Besides the interest generated by the Springbok debut of Luke Watson, Saturday’s 35-8 victory over fringe rugby nation Samoa served to illustrate the worrying gulf between the Springbok team proper and what amounted to a second team, writes George Parker.

This Bok second-string outfit – it had 13 changes from the side which crushed England – showed they have a long way to go at this level. They were outplayed for most of the second half, but had done enough in the first 40 minutes to ensure they wouldn’t suffer the embarrassment of a close-run result against the Pacific islanders. Watson’s first Bok outing ended early with a rib injury, courtesy of a crunching clear-out at a ruck. Up to then he’d had an up-and-down match, dropping a straight-forward pass from Bob Skinstad in a position from which he may have been able to set up a try-scoring chance, and giving away a penalty for not releasing when he became isolated. Watson was hampered by the Bok tactics of playing left and right flankers when he is a specialist open side flank. This obviously made it difficult for him and his role was reduced to ball-carrying, which he did prominently in the first 20 minutes, and support play. He didn’t make many tackles, but then he didn’t have to since the opposition seldom had the ball during the time Watson was on the park. There’s no doubt he’s at home at this level, but whether he’s the sort of player White wants as part of his World Cup plans is another matter, as already he has been discarded for the Tri-Nations.


Skinstad, on the other hand, had a blinder, and must have booked his passage into the Tri-Nations and the World Cup on this showing. If he gets to the World Cup it will complete one of the most remarkable comebacks in SA rugby history – he last started in a Springbok side back in 2003 against Argentina. Waylon Murray – despite dropping a pass with the try-line just in front of him – also had a good first game in Bok colours, and his co-centre Wayne Julies, who’s been in and out of the Bok side for some time, probably had his best game yet in the national side. JP Pietersen showed some nice touches on the left wing, but no-one else really grabbed the attention in what was a disjointed, error-ridden showing by the second-stringers.

Performance rating (out of five): SA 2.5; Samoa 2.0
Referee’s rating (out of five): 2.5 – Malcolm Changleng is an officious referee. Still, he was for the most part efficient in the way he went about things. However, I thought he was particularly harsh on the Samoans at times, and was quick to dish out yellow cards. He may have blown to the crowd to some extent for he seemed reluctant to hand the same treatment to the South Africans until Skinstad forced his hand with a blatant professional foul (slowing the ball down) in front of his own posts with just eight minutes left. He also missed – although how I don’t know given that it happened right in front of him – a rather obvious playing of the ball at the bottom of a ruck by Danie Rossouw, which led to the Boks first try in the second half.
Star of the show: Despite being sin-binned near the end Skinstad deserves the award for he was streets ahead of any other player on the day. The former Springbok captain – he resumed the role on Saturday when John Smit was replaced in the second half – covered an enormous amount of ground and showed that although he’s probably lost a yard or two of pace during his self-imposed exile from the SA game he’s lost none of his silky skills. He showed some sublime touches on attack and dominated the tail of the lineouts. I’ll be very surprised if White doesn’t immediately make him his first choice No 8, with young Pierre Spies coming off the bench.
Idiot index: This listing is reserved for Bok skipper John Smit. Despite scoring the Boks’ opening try – a result of the deft lineout skills of Skinstad – he had a poor game all round. But worst of all, one has to wonder what possessed him to twice put his boot to the ball! Both times he kicked the ball directly into touch, ceding hard-earned possession to the Samoans. He should know better.


Luke Watson has unsurprisingly been omitted from the Springbok squad of 30 for the Tri-Nations, which kicks off in Cape Town on Saturday with a match against the Australians. A report in The Witness says the Stormers captain, included as player No. 46 in Jake White’s initial squad at the behest of politicians, is nursing the rib-cage injury that forced him from the field during the Samoa match. However, he has been included on a list of 15 players released to play Currie Cup rugby, as has veteran Sharks flank AJ Venter and experienced WP Springbok number eight Joe van Niekerk.
Full report in The Witness


The Springboks have some injury problems ahead of Saturday’s match, notes George Parker. Ricky Januarie joined first-choice scrumhalf Fourie du Preez on the injury list after the match against Samoa, which opens the door for Ruan Pienaar, the Sharks scrumhalf who most believe should be Du Preez’s back-up anyway. Du Preez, although officially still injured, has been included in the Tri-Nations group, as has Michael Claasens, the Cheetahs scrumhalf, who will provide cover for Januarie, who is out for four weeks with a knee injury. Wing Bryan Habana, of course, remains a non-starter after suffering a knee injury against England, but one of his possible replacements, Ashwin Willemse, was also injured against Samoa. It is not clear how serious Willemse’s injury is.


And coach Jake White has problems of his own. He will receive a letter today (Tuesday) forbidding him to meet President Thabo Mbeki on Friday. White had arranged the meeting with Mbeki in a bid to end the political pressure he is under. ‘We are completing a letter in which we inform Jake that there will be no meeting with President Mbeki,’ SA Rugby Union deputy president Mike Stofile said. ‘We cannot allow this to happen,’ he added, according to a report on the News24 site. ‘We are also writing to the Minister of Sport. All the presidents of the provincial unions feel the meeting (between White and Mbeki) should be cancelled. Jake is undermining our authority.’
Full report on the News24 site

POINTS from the PRESS

A sign of things to come up front was Bok props Os du Randt and BJ Botha exchanging high-fives after only the second scrum with the sort of glee that suggested mission accomplished.
– Sunday Times

After South Africa's successes in the Super 14 and in the two tests against England, people had begun to talk of SA rugby in tones of awe. Awe turned to awful on this breezy Saturday afternoon at lively Ellis Park when the Samoans came to play.
– Planet Rugby

The second half bordered on disgrace. The line-outs were good and the scrummaging excellent, but that is where it stopped. For the rest the Samoans were the ones who kept the ball far better and generally played with greater zest.
– Rugby 365