After all the talk about the Bok ‘B’ team during the week everybody expected the Wallabies to romp home and destroy a youthful and inexperienced Springbok side.

However, someone forgot to tell the Boks that they were supposed to be mediocre and they came out firing. A spirited performance by the Boks in the first 20 minutes saw them take a 17-0 lead through tries by outstanding Wickus van Heerden and Breyton Paulse. Missed penalties by Derick Hougaard could have seen this lead even bigger. The Springboks were controlling the game through their forwards and decent tactical kicking by Ruan Pienaar.

The lack of experience by the Boks, the tactical brilliance of George Gregan and Stephen Larkham and some dubious decisions by Paul Honiss made sure that the dream start ended and the Aussies started to dominate possesion. The Australian backline punched holes in the SA defence at random and they scored three tries. Together with the boot of Stirling Mortlock they took the lead in the 52nd minute and never looked back. Two yellow cards against Gary Botha and Johann Muller made sure that there was no chance of an Bok comeback. Australia held on for an 25-17 victory but the ‘B’ Boks can be proud of their effort.

SARB decided to rate the SA players on their performance:
15.Bevin Fortuin 5/10: Never realy in the game but made some good tackles. Not good enough at international level.
14. Breyton Paulse 6.5/10 : Scored a good intercept try but had little influence on the rest of the game.
13. Waylon Murray 5/10: Defended well at times but did nothing spectacular
12. Wynand Olivier 4/10: A shocking test by the centre. His form is poor at the moment and he lacks confidence.
11. JP Pietersen 5/10: Not a good test by the winger. He does not look for work enough and his hands lets him down.
10. Derick Hougaard 5/10: Failed to get his backline away and missed three penalties that could have been decisive.
9. Ruan Pienaar 6/10: Started well dut faded as the game progressed. Not his best test to date.
8. Bob Skinstad 6.5/10: Had a good game but failed to impress as captain. Injury to his ribs rules him out of test against All Blacks
7. Pedrie Wannenburg 5.5/10: Put his body on the line before he left the field with an injury but concedes to many penalties.
6. Wikus van Heerden 8.5/10: The pick of the Bok players. Realy put his hand up for selection for the World Cup squad
5. Johann Muller 5.5/10: Had a decent test but failed to dominate the line outs and received a yellow card.
4. Johan Ackermann 6/10: The ‘old’ man played well until he was forced to leave the field. His physical presence was missed in the tight phases.
3. Jannie du Plessis 6.5/10: Very satifactory debut. Scrummed well and put in a good all round performance.
2. Gary Botha 6.5/10: Spoiled his best test in a Bok jersey with a yellow card but gave 110% all game.
1. CJ van der Linde 6.5/10: The versatile prop had a very good game, not his fault the Boks lost.
Reserves:
Albert van den Berg 5/10: Tried hard but had no real impact on the game.
Jacques Cronje 5/10: Solid game but had no influence on the game
Bismarck du Plessis 6/10: Looked keen to play and certainly has a bright future
Peter Grant, Eddie Andrews and Micheal Claassens: Did not have enough time on the field to warrant a rating

SARB Springbok of the match: Wikus van Heerden