Valentine's Views

I was glad the Suncorp Stadium magic was out and about on Saturday night as the Wallabies triumphed against South Africa in their first Tri Nations game.

It was a positive start to their campaign and the boys will be pumped as they return to Camp Wallaby this week. The final score of 30-13 was a result of a well-directed Wallaby defence with powerful one-on-one tackles and ruthless activity at the breakdown.

David Pocock had an excellent game and was all over the breakdown before the South Africans knew what had hit them. Steve Moore, the reserve hooker who came on after half-time, lifted the team with some hard hitting defence. Drew Mitchell, after a week of intense pressure and being called into the squad at the last moment, scored a nail-biting try with some incredible juggling of the ball.

While the Wallabies attack was much improved, it was the solid defence that won the game. It could also be said that poor discipline from the South Africans lost the game with two yellow cards (for spear tackling and a professional foul for slowing the ball) leaving the team short one player for 20 minutes.

Australia was also yellow carded with Quade Cooper also sitting in the sin-bin for a spear tackle.

The South Africans had a poor night of goal kicking and if they had nailed their conversions and drop goals they might have had a better chance. They looked a little tired and with three losses in a row (two to New Zealand) the team will return home for three weeks’ rest before taking on the All Blacks. I bet they will be calling on some home-ground magic to reverse their fortunes.

Next week the Wallabies meet the All Blacks at AMI stadium and the stage is now set for a fiery encounter.

Closer to home Randwick had a convincing win against Parramatta at Coogee Oval on Saturday, and the Galloping Greens are in form and ready for this week’s challenge against Southern Districts.

The Southern Courier is keen to significantly increase Union and Randwick Rugby Union coverage by the paper and needs to know this is exactly what the locals want – so please follow the link and comment on the article! The more comments the greater the likelihood of photos and reports on our local players and matches featuring in the paper.

Here's the link to the Southern Courier website:
http://southern-courier.whereilive.com.au/sport/story/valentines-views/