to return to Matt G's homepage