{"id":76050,"date":"2025-08-17T22:44:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T22:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/76050\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T22:44:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T22:44:13","slug":"no-longer-no1-embarrassed-by-australia-is-springboks-reign-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/76050\/","title":{"rendered":"No longer No1, embarrassed by Australia \u2014 is Springboks\u2019 reign over?"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Africa\u2019s spectacular second-half capitulation against Australia<\/a> in Johannesburg, which so infuriated their coach, Rassie Erasmus, means they will no longer be top of the world rankings. The Springboks had led 22-5 at half-time before the Wallabies surged back in the second half, exploiting lacklustre defending to score six tries in total in a 38-22 victory at the start of the Rugby Championship.<\/p>\n

Erasmus\u2019s team will now fall to third in the rankings, replaced as the No1-ranked side by New Zealand, who opened the Rugby Championship with a 41-24 win away to Argentina. Ireland, in second place, face both New Zealand and South Africa in the autumn internationals, while Australia, who remain sixth in the rankings, will open their European tour by facing England, ranked fifth, at Twickenham.<\/p>\n

As the Springboks and Wallabies prepare for a rematch in Cape Town on Saturday, the plans Erasmus had formulated to shuffle his side are now under earnest review. \u201cWe had already picked next week\u2019s team,\u201d Erasmus said. \u201cBut that will probably change a bit now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Australian<\/p>\n

The resurgent Wallabies celebrate their first win against the Springbok\u2019s on South African soil for 12 years<\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

It was the first time South Africa had lost a Test after leading by more than ten points at half-time and the first time they had conceded six tries since 2018, the year that Erasmus took charge before leading them to the first of two successive World Cup wins a year later. It was the first time South Africa had lost at home to Australia for 12 years, while the eventual 16-point margin of defeat was their biggest at home since October 2016.<\/p>\n

After watching his team unravel, Erasmus did not mince his words. \u201cI can butter this up to sound cool and respectful, but we were just really dogshiton the day,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re 22-0 up, you might lose a Test match, but not by [16] points, so it\u2019s very concerning and something we have to fix. We still terribly want to win the Rugby Championship, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s over and done and dusted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"South<\/p>\n

Erasmus\u2019s blunt assessment of the Springbok\u2019s performance was that they were \u201cjust dogshit\u201d<\/p>\n

FRANS LOMBARD\/AP<\/p>\n

The defeat was confirmed by a brilliant final try from Tom Wright, the outstanding Australia full back, although the ease with which he stepped inside Damian Willemse was a frustration for Erasmus. There was also a first try in international rugby union for Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, the centre recruited from rugby league last year, who intercepted a careless long pass from Manie Libbok just inside his own half, and sprinted clear to score. James O\u2019Connor, the 35-year-old fly half recalled after a three-year absence, converted four times.<\/p>\n

Harry Wilson, the Australia captain, scored two tries of his own, but finished the game with a knee injury that leaves his participation in Cape Town in doubt. James Slipper, the prop, and Dylan Pietsch, the wing, will both miss the rematch because of injuries sustained in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n

But the remarkable comeback from Joe Schmidt\u2019s side builds on the progress they made during the recent series against the British & Irish Lions<\/a>. They began with a tame defeat, then pushed the Lions close in the second Test in Melbourne before winning the third in Sydney. Schmidt, whose tenure as coach concludes at the end of the Rugby Championship, felt that the character shown by his players was further evidence of a resurgence after a tough period for the Wallabies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still building our strength in depth and our game shape, but this is a great bunch of young men who have shown the ability to roll their sleeves up,\u201d Schmidt said. \u201cI hope there was really good support for them back in Australia, they deserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Africa\u2019s spectacular second-half capitulation against Australia in Johannesburg, which so infuriated their coach, Rassie Erasmus, means they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-76050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}