The all African game of the 2011 RWC was played a few days ago. The Springboks took on their northern neighbours, Namibia. The Boks talked with respect of Namibia during the lead up to this game, but once they were on the field showed none of it.
During the first 5 minutes Namibia defended valiantly. This and the fact that the Boks made some early mistakes ensured that no tries were scored. In the 6th minute the ball made its way to Gio Aplon. Aplon was away leaving the defence lacking behind to score his first try. It looked like a Ferrari pulling away from an old Morris Minor. This try was followed by Bryan Habana's record breaking 39th try in tests for South Africa. A penalty try and Jaque Fourie's 2xth try as centre, another SA record followed. Morne Steyn converted all the tries and a penalty to make the half time score 31-0.
Namibia did put up some form of resistance in the first half. The Springboks had to make 42 tackles to their 39. It was however like a Jack Russell yapping a way and getting hold of a boot lace from time to time. Nothing to bother you but enough to take note of.
The second half saw more of the Jack Russel for the first twenty minutes. The Boks could only add two tries in this time. Both converted by Morne Steyn. This saw him reaching 51 points in world cup rugby. It also saw him kicking his 50th conversion in tests. It did however leave him 1 short of 400 points when he was replaced by Ruan Pienaar. Namibia however fell flat and in the last 20 minutes the Springboks scored 6 tries. All these were converted by Ruan Pienaar. A 100% kicking record by SA on the day. Gio scored his second try followed by two Jaun de Jongh tries. Danie Rossouw scored a well deserved try. Francois Hougaard also scored two tries. His second was nearly stopped by the Referee who got in the way as he broke from the base of a scrum in the last minute. Hougaard however very politely pushed the referee to the side and asked to pass as he had a meeting with the try line to attend.
The Springboks can take pride in their defence and discipline that never allowed Namibia a chance to score. Namibia knows they still have a lot of work to do before they can challenge their older brother on the rugby field. They can thanks their defence in the first 60 minutes and the Springboks handling errors for the 87-0 scoreline. It could have been worse.
Before I forget. Congratulations to John Smit on playing 15 consecutive RWC games and 109 tests for SA and to Man of the Match, Alberts. Hougaard surely challenged for the award with his brilliant play. This young man will play many more great games for the Springboks.
26 September 2011
