<< BackSouth Africa defeats Canada - World Rugby Classic Round OneReports courtesy of The Royal Gazette
South
Africa 33 Canada 0 They might be missing Joost Van der Westhuizen’s
skills on the field and Francois Pienaar’s presence off it, but this
year’s South African team are equally determined to lift the World
Rugby Classic crystal come next Saturday.
And they made the best
possible start to their title defence, crashing in 33 points against
the hapless Canadians without even coming close to their best.
Had
their final passes been more accurate at least another three of four
more of their devastating breaks from deep could have landed them
scores with last year’s Mr. Length of the Field Try, Jan Harm van Wyk,
failing to even score one leaving Jacques Jonker, Charl Marais, Dawie
Theron, Rassie Erasmus and Mark Wood to do the damage.
Once
again employing stars who have only just finished playing Currie Cup
rugby, the Springboks dominated the tournament opener on a warm day at
the National Sports Centre’s North Field with a dazzling display from
their backs.
The Canadians, like all of last year’s opponents, were
simply unable to find a way of stopping the rampant wide men, although
some questionable last-ditch tackling did little to aid their cause.
It
took coach Ian McIntosh’s men just 214 seconds to open their account,
Andries Fourie – comfortably their man of the match for his penetrating
running and flawless distribution – making the decisive break before
handing off to Jonker to stroll home.
Marais was next over,
after 15 minutes, the hooker finishing off a brilliant move down the
right wing where the Springboks indulged in a spot of pinball before
piling home straight through the North American’s defence.
The
Canadians opted for the battering ram through the middle route rather
than tossing it around and despite the best effort of chief batterer
Gerald Steenkamp, the opportunities just weren’t coming.
Instead the
South Africans soaked up the pressure, often for prolonged spells,
before unleashing their pace merchants, Fourie again making the break
in the 17th minute with Theron – playing in borrowed boots due to the
non-arrival of his luggage – coming up in support for the easy job of
finishing off for a 19-0 lead.
The Canadians, often the weakest
link in the Classic, toiled hard after the break but after 15 minutes
they were exposed at the back again when Naka Drotske – with 26 caps at
hooker for his country – sent through a grubber kick that Erasmus was
only too happy to scoop up for the game’s fourth try.
The final
score came four minutes later, this time Cornelius Korf made the vital
breakthrough and with the now-tired Canadians scrambling, Wood, not
exactly the fastest runner on display, just about had the legs to
finish off the score, before adding the final points himself to create
the 33-0 scoreline that flattered the Canadians and gave the Lions
something to think about for the next two days until their Wednesday
night clash.
“We play with a special passion when we wear these
shirts,” said Dale Santon, a behemoth of a forward, summing up why it
is South Africa are looking so good in the unofficial Over 35s World
Cup.
“We might be retired from the top-class game but we don’t forget how to win and what this shirt means.
“It
brings out the animal instinct in us, it brings out a passion and a
bravery and a competitive spirit that it is difficult to put into words.
“Don’t
get me wrong, we have a few dark ‘n’ stormys while we’re here, but we
party hard and then we always play hard. We are a team of winners and
we want to win this again.”
Tonight sees the French and the
Argentinians go head to head at 7 p.m. in what should be a physical
battle before the All Blacks – who managed to have a player arrested on
Saturday night after a heavy night of drinking saw him end up at the
wrong house – take on the Australians in the final game at 8.30 p.m.
LOCATION: Bermuda National Stadium
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