In a beautiful display of running rugby the Springboks demolished Namibia 87-0 in their Rugby World Cup Group D encounter on Thursday.
Twelve tries were run in as Namibia cut the figure of a troop of deer caught in the headlights.
Bryan Habana, Jaque Fourie, Frans Steyn, Morne Steyn and Danie Russouw scored a try apiece, along with two tries each from Gio Aplon, Francois Hougaard and Juan De Jongh.
A penalty try was also awarded in the 29th minute by referee George Clancy after Namibia handled the ball before it came free from a scrum just outside their tryline.
The performance was complimented by some accurate goal-kicking from Morne Steyn and substitute Ruan Pienaar — though the majority were taken in front of the poles.
It didn’t necessarily go all South Africa’s way as the Namibians offered some strong resistance in the first half, which ended at 31-0.
There were even passages of play which may have seen the Biltong Boere score some points of their own, but the Springboks defence remained resolute — an encouraging sign as the knock-out stage of the competition beckons.
Habana’s try will be particularly savoured by team, player and fans alike as he managed to secure his name in the history books by scoring his 39th in a Springbok jersey.
The try takes him past Joost van der Westhuizen’s long standing record of 38 to make Habana the highest Bok try scorer to date.
Fringe players Chiliboy Ralapelle, De Jongh, Pienaar, Aplon and Francois Louw were all given a decent run in this masterful performance and proved they will ably slot into the team if the need arises.
Captain John Smit was elated at his team’s performance.
“It was a good run out by the boys. We stuck to our game plan and it played out well on the day. You face different opposition all the time in this competition and we knew it was going to be a tough game but we powered through,” Smit said.
The Springboks will play their final group game against Samoa next week Friday at the North Harbour Stadium in North Shore, New Zealand, at 9:30am.