“I think he will just get better. I think he was solid. You look at his ball carries – that was decisive and good. His defence, I thought his level changed well and he put some proper shoulder hits in.”
It’ will be a nervy week for the Springboks at the Rugby World Cup in France after the reigning World Champions completed their Pool B matches last night.
The Boks did all the game with a hard-fought 49-18 victory over Tonga in Marseille. Now it’s a matter of waiting for the result between Ireland and Scotland to see if they advance.
The Springboks scored seven tries for the bonus point win, and more importantly, Handre Pollard and Manie Libbok had a perfect evening with the kicking tee.
The win moved the Boks up to 15 points and the top spot of the Pool for now.
The Springboks coach, Jacques Nienaber, said it was important for Pollard to make his return to international rugby and he felt that the pivot ticked all the boxes required.
“Handre, the important part is he had 30 minutes at Premiership Cup level, which is a little bit below international level, tonight he got 50 minutes against a proper Tonga side that has got better as the tournament has gone on. They are a team who will just improve the more they play tier-one nations.
“They have some top players that have played for New Zealand, Australia. Some of them play for the Crusaders, Toulouse, so they know what rugby is about.
“He got a proper test match against that. He got through 50 minutes.
“I think he will just get better. I think he was solid. You look at his ball carries – that was decisive and good. His defence, I thought his level changed well and he put some proper shoulder hits in. I thought his off-the-ball work was good and his kicking game in general was good. The fundamentals for which we wanted him to tick the boxes, I think he ticked tonight.”
Meanwhile, Scotland fired a massive warning shot in Pool B and they have established themselves as genuine contenders to advance to the quarter-finals.
The Scots trashed Romania 84-0 in Lille to keep their chances alive of reaching the next round. Scotland scored 12 tries in total with Darcy Graham crossing the whitewash on no less than four occasions.
For Scotland to reach the next round they will have to beat Ireland with a bonus point at Stade de France in Paris on Saturday night. This will also mean breaking the 16-match unbeaten run by the Irish.
The Scottish captain and lock, Grant Gilchrist, said they needed the big win to keep their chances alive.
“That was the bigger picture tonight and we knew we needed five points but we needed more than that.
“We needed a performance that was a step forward for us as a group, we got that. We know that next week is a new week, we need to build.
“You don’t need to big up next weekend anymore, it’s huge and our preparation will reflect that.”
On Friday the All Blacks also sent a clear message from their side that it was directed at Ireland, who they will most likely meet in the quarter-finals.
The All Blacks who were under pressure destroyed a very confident Italy 96-17 to keep their chances alive. A win against Uruguay on Thursday should be enough for the three-time World Champions to reach the last eight. However, the Azzurri could bounce back and stun France on Friday.
In the weekend’s other results, Argentina claimed a very important 59-5 win against Chile, while Fiji’s thrilling 17-13 win against Georgia means that if they beat Portugal this week they advance ahead of the Wallabies. The Wallabies in turn beat Portugal 34-14. The Wallabies will certainly be rooting for Portugal in their big game against Fiji.
Morgan Piek
