Springboks hammer Japan at Wembley Stadium

MATCH REPORT: The Springboks were too powerful for Eddie Jones’ Japan at Wembley Stadium as the world champions recorded a 61-7 win on Saturday to open their end-of-year tour.

Rassie Erasmus’ side scored nine tries in the match, with flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and wing Kurt-Lee Arendse both scoring a brace.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu showed his pedigree again with ball in hand on attack, while it was a great debut for prop Zachary Porthen, who was strong in the scrums.

There will be some concerns over Ox Nche ahead of next weekend’s showdown against France in Paris.

The big prop left the field in the 19th minute with what looked like a lower leg injury.

It was a clinical start by the Boks, and they found themselves in front in the fourth minute when Siya Kolisi crashed his way over the tryline from a powerful driving maul.

The Boks scored their second in the 13th minute after Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked and chased his own ball before gathering a loose one to score after Lee Seung-sin fumbled at the back.

The South African playmaker was on fire in wet conditions, and he was in again in the 18th minute after some great footwork and acceleration saw him glide through Japan’s defence to score a five-pointer.

Despite Nche’s injury, the Boks continued to dominate up front. They extended their lead in the 35th minute when they were awarded a penalty try after Japan collapsed a maul near their tryline. Prop Shuhei Takeuchi was given a yellow card for the infringement.

Japan had their moments when they troubled the South Africans with ball in hand, but there was a lack of composure at crucial stages.

At half-time, it was 26-0 to the Boks.

Japan suffered another blow three minutes into the second half when Ben Gunter was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle on Kolisi.

And just a few minutes later, prop Wilco Louw scored his first Test try for the Boks after collecting an inside ball from Kwagga Smith in Japan’s 22.

Flyhalf Feinberg-Mngomezulu also played a key role with the initial half-break on attack.

Japan eventually opened their account in the 52nd minute after Yoshitaka Yazaki caught the Springbok defence napping with a quick-tap penalty before diving over the tryline.

The Boks thought they had hit back in the 57th minute with hybrid player Andre Esterhuizen finding his way to the tryline from a maul. However, the try was eventually ruled out after obstruction was spotted in the line-out.

The South Africans eventually got their sixth try moments later when Arendse pounced on the loose ball before kicking it ahead and gathering it just before he went over the whitewash.

Esterhuizen eventually got his try in the 63rd minute when he powered through Japan’s defence with a strong run.

More gaps started to appear in Japan’s defence in the final quarter, and a player like Cheslin Kolbe pounced on it.

After a great run, he kicked the ball ahead, and Arendse showed his speed again to gather the ball and slide over for his second try.

The wing also had a hand in his team’s last try when he gave the final pass to Jesse Kriel to race away for the score.

Man of the match: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was excellent on attack in the first half and he scored two tries. However, the award goes to his teammate Kurt-Lee Arendse, who was devastating out wide. He also got a brace and gave the final pass to Jesse Kriel for his try after another strong run.

Moment of the match: It has to go to Wilco Louw, who showed his speed and strength to run in for his first Test try.

The scorers:

For South Africa:
Try: Kolisi, Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2, Penalty Try, Louw, Arendse 2, Esterhuizen, Kriel
Cons: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 3, Libbok 4

For Japan:
Try: Yazaki
Con: Seung-sin

Yellow cards: Shuhei Takeuchi (Japan, 35′ – cynical play, collapsing the maul); Ben Gunter (Japan, 43′ – foul play, high tackle)

Teams:

South Africa: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Ethan Hooker, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Ruan Nortje, 20 Andre Esterhuizen, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Manie Libbok.

Japan: 15 Yoshitaka Yazaki, 14 Kippei Ishida, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Charlie Lawrence, 11 Tomoki Osada, 10 Lee Seung-sin, 9 Shinobu Fujiwara, 8 Michael Leitch, 7 Kanji Shimokawa, 6 Ben Gunter, 5 Warner Dearns, 4 Jack Cornelsen, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 2 Kenji Sato, 1 Kenta Kobayashi.
Replacements: 16 Shodai Hirao, 17 Ryosuke Iwaihara, 18 Keijiro Tamefusa, 19 Tyler Paul, 20 Faulua Makisi, 21 Kenta Fukuda, 22 Sam Greene, 23 Tiennan Costley.

Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keefe (New Zealand), Adam Leal (England)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Scotland)

Main photo credit: Brad Roberts