Cool-headed Boks seal tense victory
The Springboks withstood an immensely physical second-half onslaught to secure a hard-fought 13-5 victory over Samoa in their World Cup Pool D clash on Friday and book their place in the quarterfinals.
It was a thriller, a match of close scoring, courage, enterprise, and movement - a wonderful thrill for the packed crowd in the stadium, feeding their enthusiasm.
Sadly there was also an unpleasant worm in the salad. It was not entirely wholesome.
It was, in many respects, the least honourable of Rugby World Cup matches. Physicality is fine but there are laws governing physicality and too much went too far beyond laws and the spirit of laws. Tackles were too often too late, too high and too reckless with too much shoulder in tackles, never mind charging in at the side of tackle situations.
The constant pressure on the referee, especially by the grumpy Samoan captain, Mahonri Schwalger, was also unacceptable. The match produced the only red card of the 2011 World Cup so far - for Paul Williams of Samoa but there seemed more violent acts than his. Sadly the match was more 1995 than 2003. And at the end of it all there were not many enthusiastic handshakes.
The Samoans were desperate to win. There was the chance of a quarterfinal and the memory of the devastating tsunami in Samoa two years before to the day. These were things to whip up the emotions even though most of the team were born in New Zealand and so are really New Zealanders. Only two of the Samoans play their rugby in Samoa. But still there was patriotic nationalism to spur them on. And then there was the sivi tau.
Victor Matfield won the toss and decided that South Africa would play with the wind - a strong wind on a cold night against the older, heavier Samoans. Matfield then led the Springboks out onto the field with their flag-bearer, Nathan April, a young man from Cape Town who had survived a liver transplant and was given the trip as part of the Reach for a Dream programme. The Springboks played in white jerseys which has a protea badge and no springbok. No springbok for the Springboks!
The Springboks scored all their points in the first half. They went 54 minutes without scoring a single point. In that time they were close only once and then the television match official could find no evidence that a try had been scored. The Samoans scored a try and were close to another more often than the Springboks were but Springbok defence held and so did their discipline.
They started the match running - a good run by JP Pietersen, and up-and-under by Fourie du Preez which Bryan Habana caught but Morné Steyn ended that with a missed drop-goal. The Samoans dropped out quickly and it was their turn to attack. The match promised to be a thriller, and it fulfilled that promise.
Frans Steyn hit the crossbar with a kick from well inside his own half but the Springboks were attacking.
Du Preez broke and Habana would have scored if he had held onto the sharp pass. South Africa mauled the first two line-outs and the Springboks went wide left where Habana dived over in David Lemi's tackle. The TMO confirmed that it had been scored and Morné Steyn converted brilliantly from touch. 7-0 after 9 minutes.
Samoa went through phases as they did throughout the match and Kahn Fotuali'i was a handful, as he was throughout the match. The Springboks dominated the scrums against the heavier pack and won penalties. They mauled from line-outs and had the Samoans in disarray.
Kane Thompson was penalised at a maul and from five metres inside his own half and five metres from touch, Frans Steyn goaled. It was a magnificent, soaring kick. 10-0 after 23 minutes.
The Samoans were penalised at a destroyed scrum, Thomson was marched 10 metres and Morné Steyn goaled. 13-0 after 26 minutes. The Springboks did not score again in the match.
In what was left of the half Frans Steyn missed from 63 metres and Tusi Pisi had a sharp break halted when Bismarck du Plessis won a turnover.
In the second half Samoa's line-outs and scrummaging was much better. They had the benefit of the wind and had much the better of the half. South Africa suffered injuries to Habana and his replacement François Hougaard.
From a scrum, the Samoans went left. The splendid Tusi Pisi went on a loop and then they played inside where burly George Stowers burst through the tackles of Matfield, Heinrich Brüssow and Jean de Villiers to score. 13-5 after 53 minutes.
Morné Steyn kicked high, David Lemi ducked under his arm and raced downfield. Pat Lambie, the last defender, tackled him and Levi was penalised for standing up in the tackle, which annoyed Schwalger and others.
Morné Steyn flykicked the ball downfield and under pressure Seilala Mapusua footed out to concede a five-metre line-out. The Springboks mauled and were over but the TMO could not detect a try. The Samoans coped well with the five-metre scrum.
That was the only Springbok scoring chance in the half.
Eliota Sapolu had a good run, Lemi darted at the line but Schwalger knocked on.
Then Paul Williams got a red card for striking Brüssow in the face, the Samoans reacted with greater vigour than ever and John Smit, on the field for just two minutes, was given a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on somewhere near the halfway line. Compared with some happenings it seemed innocuous.
Lambie had a good run and the Samoans attacked till Gurthrö Steenkamp won a turnover.
Man of the Match: Tusi Pisi, the most creative back on the field, and lively Kahn Fotuali'i are the best candidates for Samoa while Bismarck du Plessis and, our choice, Schalk Burger are the best candidates for South Africa. Burger's tackle count, metres run and excellent passing made a massive contribution to his side's victory.
Moment of the Match: Funnily enough, neither try but rather Frans Steyn's huge penalty.
Villain of the Match: There was too much nonsense and Paul Williams got the red card, but really the villain of the piece was his querulous captain Mahonri Schwalger whose influence in the match was not good.
The scorers:
For South Africa:
Try: Habana
Con: M Steyn
Pens: M Steyn, F Steyn
For Samoa:
Tries: Stowers
Yellow card(s): John Smit (South Africa - 71st minute, deliberate infringement)
Red card(s): Paul Williams (Samoa - 70th minute, foul play)
The teams:
South Africa: 15 Pat Lambie, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn , 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 John Smit, 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Willem Alberts, 20 François Louw, 21 François Hougaard, 22 Jean de Villiers.
Samoa: 15 Paul Williams, 14 David Lemi, 13 Seilala Mapusua, 12 Eliota Fuimaono Sapolu, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tusi Pisi, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 George Stowers, 7 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 6 Taiasina Tuifua, 5 Kane Thompson, 4 Daniel Leo, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Mahonri Schwalger (captain), 1 Sakaria Taulafo.
Replacements: 16 Olé Avei, 17 Anthony Perenise, 18 Logovi'i Mulipola, 19 Joe Tekori, 20 Ofisa Treviranus, 21 Junior Poluleuligaga, 22 George Pisi.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Stuart Terheege (England)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)