South Africa's hooker Bongi Mbonambi (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring a try during the Japan 2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B match between South Africa and Italy at the Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa in Shizuoka on October 4, 2019. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP)
Now that’s more like it. The Springboks’ resounding 49-3 victory over Italy was not unexpected, even though there were those at home who worried about an against-the-odds upset.
Italy tried to play a physical and, at times, dirty game (and deserved a red card for the cynical, dangerous tackle on Duane Vermeulen), but were completely outmuscled by the Boks.
And even then, the Italians’ loss of their props early on meant setpiece scrums were uncontested and fans couldn’t see the real Bok fire power.
There were some flashes of brilliance, even allowing for the fact that Italy were the inferior team, and Cheslin Kolbe’s twinkle-toe acrobatics were a highlight.
Even so, the South Africans still did not look to be firing on all cylinders.
That is a good thing in a way because if you are aiming for sporting glory, you need to never relax and always look to up your game.
The victory means SA will probably finish second in pool B behind the All Blacks and go through to the knockout rounds because it is an impossibility that they will lose to minnows Canada next week.
So, that means the phony war is almost over for the Boks and the real tests lie ahead.
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