Steyn powers Boks to victory against Wallabies

Two drop-goals from pivot Morne Steyn inspired the Springboks to an 18-10 victory against the Wallabies at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The flyhalf opened and closed the game in the same fashion with calmly taken drop kicks which will vindicate coach Allister Coetzee for bringing the experienced No10 back into the starting XV in the place of Elton Jantjies.

With the game evenly squared in the match that failed to provide much spark, and only five points seperating the sides with five minutes remaining on the clock, Steyn sealed the deal with a minute of playing time remaining.

Not only did the victory put the Boks back on the winning track after three successive defeats in the Rugby Championship, but the side kept their impeccable record of never having lost to Australia at Loftus.

The game was not without its hiccups and scares.

When Jaco Kriel made his way onto the field in the second half for Oupa Mohoje, little did the flanker know that he would play the final 13 minutes on the wing.

Early substitutions by Coetzee and an injury crisis which saw Rudy Paige leave the field with a concussion forced the coach to shift his players around. With both his backline backup players, Lionel Mapoe and Willie le Roux, already on the field, Kriel had to leave the side of the scrum to play on the left wing as Francois Hougaard took Paige's place at No9.

Fortunately for the Boks the decision did not backfire as the Boks marched on to victory.

What was commendable was the improvement of the Boks from the previous three matches.

Captain Adriaan Strauss led from the front with what was his best performance in the green and gold this year.

The win will also serve as motivation as the Boks move on to Durban where they will face the All Blacks in their final Rugby Championship match.

While most will be familiar with the #FeesMustFall movement in SA universities, a similar, albeit to a lesser extent, movement arose at Loftus with some of the fans on the stands calling for a "referee must fall" campaign following a number of questionable decisions, in favour of the Aussies, in the first half by the man with the whistle, Englishman Wayne Barnes.

On numerous occasions Barnes was jeered, with a chorus of boos echoing from the stands.