It was a typically hard fought test match between the Boks and the Wallabies with SA scraping home for a 22-19 victory.

The hero of the day for SA was 20 year old Francois Steyn who slotted two dropgoals in the final ten minutes to secure the victory, the first one from 40 metres out and the second under immense pressure from the Wallaby defence. SA only have themselves to blame that the game got that close anyway. The Boks started the game like a house on fire, with the first 10 minutes being some of the best rugby played by a Bok side in the last 18 months. Then the Boks lost skipper John Smit with a hamstring injury and all of a sudden Australia was back in game and they made the Boks pay for crucial errors on attack and defence.

Referee, Wayne Barnes, did not have the best of afternoons and played a major role in the Aussies making their comeback. First he awarded Matt Giteau’s try after blatant obstuction and he awarded Pierre Spies a dubious yellow card. Barnes blatantly let the Aussies get away with playing negative rugby and they should have been awarded at least one yellow in the last 10 minutes. That aside SA nearly lost against themselves, having more possesion and better field position for most of the game.

SARB decided to rate the players on their performance:

15. Percy Montgomery 6.5/10: Had a good game, reliable kicking at goal but he was caught out of position a couple of times

14. Ashwin Willemse 4/10: Not a good test. He seems out of sorts at this level

13. Jaque Fourie 6/10: Scored a nice try and solid on defence. His hands let him down at times though, still needs match fitness.

12. Jean de Villiers 6/10: Had a couple of great line breaks but then took the wrong options. Cost SA at least one try

11. JP Pietersen 5/10: Saw little of the ball and did not look for work. Not the answer on left wing with Habana injured.

10. Butch James 5.5/10: Had a solid game but some dubious decision making late in the game spoiled a good performance

9. Ruan Pienaar 6.5/10: A polished performance by the youngster. Proved he belongs at this level.

8. Pierre Spies 7/10: Received a dodgy yellow card but otherwise a solid afternoon. Needs to work on his handling but otherwise he brings the Boks so many options that he is a must

7. Juan Smith 4/10: An atfternoon the big flanker will want to forget. His hands let him down and he was not effective as ball carrier

6. Schalk Burger 8/10: Another good performance by Schalk. He must just be careful, nearly cost SA the game by conceding a penalty for retaliation. Allround a good game for the flanker.

5. Victor Matfield 7.5/10: Not as dominant as always in the lineouts but had a strong game in the loose and did well as the stand-in captain.

4. Bakkies Botha 7.5/10: Proved he is the best in the world when the game is tight, good in the lineouts and carried the ball strongly

3. BJ Botha 5/10: Not dominant in the scrums but did do good things all round the park

2. John Smith 6/10: Had to leave the field after 10 minutes due to injury, but had a storming game up till then.

1. Guthro Steenkamp 6/10: Scrummed well and performed the basics adequetly.

Reserves:

Gary Botha 6/10: Had a good 70 minutes, good in the loose

CJ van der Linde 6/10: Made the SA scrum more dominant when he came on, good as a ball carrier

Johann Muller 6/10: Made a good contribution when he came on, lacks physical presence though

Danie Rossouw 6.5/10: The big man needs to get more time on the park, his physical presence is worth a lot in the closing minutes of the game.

Francois Steyn 8.5/10: What a game by the youngster! Only played for ten minutes but won the game with two drop goals and did everything right. He has a bright future in SA rugby.

SARB man of the match: Francois Steyn, because he won the game for SA