Magical Kolbe and rampant pack sees Springboks bully Italy

The Springboks made their first emphatic statement of this year’s World Cup with a comprehensive 49-3 dismantling of a limited and cynical Italian team in Shizuoka on Friday.

South Africa’s greatest achievement was how they calmly dealt with the setback of not being able to use their vaunted scrum for the majority of the match after the Azzuri had to take off both their tightheads, Simone Ferrari and Marco Riccioni.

Whether replacement Riccioni, who failed a concussion test, really was unfit to return will remain a matter of conjecture, but it highlighted World Rugby’s inadequate rules in this regard.

Why punish the Springboks with uncontested scrums for something that wasn’t their doing at all?

They had the satisfaction though of absolutely pasting the Italian pack and were “rewarded” with loosehead Andrea Lovotti’s red card for a shocking spear tackle on Duane Vermeulen, which finally meant a 15-v-14 battle.

As a result, the Boks pulled away, eventually scoring seven tries as their opponents wilted.

Who was the star in this match?

It was that man Cheslin Kolbe again. South Africa’s diminutive winger was absolutely outstanding, scoring two tries of no little skill, making vital defensive interventions and being a brilliant support player too. One hopes his ankle problem at the end of the match isn’t too serious.

Key moments and themes

• Kolbe’s first try, a superb, weaving little run with virtually no space at his disposal was crucial on two fronts. It gave South Africa a foothold following an opening period of much dominance with no reward, as well as settling any nerves that might still have been present in the Bok ranks.
• The attitude of the Springbok pack needs to be highlighted. They could easily have felt annoyed by the uncontested scrum drama and relinquished some intensity, but did the opposite. The shrugged it off, dominated the collisions and made sure they exploited the maul to the hilt. Overall, the Boks also defended superbly when Italy were awarded rare attacking scrums, which put the South Africans under pressure.
• The Azzuri’s tactics in this game will come under immense scrutiny. While the uncontested scrum conspiracy can’t be proven, Italy were cynical at the breakdown, constantly wasted time with injury niggles and the Lovotti red card was flabbergasting. No player cleans a ruck through a spear tackle.
• Coach Rassie Erasmus will be chuffed too with some members recovering from some indifferent form. Scrumhalf Faf de Klerk had his best game in 2019 – despite some errors still – while Malcolm Marx (hooker) and the beleaguered Eben Eztebeth also played with fire.

Point scorers:

Springboks – Tries: Cheslin Kolbe (2), Bongi Mbonambi, Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi, RG Snyman, Malcolm Marx. Conversions: Handre Pollard (4). Penalties: Pollard (2).

Italy – Penalty: Tommaso Allan.

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