The Springboks threw away the game in their 23-18 Rugby Championship defeat to Australia in Brisbane on Saturday.
With South Africa again enjoying the bulk of the possession (52 percent) in the encounter, the 12 handling errors made to the four of Australia is a clear indication that the Boks just gave the ball to their opponents.
The moment that best summed up their “deh, vat die bol” attitude happened just after the half-hour mark.
Leading 15-7 after a Makazole Mapimpi try out wide, in response to Michael Hooper’s second-minute five-pointer, South Africa had a defensive lineout on their own tryline.
The call was a throw over the top of the lineout for captain Siya Kolisi, who wasn’t part of the jump. Hooker Bongi Mbonambi missed Kolisi and Wallabies centre Matt Toomua collected the ball to dot down and make it 15-14.
A penalty apiece made it 18-17 at the break, with the Boks in front.
SA had to hit first in the second half and had the perfect opportunity to do so when the ball went wide on attack.
But with players on his outside, fullback Willie le Roux again dropped a pass that was in the bread basket.
From the resulting scrum, wing replacement Cheslin Kolbe also failed to collect a Will Genia kick, which led to a five-metre scrum for the hosts as SA’s ball-handling made them look like schoolboys.
The Wallabies, meanwhile, weren’t even good enough to make them pay for their mistakes.
It was the hosts, though, that got the first points of the second half after Steven Kitshoff conceded a penalty (20-18).
With 20 minutes left, SA had a great opportunity to get their noses in front.
But poor decision-making from flyhalf Elton Jantjies saw him kick a grubber over the deadball line after seven phases.
It just wasn’t a good day at the office for SA and when the hosts stretched their lead to 23-18 after Beast Mtawarira was penalised at a scrum, SA had it all to do.
With time running out, Kolisi and his teammates thought they had dotted down for the match-equalling try after 12 phases when Francois Louw barged over.
But they were called by for an earlier knock-on and despite winning the scrum, the Boks again couldn’t get over the Aussie line before conceding possession again.
The Aussies then hoofed the ball into touch to bring an end to a match both teams would like to forget.
Australia – Tries:
Michael Hooper and Matt Toomua; Conversions: Toomua (2); Penalties: Reece Hodge and Toomua (2).
South Africa – Tries:
Bongi Mbonambi and Makazole Mapimpi; Conversions: Elton Jantjies; Penalties: Jantjies (2).