MARCUS PRIOR, Edinburgh | Saturday 7.45pm.
SECOND string, second rate?
Harsh maybe, but for a full half hour of this Pool A clash between the world champions and probably the minnow of the minnnows in Edinburgh the Springboks looked, to paraphrase a famous Scotsman, shaken and strangely unstirred.
For the opening thirty minutes the gallant Spanish not only kept the Boks at bay, but took the game to the their more illustrious opponents, tackling ferociously, disrupting effectively and kicking cleverly to the corners.
It was all almost too good to be true for the tiny pocket of Spanish supporters, whose raucous support brought as much as it could of the Nou Camp and the Santa Barnabeu to an almost deserted Murrayfield. Surely it should have been South Africans chanting ‘campeone! campeone!’?
In fairness, this was a strange game. A chilly Edinburgh evening, zero atmosphere and a Spanish team playing their own World Cup final. But for a disturbingly long time it was South African bulls chasing the matadors from Spain.
Indeed the Spanish could even have taken an unlikely lead. Breyton Paulse only just won a try-saving race for the ball and shortly afterwards three points went begging from a penalty in front of the posts.
And it was Paulse who eventually broke the game open ten minutes from half-time. Picking up after a period of scrappy play, jinking past the Spanish defence before feeding Andre Vos for a clear run to the line.
Two minutes later it was Paulse again, slicing through a gap to this time give Werner Swanepoel a chance to score in the corner. With Leonard crossing once more in injury time, South Africa went into the break with a comfortable 21-0 lead. But it hadn’t been pretty.
As expected the Spanish tired in the second half, but nevertheless continued to crunch into the tackle and frustrate the Springboks. Andre Vos began to control things at the back of the scrum and his try five minutes into the second period should have opened the floodgates. But they stayed, if not shut, then only very slightly ajar.
South Africa scored three more times – a penalty try, Pieter Muller after a clever chip from Vos and subsitute Bobby Skinstad as the clock ran down – but restricting the Springboks to less than fifty points was clearly a victory for Spain. And their faces at the final whistle showed it.
For the two high profile debutants it was a frustrating afternoon. Kaya Molotana did nothing wrong, but then he had very little to do. Wayne Julies saw even less action, limping off after 23 minutes to be replaced by Deon Kayser.
How much Nick Mallett can learn from this is hard to tell. This was Spain’s day – and they deserve it. — MWP