Boks hand Poms a bagel

The Springboks ran out comfortable 36-0 victors against hapless England on Friday night.

In one of the most dominant and clinical performances seen by a Bok side, the South Africans pinned the English back in their half of the field with a superb kicking display.

Scrumhalf Fourie du Preez confirmed his status as the best number 9 in world rugby with a mesmerising performance which included having a hand in all of the Boks’ three tries. Playing off the great platform created by the Bok forwards, he was simply unstoppable.

Although England rarely threatened with an attacking move, the Bok defence held firm throughout the night, with young Francois Steyn proving especially effective in this area.

Overall, it was a superb team performance that confirms the Springboks as real contenders for this year’s trophy.

The Scorers:

South Africa [33]:
Tries: Juan Smith, JP Pietersen (2)
Conversions: Montgomery (3)
Penalties: Steyn, Montgomery (4)

What they said:

Martin Corry (England Captain):

“First of all, the lads are shell-shocked. We have to dress ourselves down, give ourselves 24 hours and start focusing on Samoa.

“We’re very disappointed about the game and the performance. Early on, we gave them opportunities to score and they took them. They showed great finishing expertise, but we gave them those opportunities.

“We knew it was always going to be a green wall. We felt if we weren’t going to go around it, we’d have to go through it.

“We gifted South Africa pretty much 20 points, and they didn’t have to work particularly hard for those points. We then found ourselves playing catch-up rugby against one of the best sides in the world.

“We are not going to hit the self-destruct button. We will analyse this performance. After 24 or 48 hours, it is all about Samoa.

“We are a side playing under our full potential. We have got to keep striving to produce a performance we know we are capable of.”

Brian Ashton (England Coach):

“I won’t accept this was a worse performance than against America last week.

“This was a much greater challenge and we knew it was going to be. We had some opportunities to nail down some field position and we didn’t do it.

“They played that part of the game much, much better than we did. I thought their kicking game was outstanding.

“By half-time, effectively on the scoreboard, the game was over.

“We had a go at the guys, which was fully justified too. I thought some of the individual play showed up much better in the second half.

“(It’s) disappointing then that we didn’t get some points on the board because we had some opportunities.”

“South Africa are probably one of the top two sides in world rugby. They played extremely well for the full 80 minutes. We didn’t help ourselves in the first half of the game.

“There is going to have to be a big performance next Saturday, end of story, otherwise we are going to be on our way home.

“I don’t want to talk about individual players. The defeat was largely down to the way South Africa played – they were incredibly efficient in everything they did.

“The whole context of the game was totally different to last weekend. In terms of performance, we played better in some areas. If we had played like that last week, we would have scored 80 points.

Jake White (Springbok Coach):

“We are obviously delighted. We had lost Schalk Burger and Jean de Villiers, so to get a result like that was obviously pleasing.

“This is one of the biggest victories we’ve had as a group of people.

“I’m very proud of the boys, obviously we had a very difficult week – with suspension and citings and hearings.

“It was just nice to see how the guys focused and put it all behind them. We had new guys coming in – with Francois Steyn coming in after Jean de Villiers hurt his bicep muscle and Wikus van Heerden in for Schalk.

“It was a tough week and we always knew that playing against the World Cup champions was going to be a big ask.

“The draw was made four years ago and it was always going to be a massive game against England.

“To get a result like that and also to keep a clean sheet and not give them any points is a pleasing result.”

John Smit (Springbok Captain):

“We are pretty happy with what we put up for the 80 minutes.

“It was a clinical first half and then the second half we were hoping not to lose our structure and let it get too loose too soon.

“But I must say the boys played a pretty good tactical game.

“It has taken us four years to get this clinical and it has been a long time coming.

“We’re looking forward to the last two games, but it is a long World Cup still.”