The Springboks secured their fourth win in a dominant 54-07 win over the Barbarians, the biggest margin ever, at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday. The Springboks and the Barbarians have won four matches each since their first clash between the sides in 1952.
Despite the Springboks "iffy" start they started to dominate on the back of their powerful scrum and their big boys attacking on the edge of the rucks.
After just seven minutes of play, Malcolm Marx scored the Springboks' first try off a five-meter lineout maul to edge 05-00 into the lead.
The forwards kept on punching holes in the Barbarians' defence and four minutes later a great grubber by Aphelele Fassie was collected by Cheslin Kolbe, who danced his way over for the Springboks' second try. Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted to extend the Springboks' lead to 12-00.
Despite a better effort by the Barbarians. Vincent Tshituka scored on debut and following Feinberg-Mngomezulu's conversion the Springboks led 19-00 after twenty-two minutes of play in the first half.
Unfortunately following their third try the Springboks' "superstars" started to rely on their "superpowers" which resulted in the game losing its structure which suited the Barbarians' style of rugby.
The last minutes of the first half resulted in a few "oohs" and "aahs" from the crowd, with no points scored. The Springboks led 19-00 at the halftime break.
The Springboks returned to their game plan at the beginning of the match, and Jan Hendrik Wessel scored the Springboks' fourth try following a fifteen-man attack. Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted to extend the Springboks' lead to 26-00 after six minutes in the second half.
The game started to lose its structure once again; however, Damian de Allende toed the ball in open space, which resulted in Kurt-Lee Arendse making it look a lot easier than it was. Two minutes later, Lood de Jager scored the Springboks' sixth try as the Springboks dominated the Barbarians. The Springboks launched wave after wave of attacks, with the Barbarians barely being able to hang on. Manie Libbok converted both tries to extend the Springboks' lead to 40-00.
Following sixty-five minutes of play, the Barbarians' Melvyn Jaminet scored and converted his try to cut the Springboks lead to 40-07.
Thereafter, Vincent Tshituka scored his second try, followed by a Damian de Allende try in the corner to secure a 54-07 win.
Scorers:
Springboks: Tries: Malcolm Marx, Cheslin Kolbe, Vincent Tshituka (2), Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Lood de Jager, Damian de Allende. Conversion: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (3), Manie Libbok (4).
Barbarians: Try: Melvyn Jaminet. Conversion: Melvyn Jaminet.
Teams:
Springboks: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel (c), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Andre Esterhuizen.
Barbarians: 15 Melvyn Jaminet, 14 Mark Telea, 13 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 12 Peter Umaga-Jensen, 11 Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkins, 10 Josh Jacomb, 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 8 Shannon Frizell, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 David Ribbans, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Paul Alo-Emile, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Cian Healy. Replacements: 16 Ricky Riccitelli, 17 Hassane Kolingar, 18 Will Collier, 19 Josh Beehre, 20 Hoskins Sotutu, 21 Santiago Arata, 22 Joe Marchant, 23 Lachlan Boshier.