Two significant changes to the pack sent some nerves through Springbok supporters beforehand but they needn’t have worried as the world champions opened their Nations Championship campaign with an emphatic 45-21 win over England at a joyous Ellis Park on Saturday.
On their last visit to this stadium last August, the Boks got off to a rampant start before collapsing in a heap as the Wallabies ran in 38 points without reply. For a while, meaning the second quarter, it looked like history might be set to repeat itself, for there was a horrible sense of de javu running through locals veins as England fought back from a 17-0 deficit to go into the break trailing by just three points (17-14).
Before we get too carried away with the overall performance, let’s pause here to note that it wasn’t always perfect. In that second half of the first half, the Boks struggled to get their hands on the ball, in the main part because they went walkabout at the lineouts. With their first feed of the scrum coming 10 minutes into the second half, there wasn’t the expected momentum off that area of usual dominance either.
But let’s return to script and put everything in proper perspective. The Boks seldom turn in a perfect performance in their first outing of the season, as they come into the international part of the year off much hard physical training that sometimes can contribute to periods of flatness. And in this game they also went in without regular skipper Siya Kolisi and their most capped player, Eben Etzebeth.
NEWCOMERS SHONE
It was learned in the hours before kick-off that there had been late changes, and significant ones too, with Paul de Villiers coming in for his test debut for Kolisi at openside flank and the equally young and inexperienced (at this level - he’d experienced only a few minutes against Wales in the green and gold before this) Cameron Hanekom joining him on the other flank.
Hanekom wore the No 7 to allow Pieter-Steph du Toit to move to lock and assume the captaincy, with Ben-Jason Dixon coming in as the bench back-up. Du Toit, the most experienced of the Boks, led by example and was his usual outstanding self, but from a South African perspective the showings of the younger three players may have been even more significant.
De Villiers and Hanekom were outstanding in the opening period when the Boks ran up a 17-0 lead through three well taken tries. De Villiers, known for his fetching, was excellent as a carrier, Hanekom was equally impressive, and then when later in the game coach Rassie Erasmus rung the changes, Dixon joined the party and celebrated by scoring one of the seven Bok tries.
WILLEMSE HEAD AND SHOULDERS ABOVE ANYONE ELSE
Head and shoulders above everyone on the day though was fullback Damian Willemse, who played a big role in helping the Boks gain the early advantage that put the visitors on the back foot. It looked momentarily as though he may have erred when put in space near the England line in not passing out to left wing Kurt-Lee Arendse, who was unmarked. He hung on himself.
However, it didn’t matter, as the Boks retained possession and the burly tighthead Thomas du Toit forced his way over for the first Bok try just as the stadium clock hit the three minute mark. Cheslin Kolbe, entrusted with the place-kicking duties ahead of Manie Libbok, missed the first angled conversion attempt, but was on target two minutes later when, off an angled run off the lineout from De Villiers, Ox Nche broke through and Damian de Allende, another player who had a really good game, put Kolbe himself in for the try.
That little burst was to prove Nche’s only big contribution to the game, as he went off injured soon after, replaced by Gerhard Steenekamp. And then seven minutes later it was again Willemse who found himself in possession in space and this time he put Arendse in for the try. The conversion was missed but with the Boks up 17-0 after 12 minutes, it was one way traffic. Up until that point, England hadn’t gotten hold of the ball, with Willemse’s excellence in the contestable battle playing no small role in ensuring that was the case.
Once they did get their hands on the ball they settled a bit, and it was almost as if the Boks, remembering how they ran themselves off their feet here last year, had resolved that they would be less frenetic. They certainly did look flat for a period, and weren’t helped by a debatable refereeing decision to card Arendse for a tap down. Debatable because the call was made two minutes after it happened, so not clear and obvious then.
England scored two good tries to get themselves back into the game, but what would be concerning for the Boks was that both of them were scored by bumping off tackles. The second one finished in the corner on the stroke of halftime in particular was poor as two players were bumped off.
BOKS SETTLED NERVES IN THE THIRD QUARTER
England would have felt they went into halftime with momentum, so it was incumbent on the Boks to start well in the second half. They did that by setting up camp in England territory and reverting to some traditional forward driving, and when it culminated in the slippery scrumhalf Grant Williams going through for a converted try to restore a 10 point advantage for the hosts, the nerves among their supporters would have started to dissipate. This was not going to be a rerun of last year.
Far from it, and when Zac Porthen, another relative newcomer, looked so monstrous in his carry to help create the fifth try completed by Jesse Kriel, the Boks were well in control for most. England struck back with a try to lock Alex Coles but the Boks were growing stronger as the game wore on and with the help of two late yellow cards to England that reduced the visitors to 13 men (Tommy Freeman and Guy Pepper the players carded), the Boks were pressing for 50 at the final whistle.
Indeed, that was only just denied them as Kriel went over for what would have been his second try on the final whistle only for it to be chalked off. Not that it really mattered, the job of winning the game had long since been completed.
For a long time it looked like England would come a lot closer than the eventual losing margin of 24 points, but nonetheless it was an emphatic statement from the Boks, who excelled in so many areas. And it was a fifth successive defeat for Steve Bortwick and his England team. They had their moments but those were all too brief and they were simply outclassed.
Scores
South Africa 45 - Tries: Thomas du Toit, Cheslin Kolbe, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Grant Williams, Jesse Kriel, Malcolm Marx and Ben-Jason Dixon; Conversions: Cheslin Kolbe 5). England 21 - Tries: Ellis Genge, George Martin and Alex Coles; Conversions: Fin Smith 3.