Boks win, but unimpressive

South Africans let it slip

The Springboks got their Australasian tour off to a victorious start with a 38-24 win over the Pacific Islanders in Gosford on Saturday. The win also saw veteran fullback Percy Montgomery overtake Naas Botha as the most prolific points scorer for the Boks.

But the Boks will not be happy with a performance that saw them slip from total domination in the first half to an outfit that lacked cohesion and structure to allow the gutsy Islanders team back into the game after the break.

The Boks were never going to attempt to beat the Islanders at their own game and they signaled their intent early on, destroying their out-gunned opponents in the forward exchanges. It was an awesome display by the South African pack, out-muscling the Islanders at the breakdowns and scrums and out-jumping them at the lineouts.

The commentators implied that the Islanders were suffering from fatigue after a gruelling Test schedule, but such an assumption was laughable. The Boks were simply denying their opponents any ball, and the little they got was on the back-foot and under immense pressure.

Montgomery got the scoring underway with a long-range penalty and the Boks then spent the next five minutes camped in the Islander half for a prolonged period of assault from their gargantuan tight five.

Predictably the first Bok try came from the scrum - an area the Islanders never came to grips with despite their weight advantage - and young No.8 Jacques Cronje broke from the back and scored underneath the posts. Montgomery continued to find the middle of the posts.

The Islanders attempted to gather some momentum after the try, but when Bok centre De Wet Barry put in a massive hit on his opposite number the Islanders were turned over and hurried back into their own 22.

Scrum-half Bolla Conradie chipped over the retreating defence and winger Breyton Paulse showed a clean pair of heels to snap the ball up and go over for the first of his two tries. Montgomery continued to close in on Botha's record with the conversion.

At the break it looked ominous for the Islanders with the Boks well in control at 23-0.

But the second half was a different game. The Islanders looked more motivated, while the Boks - sensing a big win - began to play as individuals, seeking personal glory over the whitewash, rather  than keeping to the game-plan that had worked to their advantage.

It worked initially with fly-half Jaco van der Westhuyzen drawing the defence to put Paulse over for his second of the evening.

Montgomery then claimed the South African record with another long-range effort, but the glory was short-lived when brilliant Islander winger Sitiveni Sivivatu burst through some shabby Bok defence to score in the corner.

But it served as little motivation to the South Africans who continued to throw the ball around shamelessly. The result was a host of errors and another Sivivatu try in the corner.

The sight of the Chiefs star grounding the ball again seemed to sting the Boks back into action and it was again Montgomery who proved the catalyst, chipping through the Islanders defence for winger Jean de Villiers to pick up his first international try.

But from that point onwards the Boks did little to impress. Their game-plan was thrown out the window never to return. Montgomery in particular seemed to suffer a rapid change of fortune, but he was not the only one.

Two more tries from hard-running No.8 Sione Lauaki and big winger Sireli Bobo made the score more respectable for the Islanders at 38-24. But it should never have been that close.

The Boks should have closed the game down long before Bobo went over in the 80th minute and it should serve as a wake-up call for the South Africans who will face a far more challenging All Blacks side next weekend in Christchurch.

Man of the match: For the Islanders Sivivatu and Lauaki were both superb and never threw in the towel. But this award could go to only one man - Schalk Burger - who once again got through a mountain of work for the Boks. Where he gets the energy is anybody's guess.

Moment of the match: There were some fantastic tries, but Jean de Villiers' try in the second half welcomed the belated return of a phenomenal talent, who has been kept off the centre stage for far too long.

Villian of the match: It was a clean game and despite some poor option-taking, nobody deserves this award. 

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Tries: Cronje, Paulse 2, De Villiers
Cons: Montgomery 3
Pens: Montgomery 4

For the Pacific Islanders:
Tries: Sivivatu 2, Lauaki, Bobo
Cons: Rabeni 2

Venue: Express Advocate Stadium, Gosford, New South Wales
Conditions: Scattered Clouds with a high of 17°C and a breeze
Referee: Scott Young (Australia)
Touch Judges: Stuart Dickinson, Brett Bowden (Australia)
Assessor: Stuart Beissel (New Zealand)
Television match official: Matt Goddard (Australia)