Captain Brits lifts spirits but brave Namibia fall flat
IT’S A LONG way from Ibiza to Toyota City but Schalk Brits completed that journey in style yesterday when he captained the Springboks to a comfortable win over minnows Namibia.
Last summer Brits, 38, had retired and was sipping cocktails on a well-deserved break in Ibiza when coach Rassie Erasmus phoned and asked him to reconsider his decision.
Erasmus wanted a mature senior hand in his squad and a smiling life enhancer to lift the mood a little. It can sometimes get a bit intense in a Boks squad always under pressure from an expectant rugby community.
The offer was irresistible. Saracens invited him to their preseason sessions to maintain his fitness, he returned to the South Africa squad and yesterday found himself leading the Boks and making his debut at No 8.
Brits has always been a backrow forward at heart so really we shouldn’t be surprised at that, nor at the fact he celebrated with one of South Africa’s nine tries.
Aside from the feelgood factor Brits brings to every rugby occasion, however, this was a pretty routine spectacle with the Boks resting front line players against their outclassed but brave African neighbours.
Namibia gave their all and then some but that was never going to be enough.
Their starting line-up included just three full time professionals and the wonder is that Phil Davies and his coaching team somehow put together a team that avoids truly humiliating scores although perhaps the acid test will come against New Zealand next week
The Boks quickly established forward domination and that’s where they looked to cause the damage initially with a brace of short range tries for hooker Bongi Mbonambi and another for Bath flanker Francois Louw before the backs started opening up. Wing Makazole Mapimpi scored the first of his two tries although he would be the first to admit there was at least one forward pass in the build-up.
The Boks made it five first half tries when Lukhanyo Am strolled in after Namibia had turned down the chance of kicking the ball dead when the 40 minute gong sounded.
Namibia’s only reply had been a penalty from Cliven Loubser and although they were staring down the barrel after half-time the Welwitschias did well do concede just four further tries in the final 40 minutes.
The best was a beautifully worked effort from Warrick Gelant while Mapimpi, Siya Kolisi and Brits scored the others to finish an efficient afternoon for the Boks.