Boks showed no mercy to neighbours
Rassie Erasmus’ men kept their foot on the throttle throughout in this southern African World Cup showdown.
Key player: Lood de Jager Rating: 8/10
An excellent Springbok forward effort was inspired by De Jager. Not only were the lineouts dominated by the No 5 lock, but De Jager was at the centre of the driving mauls by which South Africa made early inroads. He was also
1: Beast Mtawarira Rating: 7/10
The Beast had the opposition tightheads writing letters home to their mommies at scrum time. Quite the bully with ball in hand as well. Six tackles and six carries show Mtawarira’s evergreen value is still writ large.
3: Vincent Koch Rating: 7/10
The kingpin at scrum time, attacking the Namibian looseheads and giving the Springboks a huge set-piece platform. Namibia were utterly swamped at times in the scrum.
8: Schalk Brits Rating: 7.5/10
Such is the talent of the man that he managed to switch to No 8 for the first time in his international career and then back to hooker for the final quarter and still play with aplomb throughout. His outstanding linking play provided some much-needed spark.
12: Francois Steyn Rating: 6/10
The star that burst on the scene in the 2007 World Cup has faded a bit, but in his first start for the Boks since playing against the All Blacks in Dunedin in 2012, Steyn was solid. Has lost pace, but makes up for it with experience and his reading of the game. superb in open play, making 15 carries for 43 metres, the most by any forward in the match, and he also pulled off seven tackles. De Jager is not currently in Rassie Erasmus’s 1st XV, but the Springboks would certainly not be weakened by his inclusion.
2: Bongi Mbonambi Rating: 7.5/10
A real hard man in the pack, the hooker’s body language just exudes fierceness and that is how he plays too; an all-action display in the tight and loose, and his set-piece work was also outstanding – part of the big scrum effort and precise in the lineouts.
4: RG Snyman Rating: 6.5/10
Provided plenty of grunt in the enforcer role and part of a thoroughly dominant display by the tight five. Managed to send a couple of telling offloads as well; a good night’s work.
9: Herschel Jantjies Rating: 5/10
The youngster has oddly performed better when thrown into much hotter frying pans thus far in his fledgling career. Solid enough, but without much spark and failed to lift another staid backline display.
13: Lukhanyo Am Rating: 5.5/10
The break he made for Gelant’s try was brilliant, but he was otherwise quiet, save for scoring the fifth try right on half-time. The line-break Namibia made for their only points of the game was the low point of the Bok defensive effort and it came in his channel.
6: Francois Louw Rating: 6/10
South Africa’s nippy loose trio promised so much excitement, but Brits was the only one to really produce. Louw was solid, contenting himself with tighter graft and his trademark pilfering work.
10: Elton Jantjies Rating: 4/10
Failed to make use of the platform given to him by his pack, a string of basic errors leading to a stop-start attacking display by the Boks. Dropped balls and missed kicks meant Erasmus is unlikely to trust him with a place on the bench in the games to come.
15: Sbu Nkosi Rating: 5.5/10
Failed to stamp his mark on the game as much as he did against Argentina in Pretoria, but it was one of those games where the ball just did not go to right wing that often. Did what he had to do, but has he done enough to unseat Mapimpi from the first XV?
7: Kwagga Smith Rating: 5.5/10
Perhaps did not contribute as much to the attacking effort as expected, but made a couple of good runs and also pulled off seven tackles.
11: Makazole Mapimpi Rating: 6/10
Once again showed his ability to make the most of attacking opportunities with two clinically-taken tries, but Namibia were never in a position to test whether he has addressed his defensive and well-documented under-the-high-ball failings.
15: Warrick Gelant Rating: 5.5/10
Provided some sparkling touches when the Springboks were on the attack, but coach Rassie Erasmus won’t be forgetting the several soft errors he made as well.