South Africa defeated Namibia 57-3 in a Pool B match at City of Toyota Stadium, Aichi Prefecture, Toyota City on September 28. The Springboks had a 31-3 lead at the break.
The Springboks will face Italy on Friday, while Namibia squares off against the All Blacks next Sunday.
In their opening matches, South Africa lost to New Zealand 23-13, while Namibia also lost to Italy 47-22.
Match Recap
The Springboks attacked early with fullback Warrick Gelant finding a gap. The team went through 8 phases before losing the ball while crossing in-goal. This resulted in a 5-meter scrum. The Springboks drove forward with No. 8 Schalk Brits grounding on the post pads. After a TMO, the referee ruled that a try was not awarded.
The Springboks created a turnover from the Namibia scrum and had a 5-meter scrum of their own. After several phases, hooker Mbongeni Mbonambi mauled in from a lineout with Elton Jantjies adding the extras for a 7-0 lead.
Following a Namibia penalty for a high tackle, Flanker Francois Louw added a try from a maul to extend the lead to 12-0.
The Springboks attacked from the restart with a break by Frans Steyn, who offloaded to S’bu Nkosi. Namibia’s No. 8 Adriaan Booysen was sent to the bin for a deliberate knock-on. After the penalty, Mbonambi added a brace with Jantjies slotting the conversion for a 19-0 lead.
Greyling and Loubser had breaks and the Springboks were penalized for being offsides. Namibia’s Cliven Loubser slotted the penalty goal to cut the lead to 19-3, in what would be Namibia’s only score of the day.
South Africa attacked from a lineout at midfield with Makazole Mapimpi receiving the flat ball on the left wide channel for a bonus point try to lead 24-3 as Jantjies kick was wide right.
The Springboks added a final try by Lukhanyo Am with Jantjies adding the extras to lead 31-3 at the break.
Second Half
Namibia opened the second half going through several phases before a South African penalty resulted in an attempted penalty goal by Loubser, which bounced off the posts.
The Springboks pressured Namibia charging down and blocking a clearance kick. Namibia gathered in their lineout and cleared. This provided the chance for the Springboks to counterattack with a Lukhanyo Am drawing in a defender and fullback Warrick Gelant scoring and Elton Jantjies adding the extras to lead 38-3.
The Springboks attacked to within a couple of meters from in-goal but were driven into touch, resulting in a Namibia lineout. The Boks had their own opportunity from a lineout with wing Mapimpi adding a brace with Jantjies slotting again to push the lead to 45-3. The try placed Mapimpi in an extinguished company as he joined Pieter Rossouw and Bryan Habana in scoring 10 tries in 10 appearances.
A Namibia penalty led to a Springbok lineout 5-meters from in-goal. The ball went wide right with Siya Kolisi touching the ball for the first time in the match with a try to lead 50-3. Jantjies kick sailed to the left of the posts.
Namibia’s Johannes Coetzee was sent to the bin after a lineout shove on Brits. South African No.8 Schalk Brits immediately scored from a lineout with Jantjies slotting the kick for a 57-3 lead.
South Africa attacked deep within Namibia territory and after a penalty, attacked from a lineout 5-meters from in-goal. A handling error thwarted the scoring attempt with Namibia clearing. The Springboks had one last attack, but the ball went into touch.
With the win, the Springboks move into second place in Pool B. Italy tops the Pool with 10 points, South Africa has 6 and New Zealand, who face Canada on Wednesday to complete round 2, have 4 points.
Player of the Match honors went to Springbok lock Lood de Jager. He had 15 carries, 42 meters gained, beat 5 defenders and made 5 tackles.
Squads
South Africa: 1 Tendai Mtawarira 2 Bongi Mbonambi 3 Vincent Koch 4 RG Snyman 5 Lood de Jager 6 Francois Louw 7 Kwagga Smith 8 Schalk Brits (capt.) 9 Herschel Jantjies 10 Elton Jantjies 11 Makazole Mapimpi 12 Frans Steyn 13 Lukhanyo Am 14 S’bu Nkosi 15 Warrick Gelant 16 Steven Kitshoff 17 Thomas du Toit 18 Eben Etzebeth 19 Siya Kolisi 20 Franco Mostert 21 Cobus Reinach 27 Damian de Allende 23 Cheslin Kolbe
Namibia: 1. Desiderius Sethie 2. Louis van der Westhuizen 3. AJ De Klerk 4. Johan Retief 5. Tjiuee Uanivi (capt.) 6. Thomasau Forbes 7. Muharua Katjijeko 8. Adriaan Booysen 9. Eugene Jantjies 10. Cliven Loubser 11. Lesley Klim 12. Peter John Walters 13 JC Greyling 14. Chad Plato 15. Johan Tromp 16. Obert Nortje 17. Andre Rademeyer 18. Johannes Coetzee 19. Prince Gaoseb 20. Janco Venter 21. Wian Conradie 22. Helarius Axasman Kisting 23. Johan Deysel
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