By Siegfried Mortkowitz Sep 15, 2007, 5:34 GMT
Paris - South Africa overwhelmed England 36-0 on Friday and practically assured itself of winning Pool A and advancing to the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup.
In a highly anticipated matchup between two former World Cup champions, played in the Stade de France outside Paris, the Springboks took control of the match from the start with superior speed, strength, handling and kicking, and handed England its first-ever blank score in World Cup play.
South African coach Jake White was particularly pleased with not conceding any points. 'I'm very proud of our players. It's been a very difficult week with suspensions, citings and hearings.
'But the players stayed focussed despite this tough week. At the same time we were aware we were playing the world champions and it didn't help (with) Francois Steyn coming in late, but the result and keeping a clean sheet is great for us.'
The South Africans were rewarded for their industrious play in the fifth minute when wing JP Pietersen sprinted down the right side, released his scrum half Fourie du Preez, who passed off acrobatically to flanker Juan Smith to score the try.
Percy Montgomery, who was equalling South Africa's record for number of caps with 89, converted, and centre Francois Steyn kicked a penalty five minutes later for a 10-0 lead for the favoured South Africans.
With their two fly-halfs, 2003 World Cup hero Jonny Wilkinson and Olly Barkely, sidelined with injuries, England rarely looked like threatening the South African try line in the first half.
Montgomery kicked another penalty in the 36th minute and Pietersen ran over for an easy try two minutes later after an England handling mistake and a brilliant run and pass by du Preez, which made the score 20-0 at halftime.
Although England came out with more commitment in the second half, they could not make an impression on the Springbok defence. And when they managed to penetrate the South African 22-metre line, they often betrayed themselves with careless handling.
Montgomery kicked two more penalties, and in the 64th minute another clever run by du Preez released Pietersen for his second try. Montgomery, who scored 18 points in the match, kicked the conversion and added a late penalty to complete the victory.
The only negative aspect of the match for the Springboks was that they failed to score four tries to earn a bonus point.
South African captain John Smit said that it had been a big game for his side. 'We were well organised and we're pretty happy. I'm excited and it was a pretty good Test match. It's been a long time coming. It was a good performance but there's a lot more to come.
'We were pretty happy at the first week because we had a good start and today was very good, too, but it's a long tournament. It's been a four-year process for us but we're here for a purpose and we've got to make sure we concentrate on the next four weeks.'
In addition to being badly outplayed, the undermanned England side also lost inspirational fullback Jason Robinson to a leg injury in the 58th minute.
South Africa now lead Pool A with 9 points after two matches, with England in third with four points, trailing Tonga on point difference.
England now have eight days to recover, physically and psychologically, before the vital match against Samoa, which will likely decide which of the two teams from Pool A will join South Africa in the quarterfinals.
England coach Brian Ashton said that they knew what they needed to do now. 'That's the easy part. We have to win both games or go home.
'South Africa played the sort of game we wanted to play. They were aggressive, they kicked well and they converted it into the field position we wanted. We were better in the second half, but the game was lost by half time.'
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FreemanFeb 26th, 2008 - 21:54:29
You make my day!
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