Yep, and for the 5th match in a row between these two teams!
I can't imagine he will get a suspension - it was an idiotic thing to do, but the fact it didn't even look like he made contact (if he did it was very minimal) should count in his favour.
Good summary. Glad you pointed out the AAC double tackle, as that was the highlight of the game for me - it was thought he used the first player he tackled to slingshot himself onto the second player!
Overall a fair result in my opinion - the Boks had the better of the first half, but Australia looked the better team in the second. There was no doubt the addition of Goosen and Lambie with 10 minutes to go sparked the Boks though - hopefully Meyer wasn't watching and they stick with Steyn at 10 against at the AB's next week
Arguably the man of the match for me was Ben Alexander. I suggested before the match that he was a poor scrummager, but it certainly didn't look that way this match. He more than held his own against Mtawarira, and was good in the loose, and fully deserved his try with an incredibly powerful run. Polota-Nau and Benn Robinson were solid, though Robinson still isn't the same player he was before his knee injury. I wasn't overly impressed with any of the South African front-rowers, and though Mtawarira in particular had a shocker. Both locking combinations were solid in my opinion, though Sharpe did seem to get himself penalised a lot.
Where Australia had a big advantage was in the loose-forwards, with Hooper basically single-handedly out playing the entire Boks loose-trio at the breakdown! He didn't get many clean pilfers, but he put a huge amount of pressure on South African ball, meaning South Africa could not get any quick ball to play with (not that they probably would have used it!). Hooper's running game was also superb - despite being dwarfed by the South African loose-forwards he was a far more effective ball runner than any of them. Dennis had probably his best game for Australia, with a strong work-rate, a number of takes in the lineout, and some good ball running in the tight. Likewise Samo was very strong with ball in hand, and particularly punishing on defense, while Higginbotham was even effective when he came on! In contrast the South African loosies were barely in the game. I thought Coetzee was the pick of them with his solid defense before he was subbed off. Vermeulen was largely ineffective (apart from some good work at the breakdown late in the game), while if Alberts wasn't standing out for missing tackles I would suggest he was completely anonymous!
Genia was good, while Cooper was resonably solid, though guilty of a few aimless kicks, and did miss quite a few tackles on defense. I was advocating Pienaar at halfback, but after this display I'm not sure. His general covering play was excellent, but for some reason he decided that the slower the Boks backs got the ball the better - he did at least as good a job as Hooper at ensuring the Boks didn't get quick ball! Morne Steyn was Morne Steyn. I hope he starts next week against the All Blacks. Barnes was solid on defense, and his goal-kicking was superb, but his general play was pretty poor in my opinion - I'm not sure why he thought doing useless grubbers whenever he got the ball was a good tactic? Ashley-Cooper was solid at centre, but got few chances with ball in hand. The Boks midfield was very disappointing again, and I think they really need to make a change in this area (though preferably after the AB's test....). Francois Steyn is solid, but offered nothing in attack, while de Villiers was poor at centre in my opinion, missing a couple of crucial tackles. Out wide Dom Shipperly had a superb debut - strong with ball in hand, great under the high ball, and solid in defense - perhaps he should have been starting on the right wing from the start of the season (as I, and a number of others of the forum suggested). Ioane was well contain, while Beale was solid (stupid grubber kicks aside), which is a step up from where he was against the AB's. I thought Hougaard was probably the pick of the Boks - if they all played with his commitment Australia wouldn't have been in the game! Habana was solid, while Kirchner kicked the ball every time he touched it (like usual). Mvovo had a bit of a shocker from the bench too.
I'm sure both teams have plenty to work on after that match - I'm looking forward the return match in South Africa, which should be a cracker!
