Boks go on an orgy of scoring
by Gavin Rich 11 June 2005, 14:13
Records were the main talking point following South Africa’s 134-3 annihilation of Uruguay
in an international season pipe-opener that bordered on the farcical at Absa Stadium in
East London on Saturday.
Live scorecard
Records were the main talking point following South Africa’s 134-3 annihilation of Uruguay
in an international season pipe-opener that bordered on the farcical at Absa Stadium in
East London on Saturday.
The margin of victory eclipsed the 101 points that separated Corne Krige’s team from Italy
in 1999, while the 134 points was easily the biggest score posted by the Boks against any
team in a test match. It was also just 11 points shy of being the biggest score posted in
an A grade test match, not that there was anything particularly A grade about this
mismatch.
The record is still held by New Zealand, who managed 145 against Japan at the 1995 World
Cup, but it was not for lack of trying by John Smit’s men, who went on a scoring rampage
in the second half and showed their intentions with the way their skipper ran back to the
10 metre line after one of the tries.
The 21 tries scored by the Boks was also a new record. This beat the 15 scored against
Italy in Durban.
Of course, there were also individual records, and this was a memorable day for winger
Tonderai Chavanga. His six tries provided a new mark for the Boks, as well as possibly
being the best ever field day for a player on debut.
"A lot of today was about building up confidence of players who may not start in the next
few weeks but will be called upon later in the season. In this respect players like
Tonderai and Ricky Januarie would have got a lot out of the game and they will be more
ready when called upon. It adds to the depth of the squad," said White.
"But we cannot pretend that we were helped for the France game by what happened in this
match. It would be stupid if we did. It will be a completely different kind of game
against a different kind of team and it will require a different combination of players."
The writing was on the wall from the sixth minute, when Marius Joubert did his bit to
raise his own confidence by going over for the opening score of the match after his centre
partner Jean de Villiers had made the initial probe and the South Americans were
hopelessly outnumbered from the recycle.
Although there was no opposition to speak of, the Springboks still deserve credit for the
way they scored some of their tries. Coach Jake White need not have any worries about the
handling ability of his players. Some of the skills bordered on the sublime, all of which
made the Uruguayan task that much more difficult.
The Boks did not meet with much defence but they did play with good pattern and structure,
and while it is easy to criticise the standard of the player they were up against,
ultimately you can only play against the team that lines up against you on the day.
The French will pose a much different challenge next week in Durban, and to this end,
little was learned. For instance, White will be none the wiser about whether Gerrie Britz
is the answer as a replacement for the injured Bakkies Botha at lock.
What he will know, however, is that Percy Montgomery needs to work at his goalkicking. The
fullback is not first choice goalkicker at Newport and it showed. He missed six of his
attempts at goal and hardly landed any of his more difficult attempts at goal. There is
only one way to sort this out, and that is practise.
White would have been pleased though with the way Van der Westhuyzen settled into the role
when called upon. He only missed two of his attempts, although it needs to be added that
there is precious little pressure when you start kicking with your side 70-3 ahead.
Scorers were:
South Africa 134: Tries by Marius Joubert (5 min), Bryan Habana (8 min), Enrico Januarie (14 min), Danie Rossouw (20 min), Tonderai Chavhanga (25 min), Habana (28 min), Gurthro Steenkamp (32 min), Solly Tyibilika (38 min), Chavhanga (40 min), Jacques Cronje (43 min), Tyibilika (47 min), Chavhanga (54 min), Jean de Villiers (58 min), Albert van den Berg (63 min), Chavhanga (67 min), Van der Berg (69 min), Jaque Fourie (72 min), De Villiers (74 min), Chavhanga (77 min), Jaco vd Westhuyzen (80 min) and Chavhanga (82 min). Percy Montgomery kicked six conversions and a penalty and Van der Westhuyzen kicked seven conversions.
Uruguay 3: Agustin Perez del Castillo kicked a penalty.
