The Springboks opened their 2015 Rugby World Cup account with a 46 to 6 win against Samoa at Villa Park in Birmingham, with winger JP Pietersen scoring a hat trick of tries.
It was certainly not a fire-cracker performance by the Springboks in the beginning, but by using their physical attack they were eventually able to grind down a game Samoan defence and earned the right to run with ball in the last quarter. The result won’t wipe out the ignominy of their shock loss to Japan last week, but should be the cornerstone of rebuilding their battered confidence and providing them with much needed momentum going into the latter stages of pool play and hopefully for them the knock out stages.
Springboks Open Their Account Against Samoa
The overall impression created was that for the first sixty minutes, the Springboks put in a generally workman-like performance and only when the game was secure and the Samoan defence came under significant pressure did they really start moving the ball around. Aside from Pietersen’s hat trick, his wing partner Bryan Habana managed to peel back the years with a fantastic effort from far out in the 84th minute.
The game was very physical in the beginning, with massive hits from both sides and aggressive ruck clean outs. The Springboks outlasted the Samoans in this aspect of the game and once that battle had been decided, the game had been pretty much settled. What was strange in terms of the Samoan game plan was the attacking opportunities spurned when they were awarded penalties on attack and opted for kicks at the poles.
Duane Vermeulen was playing his first game back from injury and started slowly and seemed to grow in confidence the longer he played. Victor Matfield stood out with his line out play, not losing a single line out in the game and poaching three from the Samoans. Fourie du Preez was pivotal in an improved Springbok game, with his fast clearance from the base of scrums and rucks. This allowed Handre Pollard to carry the ball up to the line a lot more aggressively, keeping the defence guessing.
Damian de Allende was once again a threat on attack and ended up beating seven defenders. He was replaced by Jessie Kriel late in the game, who added a lot of intent and pace to the attack. Lood de Jager and Schalk Brits also stood out when they came on later in the game.
Jannie du Plessis seemed to be under pressure in the scrums at tight head prop, being wheeled around as well as losing his bind. Frans Malherbe seemed to add a lot more solidity to the Springbok scrum once he replaced Du Plessis in the second half. Du Plessis took a hard knock to his knee and it remains to be seen if he is available for the next game. Jean de Villiers took another hard knock to his jaw, which was originally broken against Argentina during The Rugby Championship, and has been taken to hospital for scans to determine the extent of the damage.
This Springbok team started this game hurting. It took them a while to impose themselves on the Samoans and once they had stopped playing scared they turned in a performance more befitting of two time Rugby World Cup champions. Next stop for the Springboks is Saint James Park in Newcastle, where Scotland will be hoping to upset them again.
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