I remember going to the semi-final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup. After 15 minutes New Zealand's Jonah Lomu had twice trampled all over the England to score two tries, and England were effectively down and out. I felt then that England had no answer to the opposition. And watching Damien Martyn and Adam Gilchrist blazing away today gave me that same feeling. The only solace for South Africa is that seven years later England have gone right to the top of the rugby tree. Australia dominate the cricket tree at the moment, and their side is pretty well-balanced. Anyone interested in how to select a team ought to look at the combination Australia have now. Actually I would make one change to their team, which would be to include an allrounder of Jacques Kallis's pedigree. Maybe Shane Watson, who's on this tour, could be the man.

But even without a conventional allrounder Australia have six front-line batters. Gilchrist, at No. 7, is a high-class allrounder of a different type. Then there are four wicket-taking bowlers, three of whom are very accurate. Brett Lee, the quickest of them all, can be a little wild and give runs away – but he not only takes wickets of his own but sets them up at the other end. Today Steve Waugh started him off in tandem with Shane Warne, which was excellent captaincy.

The pitch does look a beauty. Gary Kirsten will be kicking himself – smacked in the face when he fielded, and out on a belter when he batted. The game can be cruel. I was impressed by Herschelle Gibbs – and unimpressed too. He seems to have said to himself that if the ball is in his half then he's going to smash it. He is far too good a player to have this outlook on batting. I think it's caused by a panic situation – 450 to avoid the follow-on, against four of the best bowlers in the world … these were "What hope do we have?"-type shots.

He could learn from Tony Greig, who's one of the TV commentators for this game. I remember the fifth Test against Australia at The Oval in 1975. England were following on nearly 400 behind, but Greigy got his troops together and said that we had two choices – either lie down and give up, or fight like mad. He said, "The pitch is good, we can save this game." And then privately he went up to a young man playing in his only his second Test, and said, "Don't you dare get out for two days!" I did bat for eight-and-a-quarter hours, and England went on to save that game. South Africa too must now buckle down like that, and fight like hell.

Kirsten is one of those who should be capable of double-centuries. But Glenn McGrath got him again. McGrath really is a class act, and he and his partner Jason Gillespie bowled an immaculate line – no stray leg-side half-volleys, which the South African bowlers served up lots of. There has been a marked difference so far: the South Africans made the fatal error of over-correcting, and bowling down both sides of the wicket. This will be a major concern for their coaches.

It's a good pitch, a fast outfield, and the conditions seem set fair. South Africa need a major innings to blunt the Aussies. If they manage to get out of this game with a draw it will feel like a win … but a fourth successive victory for Steve Waugh seems a much likelier outcome after today's fabulous fireworks.

Bob Woolmer, South Africa's coach from 1994 to 1999, will be writing the Wisden Verdict throughout the series.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd