New record: Bryan Habana
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South Africa cruised to an emphatic 87-0 World Cup Pool A win over Namibia on Thursday.
Veteran wing Bryan Habana's first-half score saw him set a new Test try-scoring record for the Springboks, finally breaking Joost van der Westhuizen's long-standing benchmark.
The Namibian scrum was under the cosh from the start, meaning South Africa's backs had plenty of quality ball and the men in green and gold raced to a 31-0 lead at the break
The defending champions had the bonus point secured by half time thanks to tries from Gio Aplon, Habana, Jaque Fourie and a penalty try against the Namibian scrum.
Aplon added a second in after the restart while Francois Hougaard and Juan de Jongh both also touched down twice.
With the Namibian defence dead on their feet, the game turned into a try festival as Frans Steyn, Morné Steyn and Danie Rossouw added their names to the scorecard.
Aplon was the first man to cross the whitewash after Hougaard beat three defenders to put him clear, but the moment all of South Africa had been waiting for came on 22 minutes when Habana had an easy run-in to collect his 39th Test try.
With the Namibian scrum buckling, referee George Clancy raised his arms under the sticks for the Boks third try before a magic off-load from Frans Steyn's set Jaque Fourie free for number four.
The Racing Metro utility back was in the mix again to score South Africa's first try of the second period - meaning Steyn has scored in all three of the Boks games in the tournament so far.
It was one-way traffic in the last quarter with seven tries being scored in the last twenty minutes. Morne Steyn, and his replacement Ruan Pienaar, made sure that no points were left behind as they slotted all thirteen of their kicks at goal.
If ever there was any doubt about the Springboks' capacity to defend their title, the rout in Albany confirmed that they mean business.
Man of the match: Hard to pick a single player because the Boks dominated all over the park. The official award went to Willem Alberts, who didn't score but left plenty of Namibians bruised. We'll go for Francois Hougaard however. Something always seems to happen when he has the ball in hand as illustrated by his two tries.
Moment of the match: Twelve tries to choose from but one had special significance. Bryan Habana's record-breaking try was a long time in coming, but is just reward for a distinguished career.
Villain of the match: N/A
The scorers:
For South Africa:
Tries: Aplon 2, Habana, penalty try, Fourie, F. Steyn, M. Steyn, De Jongh 2, Hougaard 2, Rossouw
Cons: M. Steyn 6, Pienaar 6
Pen: M. Steyn
South Africa: 15 Pat Lambie, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn , 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Willem Alberts, 5 Danie Rossouw, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Francois Louw, 19 Heinrich Brüssow, 20 Fourie du Preez, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Juan de Jongh.
Namibia: 15 Chrysander Botha, 14 Danie Dames, 13 Danie van Wyk, 12 Piet van Zyl, 11 Heine Bock, 10 Theuns Kotze, 9 Eugene Jantjies, 8 Jacques Nieuwenhuis, 7 Jacques Burger (c), 6 Tinus du Plessis, 5 Nico Esterhuyse, 4 Heinz Koll, 3 Marius Visser, 2 Bertus O'Callaghan, 1 Johnnie Redelinghuys.
Replacements: 16 Hugo Horn, 17 Jane du Toit, 18 PJ van Lill, 19 Rohan Kitshoff, 20 Ryan de la Harpe, 21 Darryl de la Harpe, 22 Conrad Marais.
Venue: North Harbour Stadium, Albany
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand), Tim Hayes (Wales)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
Comments
Choke_Free_Zone says...
just love the way tha Boks fans have won the world cup already -
Posted 16:06 22nd September 2011
squidward says...
@welshy Hey mate, listen to yourself. Why don't you wait until wales put 86 points past the Mighty Namibians before you quake in your boots.
On a different note... I agree that these 2nd tier teams should get more exposure and assistance from the likes of the IRB and their larger brothers. Man for man, there is nothing wrong with these Namibian players, but they need time to play together and they need exposure to create a more prominent rugby culture in their society. I'll be rooting for them vs Wales!
Posted 16:01 22nd September 2011
Ulrich says...
Glad the Boks won, felt sorry for Namibia. In the end we had to play those in front of us. The other positive apart from the kicking is that no points were scored against us.
Hopefully we can eradicate the errors and be very focused for Samoa.
Posted 15:45 22nd September 2011
JayStarr says...
@ blametheref: Namibians actually support the Springboks (just like South Africans support the Namibians when they play) - we were once part of the same country and still very close neighbours... The Namibian dollar is even tied to the Rand - you can pay with South African money in Namibia. Most of their professiona players play for South African clubs and provinces... We're brothers man! So I'm sure they didn't mind too much...
Besides, their boys put up a brave fight and achieved quite a number of small victories during the game.
Posted 15:37 22nd September 2011
JayStarr says...
Ah... sorry for the double post - when the computer said "no" earlier it obviously meant "yes"... :P
I added a little extra to the 2nd one - I had to congratulate Mornê Steyn... he's my fantasy rugby fly-half :) :)
Posted 15:29 22nd September 2011
JayStarr says...
I think the Moment of the Match should've been Francois Hougaard's hand-off of George Clancy on his way to score the last try..! I rewinded it to watch it again... twice. ha ha
And the Villain of the Match should be Bryce Lawrence. Just because he was there...
:P
I feel so sorry for Patrick Lambie - EVERY pass that boy has received in the last two games have been hospital passes! "Here's a ball to go with that tackler charging down on you..." For someone who's school uniform is probably still hanging in his cupboard he was very impressive under the pressure...
and the high ball.
Well done to Namibia for a valiant effort - despite the scoreline they had quite a few fantastic moments in the first half. And well done to Bryan Habana for the record, Morné Steyn for his 100% kicking performance and the whole team for never taking their foot off the pedal... Good stuff!
Now go remind big-mouthed Samoa where they belong in the pecking order.
Posted 15:22 22nd September 2011
blametheref says...
What effect does this have on Namibian rugby?....I'm sure most Namibians switched off their TVs after they went under by more than 40 nil, this was not a MATCH, more a humiliation and doesn't serve rugby well!
But well done Boks, you beat what was put on your barbecue!
Posted 15:03 22nd September 2011
Welshy says...
Wow! - The boks must be over the moon about beating the rugby world power that is Namibia. No seriously - Well done you. The rest of the rugby world quakes in its boots.
Posted 15:01 22nd September 2011
GCP_JONES says...
@leinster_goy
We should all stop moaning and debate what should be done to help these teams, what would you do to spread the sport outside of its traditional strong holds. its unfair that they only get their chance every four years, yet we should do a lot more so rugby can break out the the old boys club it is.
It should be the 1st tier teams playing matches every four days and let the semi-professional sides play once a week.
Posted 14:50 22nd September 2011
Carpelone says...
Congrats to Habana for breaking the record.
A thought for Joost, hope you can get well soon, brave man.
Posted 13:29 22nd September 2011
Voice says...
Hooo for the Bok detractors that said we were a spent force in Rugby and even went has far as to say that we will not make the quarters - underestimate the Bok at your peril. This by no way means that we will eventually win the cup but I am most sure that we will put up a pragmatic defence of our title!!
What is good to see, considering that this is really only the 4/5 game that the "old" guys have played together, the momentum is coming and it is coming in a big way!
All Blacks - we are waiting for you!
Go the Bokke!!
Posted 11:40 22nd September 2011
bloemboy says...
Nice to see Smit had a better second half with some excellent handling and option taking. Hougaard was an absolute nuisance and is candidate for future most hated player in New Zealand. Felt sorry for Aplon because the overlap was there long before the ball got to him.
Moment of the match MUST be The Beast running at Crysander Botha on the wing. Credit for Botha for standing his ground, and credit to the Beast for doing what a prop should do...... run straight. Was always going to be one sided, and kudoes to the boks for keeping the Namibians scoreless, which isnt easy when you are running away with a game.
Summary: Smit still has something to offer, Hougaard surely can be 1st choice scrumhalf, Russouws form means that we dont have the crisis at Lock that we thought we did, Lambie may not be creating the attacking opportunities that we thought he would at 15, but he does feel steady there which is huge peace of mind for the rest of the team, and JdV is going to have to do something phenomenal to put F Steyn back to 15.
Posted 11:31 22nd September 2011
JayStarr says...
I think the Moment of the Match should've been Francois Hougaard's hand-off of George Clancy on his way to score the last try..! I rewinded it to watch it again... twice. ha ha
I still felt really sorry for Patrick Lambie though - EVERY pass that boy has received in the last two games have been hospital passes! "Here's the ball to go with that tackler charging down on you..." For someone who's school uniform is probably still hanging in his cupboard he was very impressive under the pressure (and the high ball)...
Well done all around boys! Now remind big-mouthed Samoa where they belong in the pecking order.
Posted 11:30 22nd September 2011
BokRocker says...
Awesome Habana, the old magic is back.
What an improvement in the second half. First half we kicked the ball away and scored 31 points, second half we held the ball in hand, dominated possession and scored 56 points. The Boks look like a real force when they hold the ball in hand and pass unselfishly. Even Spies surprised me, showed he is a real talent but the man of the match must surely be Hougaard. What an amazing talent.
In the end it was a Bok Storm that hit Namibia.
Posted 11:13 22nd September 2011
leinster_goy says...
seriously though, it's great the see that the gap is closing
Posted 11:05 22nd September 2011
leinster_goy says...
yap yap yap whinge whinge moan moan
Posted 11:01 22nd September 2011
melkdave says...
Well i was hoping Namiba would keep the scoreline below 50 .But i cant be to disappointed they tackled their hearts out but where outclassed by a boks team who in the end ran riot not a 100+ thrashing though thank god .All i can say is well done boks and congratulations B.Habana of your new record .Namiba you will get better time solves everytrhing
Posted 11:00 22nd September 2011