[2025 TRC] South Africa v Australia - 16/8/2025

[Cruz_del_Sur]

Too soon?




Wow. Not sure what to make of it yet. I don't want to take away credit where credit is due but i didn't see anything that special from Aus. Sure, they exploited every single mistake RSA made but the amount of south african mistakes is what looked uncharacteristic. Missed tackles, passes going nowhere, weaker-than-expected scrum, etc.
Just a bad game from RSA, nothing to see, maybe? I enjoy kicking people when they're down as much as the next guy but i think we might be jumping the gun here.

 

[ChicagoKid]

I imagine so, Rassie will be making a start on the whinge video.

No he won’t.

 

[ChicagoKid]

lol, the errors they made were mostly not in their own 22 and caused by switching off, but ok

They made 13 22 entries and scored 3 times.

 

[dirty harry]

Aus better expect a reaction next week...

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Just saw the score line as I completely forgot this was one. Nice one Wallabies. Puts BIL win in perspective. Still, no doubt Boks will say they were undercooked coming into this.

 

[Rugby100]

Updated World Rugby Rankings:

1. James O'Connor Wallabies
2. Lions
3. Wallabies
4. All Blacks
5. Boks
6. Les Blues
7. Toulouse
8. Leinster
9. England
10. Scotland
11. New Zealand Women's Rugby (Black Ferns)
12. Wales Men's team

 

[ChicagoKid]

Oom Rugby right again.

 

[McTallshort]

Updated World Rugby Rankings:

1. James O'Connor Wallabies
2. Lions
3. Wallabies
4. All Blacks
5. Boks
6. Les Blues
7. Toulouse
8. Leinster
9. England
10. Scotland
11. New Zealand Women's Rugby (Black Ferns)
12. Wales Men's team

No way are Wales that high up

 

[TopTen2003]

This thread is a great read as the game flipped on its head

The Lions weren’t touring Australia ever again after 18 minutes

Great to see the Aussies fight back even if the Springboks hurt themselves a lot.

If the Aussies get some more of those league and NRL athletes we had all best look out - still some brilliant talents.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

 

[TRF_Olyy]

The Lions weren't touring Australia ever again after 18 minutes

Tbf I don't want the lions to tour anywhere again, so I'd have said that regardless

I like the Wallabies a lot, definitely my favourite 4 Nations side, always have been

 

[ChicagoKid]

Looks like rassie blaming the refs again eh @McTallshort

 

[AngloScotsHybrid]

You can't trust Libbok. We have said it for years.

South Africa wouldn't have won the last world cup if Libbok hadn't been replaced in the starting 15 by Pollard half way through the tournament.

 

[Becca]

I thoroughly enjoyed that

 

[Ddanno]

Tbf I don't want the lions to tour anywhere again, so I'd have said that regardless

I like the Wallabies a lot, definitely my favourite 4 Nations side, always have been

Mine too, but also the team I hate losing to the most

 

[mdaclarke]

I think the other silver lining for the Boks will be that they know that some of the fringe players are not up to it. Likewise with some of the veterans.

Libbok is not consistent enough.
Ntlabakanye is a relic of an older age, he's too slow and immobile at this level people will just run rings around him.
Venter is not at Bok level
Mostert and Reinach may be over the hill.

Better to find out now.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

This really shows how wrong Faz got the Lions tour. Way out of his depth.

 

[Vaquer]

Lid is off

 

[Hmmmmmm]

This really shows how wrong Faz got the Lions tour. Way out of his depth.

I think it also shows that people wrongly wrote off the Wallabies. We shouldn’t have let the lions back into the 2nd test. It was there for the taking.

 

[Gay-Guy]

If you try to play Tony ball but your club comp is up north then there is no way in hell you can play super rugby speed for more than 20 minutes.

The Wallabies made more handling and turnover errors in this game than in their 3rd test against the Lions. They missed double the amount of tackles than they did the Lions 3rd test. They scrummed worse than they did against the Lions 3rd test, they had poorer lineouts, and they had poorer kick contest percentage outcomes. The Wallabies played better than the Lions in the first halves of the 2nd and 3rd test and it could have gone either way at the end. So can the Wallabies play better than this they did in Bok test? Yes...and Joe Schmidt alluded to that in his interview. The Wallabies play with their usual Super Rugby flair but they seem to have acquired a bit of Crusaders like toughness. Like the Crusaders they can have a bad start but still finish the game on top. We have all seen the Crusaders when they have everything firing for the whole 80 minutes. The Wallabies skill level and fitness in the rain for that 3rd Lions test showed they are now good enough to beat anyone in the world. I don't think they will capitulate in the second Bok test. They have been battle hardened by the Lions.