The Springboks beat Georgia in Nelspruit while the Pumas were too strong for Uruguay in Salta to round out the July test series.
The Springboks closed out their final Castle Lager Incoming Series Test in spectacular fashion at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, outplaying a plucky Georgian side by 55-10 with nine pulsating tries in a match that delivered all that was promised to the big crowd in attendance.
They got more that their monies worth from the Boks, who held a 22-10 lead at the break and then flexed their muscles to add another 33 unanswered points on the scoreboard in the second half.
Georgia, the 11th ranked team in the world, made it very hard for the number one side and will depart home with the respect of all who played and paid to watch them in Nelspruit on Saturday.
The match started in dramatic fashion with the visitors scoring in the opening exchanges. The Boks, receiving the kick-off, kicked directly in into touch, handing the Georgian a lineout in the red zone.
Their first maul was pulled down illegally and they took another lineout following a kick to the corner, from which hooker Vano Karkadze drove over, and with flyhalf Luka Matkava’s conversion, the visitors were 7-0 up after barely three minutes. To make matters worse for the Boks, Siya Kolisi was taken off the field for a HIA.
The Boks rebounded nicely though and eight minutes in, debutant prop Boan Venter had the bar in De Aar, as well as the 36,842 spectators inside the stadium, in raptures when he scored. The Boks attacked through a number of phases, first with the backs, then moved it to be big boys on the inside and Venter, coming off a nice angle, picked up the ball close to a ruck to barge over.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s conversion hit the upright though and Georgia were still in the lead, 7-5, but that was short-lived though as yet another debutant, Marnus van der Merwe, scored 13 minutes in, much to the delight of the Lowveld locals, as one of their own dotted down.
The Nelspruit-born hooker benefitted from a strong lineout maul as the Boks were starting to gain dominance in the possession and territorial stakes and Georgia got pinged for obstruction.
The conversion was wide again, but that miss by Feinberg-Mngomezulu was drowned out by the cheers of Kolisi returning after being cleared from the HIA.
Georgia had a great chance to score after creating an overlap on the right, but the final pass to an unmarked player never happened and in a blink, the Boks struck back.
They attacked from a blistering Grant Williams break and when Canan Moodie was given the ball a couple of meters out, the strong outside centre dotted down despite the attention and efforts of at least two Georgian defenders.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s kicking woes continued and he pushed his third attempt to the right of the uprights. The Boks were leading 15-7 after 20 minutes and the variety and quality of their three tries promised much.
Georgia closed the gap with a penalty goal by Matkava, after a Pieter-Steph du Toit high tackle, but the lead was stretched again soon after when Van der Merwe dotted down for a second time.
Venter hit the first blow by winning a scrum penalty and the Boks kicked to the corner. The hooker found his jumper and from the maul, finished in style. Feinberg-Mngomezulu finally got his groove back with a good conversion and 35 minutes in, the Boks were up 22-10.
The second half started well for the Boks, now boosted by the bomb squad, with no less than five RWC winners taking the field. The impact was immediate as a strong scrum and clever play to the right opened up space for Edwill van der Merwe, who scored the first points of the second half seven minutes in. The conversion was wide again, but the Boks’ dominance was growing.
That became clearer close to the hour mark as Damian Willemse scored a fifth Test try 58 minutes in, following a strong Bok scrum. The momentum was put to good use, with Handre Pollard, who joined the fray with Willemse minutes earlier, providing guile and soft hands to put the replacement fullback in space and on a try line trajectory. Pollard nailed the conversion and with 20 minutes to play, the Boks were up 34-10.
Georgia, refusing to roll over, created a good scoring opportunity from a rolling maul, but clever defence by Bongi Mbonambi thwarted that effort, showing the willingness by the home side to work back when needed. Georgia clearly did not come to only watch the big five in the Lowveld and gave it all and more to the Boks in the second half.
They stopped the Boks to get their hands on the ball in the right areas of the field and frustrated the home side, who just could not get into their stride when they wanted to.
It needed a spark of individual brilliance and that came from Faf de Klerk, who spotted space behind the Georgian defence and his chip over the defence found a charging Edwill van der Merwe, who dotted down under the sticks for his brace and four for the Van der Merwes on the night.
Pollard converted for the 117th time in his Bok career and at 41-10, the scoreline started to please the appetite of the Mbombela faithful.
They needed some icing on the cake though, which came in the form of Kurt-Lee Arendse. Williams again opened the defence, and a weighted pass found the winger in full flight for the eight try by the home side. Pollard converted and then scored a delightful try from deep inside the Boks’ half to make Nelspruit lekker, with his conversion taking him to 797 Test points.
Springboks 55 (22) [Tries: Boan Venter, Marnus van der Merwe 2, Canan Moodie, Edwill van der Merwe 2, Damian Willemse, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Handre Pollard; Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Pollard 4] Georgia 10 (10) [Try: Vano Karkadze; Conversion: Luka Matkava; Penalty goal: Matkava].
In the last test-match of the international window in July, Los Pumas beat Uruguay by 52 to 17 in an entertaining match played at the Padre Ernesto Martearena stadium in Salta. The team led by Felipe Contepomi had just lost 22-17 to England in San Juan; while Los Teros came from beating the Romanian National Team 70-8 in Montevideo. The match marked the farewell of Santiago Cordero with the Argentine national team, and the official debut for Santiago Pernas, Nicolás D’Amorim and Faustino Sánchez Valarolo.
The Pumas took the field determined to make the home team feel, and quickly imposed conditions after a great line and maul play that culminated in a try-penalty for Argentina, and a yellow card for prop Mateo Sanguinetti. Despite the numerical disadvantage, the Uruguayan team became strong, and endured the penalty period without conceding points. Los Teros would take advantage of this good passage of the match with their first try of the afternoon, scored by the second row Felipe Aliaga. After the equalizer, the national team was more sharp, and came close to converting in several opportunities, which were not capitalized by impressions in the definition. However, Felipe Contepomi’s team managed to take the lead again in the last play of the initial stage, after a great individual action by Matías Moroni that he converted into a try. In this way, Los Pumas went to the break up by 12 to 7.
In the second half, Los Teros struck a minute into the game with a penalty kick by Santiago Álvarez, and cut the distance on the scoreboard. The Pumas would respond quickly, and just three minutes later captain Julián Montoya scored his try. The national team extended the lead again with Santiago Cordero’s try, after an excellent pass from Nicolás Roger. The match was complicated for Argentina after a red card to Pedro Rubiolo. The extra man boosted the Uruguayan team that would not give up, and stayed in the game with a try by fullback Ignacio Álvarez. The Pumas did not shrink and would respond with two consecutive tries, the work of Justo Piccardo and Rodrigo Isgró. The Argentine team continued to appeal to frontality, and escaped again on the scoreboard with the try of Agustín Moyano from Cordoba. Nicolás Roger would put definitive figures to the match with the last try and conversion, thus sealing the victory for Argentina in Salta by 52 to 17.
First half: 2m, penalty try (LP); 15m, try by Felipe Aliaga converted by Santiago Álvarez (U); 40m, try by Matías Moroni (LP).
Second half: 41m, penalty by Santiago Álvarez (U); 44m, Julián Montoya’s try converted by Nicolás Roger (LP); 48m, try by Santiago Cordero (LP); 53m, try by Ignacio Álvarez (U); 57m, try by Justo Piccardo converted by Nicolás Roger (LP); 62m, try by Rodrigo Isgró converted by Nicolás Roger (LP); 69m, try by Agustín Moyano (LP); 75m, Nicolás Roger’s try converted by himself (LP).