The Springboks have completed their pool matches at RWC ’23. After beating Scotland 18-3 in a tight opener, they ran in 12 tries to overwhelm pool minnows Romania 76-0 in match two. Then it was on to the Stade de France in Paris to face Ireland.
In one of the most-anticipated matches of the pool stages, Ireland prevailed by 13-8, meaning the World’s number one side would likely face New Zealand in the quarter-finals with South Africa taking on the tournament hosts. The Springboks then drew the curtain on their pool stage matches with a 49-18 victory over a combative Tonga the following weekend.
The big talking point from South Africa’s first half against Scotland at the Stade Velodrome was a head-to-head tackle by the Springbok’s Jesse Kriel on Jack Dempsey. The referee missed the tackle and the TMO didn’t intervene. On another day it may have brought a red card that could have changed the match. As it turned out, “Scotland the Brave” aptly described the men in blue as they kept the Springbok’s lead down to three points at the interval.
The second half saw the power of the Bok’s forwards beginning to tell. The introduction of the renowned “Bomb Squad” took over in the South African forward line was telling. Tries by Pieter-Steph Du Toit and Kurt-Lee Arendse early in the half took the game away from Scotland, but the Scots didn’t give up. Despite this, some errant kicking from Manie Libbok meant the 18-3 final scoreline flattered them somewhat.
The encounter was typical of an opening pool match. The almost full-strength Springbok team struggled to find its usual cohesion early on, and goalkicking was a problem. The latter would remain so until South Africa’s final pool encounter with Tonga. All-in-all though, the Bokke did the job, but their failure to secure a bonus point may yet come back to haunt them.
Following their opening success, the Springboks departed for Bordeaux to play Romania a week later. During midweek training in Bordeaux, misfortune hit the South African camp. First-choice hooker Malcolm Marx, who had excelled against Scotland, injured his knee, ruling him out of the tournament.
The South African brains trust believed that the flanker duo of Deon Fourie and Marco van Staden would provide enough cover at hooker. As such, they chose not to replace him with another hooker, opting instead to call up the experienced flyhalf Handré Pollard.
Pollard had missed World Cup selection through injury and would arrive short of game time. However, with the poor goal-kicking display against Scotland, his inclusion does seem to make sense.
With fourteen changes to the team, the South African coaching team clearly expected an easier encounter against Romania. It proved to be that way as, with only 12 minutes gone, the Springboks had secured their bonus point. Two tries from Cobus Reinach and one each from Makazole Mapimpi and Damian Willemse provided the perfect start.
Reinach would score his third try within 24 minutes of the start, only 4 minutes slower than his own record for the fastest RWC hat-trick set in 2019. When the half-time whistle went, South Africa had scored 33 points against their outclassed opponents.
The second half brought more of the same with Deon Fourie dotting down only two minutes in. Relentless Springbok pressure then resulted in a penalty try ten minutes later followed by a Grant Williams brace.
Mapimpi secured the second SA hat-trick in the match with two tries in four second-half minutes before Willie Le Roux completed the 76-0 rout. Once again the biggest concern on the day was that South Africa’s kickers only succeeded with seven out of twelve kicks at the posts.
The Stade de France in Paris formed a perfect setting for South Africa’s third pool match. The highly-anticipated clash was between rugby’s two top nations with Ireland on a superb run of form. 15 consecutive victories had seen the team from the Emerald Isle rise to the top of the world rankings.
The game started well for the full-strength Springboks. They put Ireland’s lineouts under pressure from the off, winning six against the throw in quick succession. The resilience of the reigning Six Nations and Triple Crown winners was soon clear, though. Ireland’s on-field adaptability and strength at the breakdown began to tell.
Manie Libbok put the Bokke ahead with a sixth-minute penalty, but it would be the only kicking success from five attempts South Africa would have. Once again, goalkicking was proving to be the thorn in the Springboks’ side.
Conversely, Johnny Sexton was on form with the boot. First, he converted Mack Hansen’s well-worked 33rd-minute try to give Ireland a 7-3 lead at the interval. After Cheslin Kolbe had put the Springboks back in front 10 minutes after the break, Sexton converted a penalty to restore the Irish lead. Then, with only three minutes left on the clock, his replacement Jack Crowley cemented a 13-8 Ireland win with another penalty.
Some pundits may suggest that the South Africans didn’t show all their cards in the encounter. The tactic of repeatedly kicking long seemed to play to one of Ireland’s strengths. The Springboks could draw some positives from the narrow defeat, though. Deon Fourie didn’t weaken the scrum at hooker and, if all their kicks at goal had gone over, South Africa would have won the match.
The Springboks took to Marseilles turf against Tonga with a much-changed starting lineup. Handré Pollard made his first appearance of RWC23 at flyhalf, while Deon Fourie started at hooker. There were also starts for Cobus Reinach and Makazole Mpimpi, the hat-trick heroes against Romania.
From the first whistle it was evident that Tonga had come to play, forcing an early penalty to take the lead. The huge Tongan pack outweighed the Springboks, with enigmatic captain “Big” Ben Tameifuna typifying their physical approach.
In fact, it was Tameifuna who crossed the South African line first, shortly before half-time. By then, the Bokke had scored three tries of their own, however, with Reinach, Canan Moodie and Fourie all going over. Pollard converted all three tries, giving South Africa a 21-8 lead at the interval.
Tonga enjoyed plenty of possession throughout the match but their inexperience of playing top sides began to tell. Jesse Kriel touched down 10 minutes into the second half, securing the bonus point for the Bokke. Pollard again converted, refreshingly maintaining his 100% kicking record.
The Springboks ran in a further three tries through Willie Le Roux, Marco van Staden and Kwagga Smith. These were all converted by Manie Libbok, who had replaced Pollard. Perhaps Pollard’s performance positively impacted his replacement, as Libbok’s kicking was much improved.
Tonga refused to lie down, scoring two more tries of their own. This was the first time an opposing team had breached South Africa’s defence three times in a match since the 2015 World Cup. In the end, the Springbok’s talent and experience told, as their seven converted tries resulted in a 49-18 victory.
The Ireland result meant that five points in the last pool match against an ever-improving Tongan side were essential. These would all but secure South Africa’s quarter-final berth, most likely against an impressive French unit, but who could take the lead from there? At the moment, the Springboks are slight favourites against France with the bookies, with a current price of 3/1 to win the tournament. France is finding odds of 7/2 at most online bookmakers with Ireland (3/1) the joint favourites with South Africa. Ireland’s likely quarter-final opponents, the All Blacks, are at 7/2 like the hosts.
So, it could be anyone’s game for now, and fans can keep updated on current odds by accessing online betting sites. There are countless betting sites available in South Africa that have an outstanding array of markets, decent promotions and bonus deals and of course, offer state-of-the-art betting apps (source: https://www.safebettingsites.com/za/betting-apps/).
South Africa must now wait for the result of the Ireland-Scotland encounter to find out their RWC fate. Quarter-final qualification should be secure, although Scotland can still spoil the party. The Scots need to achieve the incredible by beating Ireland by at least 21 points, while scoring four tries in the process. Only then do South Africa face elimination, but it will be a tough ask of the Scots against the form team of the tournament.
