14-man Springboks smash Portugal: Four big talking points

A ruthless display from a 14-man Springboks team saw them power to a brilliant 64-21 win over Portugal in their one-off Test at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday night.

The hosts were hit with an early third minute red card to Andre Esterhuizen, while they also received a further two yellow cards at various stages, but despite the pressure of playing with an inexperienced side with less men, they impressively rose to the challenge.

Seven players made their Bok debuts, while there were plenty of strong performances across the board and the Bok coaching staff should be very pleased with what they saw on the day.

Here are four talking points from the match.

Controversial cards

The Springboks received two controversial cards in the first half, a red to inside centre Andre Esterhuizen in just the third minute, and a yellow to right wing Kurt-Lee Arendse during the final 10 minutes.

Esterhuizen’s was the most contentious, after he initially received a yellow for a big hit on Portuguese outside centre Jose Lima, with the whiplash and player’s head hitting the turf seeming to have injured him. But on review in the bunker (by the television match official) the yellow card was upgraded to red after it was decided that there was a head clash in the tackle.

Arendse’s yellow was also a bit questionable, with him sent to the bin for a croc roll, although it didn’t look like that was what he intended when trying to clear out at a ruck, which ended with the player rolling to the side.

Springboks turn it on

After the early loss of Esterhuizen, Portugal were in the ascendancy, but were initially unable to score after solid defence from the Boks. They were then first to strike from a counter attack from their own 22m line to take the lead.

However, that just shocked the hosts into action as they ran in four tries in a 14 minute spell, with prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels diving over from close range and flank Phepsi Buthelezi going over from a maul.

Two stunning breaks from fullback Aphelele Fassie and flyhalf Manie Libbok then led to tries for Arendse and flank Ben-Jason Dixon respectively as the Boks took a 22-7 lead.

Even when down to 13-men the Boks still had too much skill for the Portuguese as Libbok fed outside centre Lukhanyo Am and he showed superb speed and stepping to go over in the corner for a 29-7 lead at halftime.

Boks’ boss broken play

During the week the Bok players and coaching staff indicated that they were expecting Portugal to play an open and attacking game, while keeping the hosts away from their main strengths which are the set pieces.

But it was instead the Boks who put on an absolute attacking clinic to run the visitors ragged throughout the match. Despite being down to 14-men for over 77 minutes the Boks continuously found space and gaps in the Portuguese defence with relentless waves of attacks.

In the end, with a man less, the Boks managed to run in eight tries, while even when they were down to 13 men on two occasions they were good enough to score two tries in those periods, showing just how much better the hosts were than their European visitors in an absolutely ruthless display.

Bright future for the Boks

This result will need to be taken with a big pinch of salt, as it was against tier two Portugal who just had no answer to a youthful Bok side. But it couldn’t have been a better start for a number of players who will be seen as the future of Springbok rugby.

Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Johan Grobbelaar and Phepsi Buthelezi were the debutants that started, while Andre-Hugo Venter, Ruan Venter, Morne van den Berg and Quan Horn all made their first appearances off the bench, and all seven of them made their marks in various ways.

Seven other players in the match 23 had under 10 caps for the Boks and most of them impressed as well. That included new captain Salmaan Moerat who had to contend with leading a 14 and 13 man team at stages, one-cap loose forward Ben-Jason Dixon who had a stormer of a game, and fullback Aphelele Fassi and utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu who showed they will play big roles for the Boks in the coming years.