Springbok veteran winger Makazole Mapimpi scored a hat-trick as his side put 10 tries past a brave Portugal to win their one-off test 64-21 in Bloemfontein on Saturday night.
Mapimpi's tries all came in the second half and capped off a far-from-perfect performance for the Boks, who were twice down to 13 men and lost Andre Esterhuizen to a red card after only two minutes as they overwhelmed a hopelessly outgunned Portugal side, even with less numbers on the field.
Makazole Mapimpi is climbing up the Springboks top try scorers list 🙌
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The Boks, fielding seven debutants, and always tipped to beat the World Cup darlings by a big score, would feel satisfied with their performance, even though there was a lot of work ahead with bigger challenges coming in the Rugby Championships.
A dominant performance by the Springboks in Bloemfontein 🤩 pic.twitter.com/DJYrnXibvE
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And some massive questions were answered. With injuries still plaguing some of the World Cup winners, the Boks now know there are a host of players who can seamlessly walk into the test side for the bigger challenges and not look out of place.
WHAT WAS THAT!? 🤯
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Feinberg-Mngomezulu ➡️ Mapimpi 🔥
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For one, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu must have breezed past Manie Libbok as the second-choice flyhalf after a flawless performance, especially in contrast to Libbok's ongoing goal-kicking problems. In essence, Libbok didn't have a bad game, but the goal-kicking has become an albatross around his neck that he can't seem to shake at the moment and which needs to come right if he is to have a long-term future with this Bok side.
Mngomezulu, on the other hand, has simply looked settled from the moment he came on the field, nailing all five conversions he had, and putting in some exceptional plays around the park. The utility back was instrumental in running back a poor clearance for Mapimpi's second try, accelerating through two defenders and beating a third before getting the perfect pass away for Mapimpi to go over and score.
But there were others as well. While RG Snyman put in a powerhouse performance for the Man of the Match award, there were several others who could have won it as well. Johan Grobbelaar, now the third-choice hooker in the squad, was exceptional on debut. The hooker hit all his jumpers, was everywhere on the park, winning two turnovers and simply doing everything that was asked of him.
Ditto Ben-Jason Dixon and Phepsi Buthelezi, while Lukhanyo Am looked as if he had never been out of rugby at all. Another notable performance came from Cobus Reinach, who looked more and more like the natural player that Tony Brown is looking for with crisp service and attacking space at will.
EARLY RED-CARD DRAMA
All in all, no debutant looked bad, and that is a good thing for the Springboks, with many players putting in the shift the Boks would have been looking for.
But If there was ever any doubt that this test would deliver drama, it was underlined in the second minute of the match, when the Boks lost Andre Esterhuizen after a head-on-head clash that saw Portuguese captain Tomas Appleton stretchered off the field.
While Esterhuizen would claim the clash was accidental, he was upright in the tackle and head-on and was always going to be on the wrong side of a marginal decision.
The card probably means the Boks will do without him for the Australian leg of the Rugby Championship, as the disciplinary is set to lead to a ban that should rule him out for a few games.
And it was Portugal who hit hard first, shocking the Boks with a turn of exceptional speed from two-try replacement Jose Paiva dos Santos to take the lead.
If it was to disrupt the Boks, it never seemed to be the case. Always the stronger team in all facets, the Boks simply pinned their ears back and attacked with glee. A man down never bothered them and while Portugal still found holes at times, the cover defence worked well and kept them out for the most part.
The Boks hit back from a well-worked lineout drive that RG Snyman caught, peeled around and popped the ball up for Jan-Hendrik Wessels, who dove over the bodies to open the Boks scoring. Phepsi Buthelezi added his name to the scoresheet from the back of a fierce rolling maul that rumbled over the line with ease.
Tony Brown's mantra of attacking the space came into play for the Boks' third try. A poor clearance kick from Portugal gave Aphelele Fassi enough running space to attack, beat three defenders and then punt over the last line for the ball to bounce into Kurt-Lee Arendse's hands to add to his already impressive scoring tally in test matches.
Libbok's break from inside his own 22 was the catalyst for probably the try of the evening, as the ball shifted through a half dozen hands before Ben-Jason Dixon got his first test try after Evan Roos went close.
MAPIMPI HAT-TRICK
But all the positivity of scoring with 14 men took a downturn as Arendse was yellow-carded for a crocodile roll late in the first half, taking the Boks down to 13. Still, they attacked and Libbok held the ball back just enough to put Lukhanyo Am through the gap, with the Bok midfielder hitting the accelerator to go over and close the half out on a high note.
The second half continued the rout with veteran winger Makazole Mapimpi skinning defenders twice for a brace of tries, before Quan Horn took a ball just wide enough to beat a defender from a five metres scrum and score his first international try.
Horn also became the second player to be yellow carded for a clumsy tackle in the air in the move that saw Jose Madeira score his try, leaving the Boks two men down for the second time in the game.
Then came a try from Andre-Hugo Venter late in the game and Mapimpi's crowning glory of a hat-trick to finish a cold, but satisfying night in the Free State. And the knowledge that the future of Springbok rugby is in good hands.
SCORERS
South Africa - tries: Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Phepsi Buthelezi, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Ben-Jason Dixon, Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi (3), Quan Horn, Andre-Hugo Venter
Conversions: Manie Libbok (2), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (5)
Portugal - tries: Jose Paiva dos Santos (2), Jose Madeira.
Conversions: Joris de Moura (3)