Wallabies player ratings from Perth: Len Ikitau’s two tries earn an 8.5, and the lowest mark goes to one tackle.
Harry Wilson drew the line at 70 minutes. “It was a crazy last 10 minutes. But that first 70 minutes, the way we played, we implemented our game plan,” the Wallabies captain told Nine. The first of the four yellow cards that made it crazy was his.
Australia beat South Africa 42-38 in Perth on Sunday 27 September to take the Mandela Challenge Plate. They led 42-17 on 64 minutes. Wilson, Ryan Lonergan, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Hunter Paisami were then binned inside seven minutes, and the Springboks scored 21 without reply.
The backs scored four of the five tries, after an Argentina tour in which forwards scored five of eight.
Who’s your Wallabies man of the match? Say so below.
Wallabies player ratings: 134 carries to 92
| Australia | South Africa | |
|---|---|---|
| Tries | 5 | 5 |
| Possession | 54% | 46% |
| Carries | 134 | 92 |
| Line breaks | 9 | 7 |
| Rucks won | 97 | 65 |
| Lineouts won | 11 of 12 | 11 of 14 |
| Yellow cards | 4 | 0 |
Opta figures, from the RugbyPass match centre. Lonergan’s kicking record is from Rugby Australia.
15. Tom Wright – 8/10
Sold a dummy and grubbered through for Jorgensen on 38, and Donaldson scored at the end of that attack. His intercept try on 76 was wiped out by Paisami’s tackle. Two minutes later, with 11 men, he toe-poked the ball clear as Malcolm Marx closed in.
14. Max Jorgensen – 9/10
Thirteen carries and four line breaks, both the most on the field. Dominant under the high ball, including a mark on 37. Scooped up the loose ball on 64 and outran the cover over 60 metres. On 78, with 11 men, the Guardian had South Africa certain to score until his tackle.
13. Len Ikitau – 8.5/10
Two tries in three minutes: through two tackles under the posts on 24, then a gather on 27 after Suaalii had spoiled Fassi. Broke 60 metres on 36 before Moodie hauled him down, a minute after fumbling a loose ball. Limped off on 53 with a suspected ankle injury.
12. Hunter Paisami – 5/10
For 76 minutes this was a sound Test. Eleven carries, joint third most on the field, and he was held up on the line in the move that gave Ikitau his first try.
Then the high tackle on Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, found by the TMO over the phone. It cost Wright an intercept try, 47-31 before the conversion, and left Australia with 11 men. South Africa scored again, and the card came within one score of losing the Test.
11. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii – 6.5/10
Won the air from the wing, and spoiled Fassi for Ikitau’s second try on 27. The offload for Donaldson’s try was his too. Against that, he gave away two penalties in the first 42 minutes, and the cynical offside on 73 brought the third yellow card.
He watched the finish from the bin. “For a performance like that, we had 11 players on the field,” he told Nine.
10. Ben Donaldson – 5.5/10
Scored on 39 at the end of 14 phases, and his kicks to touch set up two of the five tries. The passing let him down: three went astray in the first quarter, when the Guardian had Australia butchering front-foot ball. Moodie dumped him on 2, and South Africa kicked three points off it.
9. Ryan Lonergan – 7.5/10
Seventeen points from the tee and one miss in eight, from the right touchline on 64. His short box kick on 27 was the one Suaalii chased for Ikitau’s second try. Got isolated on 8, and the turnover became the Springboks maul try. The yellow card on 71 came with a penalty try.
Read also: why Ewen McKenzie calls the Wallabies 10 jersey a perpetual problem.
1. Angus Bell – 7.5/10
Eleven carries in 62 minutes, level with Wilson for the most by a Wallabies forward. Did the work for a turnover on 33, then knocked it on. The scrum conceded nothing while he was on.
2. Brandon Paenga-Amosa – 6.5/10
Steamed through for a turnover when South Africa spilled a lineout on 18, and won a ruck penalty in the same spell. Knocked on in a promising attack on 15. Australia won 11 of 12 lineouts, and the one lost was his overthrow on 44.
3. Allan Alaalatoa – 6.5/10
Held the scrum against the Springboks starting front row, including the set on 27 that launched Ikitau’s second try. Three carries. The TMO caught his high tackle on Fassi on 33. Off at half-time for Taniela Tupou.
4. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto – 7/10
Came in when Josh Canham pulled a hamstring on the eve of the Test. The offload that sent Ikitau under the posts on 24 was his. Six carries, one of them a heavy one near the line on 57.
5. Jeremy Williams – 8/10
Swam through a Springboks maul on 42 for a turnover penalty and stole their lineout two minutes later. Took another ball off South Africa near his own line on 62. Eighty minutes, in a second row rebuilt a day out.
6. Rob Valetini – 7/10
Said in the tunnel that the focus was physicality, per the Guardian, then carried ten times in 51 minutes. His ankle tap on 18 stopped Ethan Hooker running clear. Stood up a Springboks attack on 33.
7. Fraser McReight – 8/10
Three turnovers won, level with Paul de Villiers for the most in the match. Two were breakdown penalties, on 18 and 44. Broke the line in the fourth minute, and his carries near the line set up Wilson’s try on 60.
8. Harry Wilson – 7.5/10
Thirteen tackles, the most by a Wallabies player, and 11 carries. Took the lineout ball off the top for Ikitau’s first try. Scored his own from a tap on 60, a minute after putting a foot in touch. Then the shoulder on Marx and the yellow card on 70, which costs him a point.
Replacements: the scrum went backwards from 67
Kiss went 6-2, with no specialist 10 on the bench. All three front-row changes were on by 62, and the Springboks scrum scored twice off them.
16. Billy Pollard – 5.5/10
Hooked for the scrums that went backwards from 67, conceding a penalty and then a penalty try. Two carries after coming on for Paenga-Amosa on 51.
17. Aidan Ross – 5.5/10
Packed down at loosehead for both late Springboks tries off five-metre scrums, having replaced Bell on 62.
18. Taniela Tupou – 6/10
Carried seven times in 38 minutes after replacing Alaalatoa at half-time, one of them edging a pick-and-go closer before Wilson’s try. Then the scrum turned, and the first Springboks penalty came on Ox Nché’s side, directly against him.
19. Lachlan Shaw – 5.5/10
Went straight into a five-metre scrum after replacing Salakaia-Loto on 68, and spent most of his 12 minutes defending short of men. Nothing he did stood out, good or bad.
20. Tom Hooper – 6.5/10
Made the goal-line stop with Wright on 77 that held South Africa out with 11 men. Two carries after replacing Valetini on 51, in his last Test before he is lost for the Bledisloe.
21. Carlo Tizzano – 5.5/10
Played the last 13 minutes in front of his home crowd, replacing McReight on 67. One carry, and the Wallabies conceded 21 points while he was on.
22. Tate McDermott – not used
Did not come off the bench.
23. Harry Potter – 6.5/10
Replaced Ikitau on 53 and made a strong gainline run three minutes later. On 57 Wright brought him in on the left and he was hauled down five metres out. His carries near the line set up Wilson’s try.
Wallabies player ratings by WeTalkRugby from the live broadcast, with minutes from the Guardian, ABC and Rugby Australia blogs.
Read next: the Springboks marked on the same 80 minutes, where Eben Etzebeth gets a 5 in his 147th Test
Your turn
Two marks here will be argued with. Jorgensen’s 9 sits above Ikitau’s two tries, and Donaldson scored and still gets a 5.5. Which one is wrong? Make the case below.
Frequently asked
Who scored the Wallabies tries against South Africa in Perth? Len Ikitau (two), Ben Donaldson, Harry Wilson and Max Jorgensen. Ryan Lonergan kicked four conversions and three penalties for 17 points.
Which Wallabies were yellow-carded? Harry Wilson and Hunter Paisami for high tackles, on Malcolm Marx and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Ryan Lonergan and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii went for cynical offsides. All four came between the 70th and 77th minutes.
What is next for the Wallabies? The All Blacks at Eden Park on Saturday 10 October, with a six-Test unbeaten run. Sydney follows on Saturday 17 October.
