Springboks enjoy lightest of workouts before heavyweight clash with Ireland
South Africa's Makazole Mapimpi (right) gets away from Romania's Gabriel Pop during the Rugby World Cup 2023, Pool B match at the Matmut Atlantique Stadium, France. Picture: Adam Davy/PA Wire
A dozen minutes gone in Bordeaux on Sunday afternoon and the nightmare everyone had feared was unfolding before our eyes.
The Springboks were 26-0 up at that point, the bonus point already paid for, and there couldn’t have been a soul in the stadium who didn’t believe that this would be the seventh 100-plus scoreline in the history of the World Cup.
The previous six had been recorded in the 12 years between 1999 and 2007, but that 16-year run without another has been something slim to hang our hats on. That and recent performances by Uruguay, Portugal and Chile.
It still made for through-the-fingers viewing and, while Tevita Manumua missed an early penalty and Romania came within a few inches and some indiscipline of the Bok line once or twice, they ended up drawing the first blank of the 2023 World Cup.
By the end, Romania had conceded 12 tries, just as they did on week one against Andy Farrell’s men, and there is at least the knowledge for them that they have a week off now before turning into an appointment with the Scots in Lille.
That the worst-case scenario didn’t unfold owed to the onset of some heavy rain and an unavoidable sense of ‘job done’ in South African minds that seemed to drift towards the defining Pool B meeting against Ireland in Paris later in the first half.
Marco van Staden had another score ruled out shortly after that fourth but by the time the refuge of half-time had been reached the Boks had only added one more five-pointer in 26 minutes courtesy of scrum-half Cobus Reinach who was bagging a hat-trick.
Small mercies and all that.
Another seven scores were piled on top of this after the interval as the replacements flooded on for both sides and South Africa did more or less as they pleased. It was the easiest of dry runs before that heavyweight encounter next weekend.
Maybe the most significant moment in the entire day happened pre-kick-off with tighthead prop Vincent Koch ruled out after the warm-up. He was replaced by Trevor Nyakane and Frans Malherbe was drafted onto the bench. We await word on that development.
The world champions have already lost key hooker Malcom Marx to injury for the rest of the tournament and lock Eben Etzebeth was restricted here to a spot of solo kicking an hour before the start as he rehabs a shoulder injury that makes him a doubt next week.
The Boks are blessed with depth but every player marked absent reduces that strength and, you would suspect, dilutes the impact of the famed Bomb Squad that was such a critical factor in them lifting the Webb Ellis trophy in Japan.
Either way, the shadow boxing is over.
W Le Roux; G Williams, C Moodie, A Esterhuizen, M Mapimpi; D Willemse, C Reinach; O Nche, B Mbonambi, T Nyakane; J Kleyn, M Orie; M van Staden, K Smith, D Vermeulen.
D Fourie for Mbonambi and RG Snyman for Orie (both HT); J Hendrikse for Reinach (46); F de Klerk for Willemse (56); F Malherbe for Nyakane and S Kitshoff for Nche (both 60).
M Simionescu; T Manumua, J Tomane, T Gontineac, N Onutu; H Vaovasa, G Rupanu; I Hartig, O Cojocaru, A Gordas; A Motoc, M Iftimiciuc, A Gorin, V Neculau, C Chirica.
C Boboc for Neculau (HT); T Cretu for Gordas (51): S Iancu for Iftimiciuc (52); D Stratila for Gorin (55); A Savin for Hartig (56); R Irimescu for Cojocaru and G Pop for Tomane (both 60); A Conache for Gontineac (68).
M Raynal (France)
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