The Springboks delivered a powerful message to the rest of the teams at the 2003 Rugby World Cup when they smashed Samoa by 60-10 at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium. They outscored the Samoans by eight tries to one in an emphatic show of force.
South Africa now head to Melbourne, where they will most likely face the All Blacks at the Telstra Dome in the quarter-final next Saturday, November 8.
But the message delivered by the team of Corné Krige in a powerful first-half performance was that there is plenty of fight left in a Bok side that has limped from game to game all season. It was, without doubt, the best -- and most clinical South African performance of this year.
For once this victory was not based on defence, but on a gargantuan set of forwards that set the platform and some impressive running from a backline that revelled in all the space and ball they received on the front foot.
It was all South Africa from the opening minutes and they completely crushed the Samoan spirit when the impressive Bok pack mauled the ball up field and kept control of possession. In fact, in the first five minutes the Boks had more than 80 percent of the possession.
That eventually settled down to just under 70 percent at half-time, but the Samoans were forced to live of mere morsels in that first half.
Behind this pack 20-year-old fly-half Derick Hougaard shone in his first real Test and even though he is still rough around the edges, he showed that he has arrived on the scene. His kicking out of hand and at goal was as impressive as ever and, most importantly, his option-taking superb.
The only real let-down is his near obsession with drop-goals and his sometimes crab-like running across the field when passing to hi as outside backs. But overall, he gets a pass mark, no more, a near distinction.
If the Boks were to be criticised, and this is something coach Rudolf Straeuli will have to address as a matter of urgency, it is that they still have tendency to go to sleep early in the second half. This allowed the Samoans a period of dominance in the third quarter and it very nearly gave them a sniff.
But once the Boks returned to their structured game of the forwards setting it up through mauling and phase-play, the Samoans were lost in the woods. In fact, in the final 15 minutes the South Africans scored four tries to shut the Samoans out completely.
The Boks will also be concerned about the injury of ace flanker Joe van Niekerk, who was replaced at half-time after limping through play in the late stages of the first half.
But back to that first half, when the Boks showed what they really are capable off.
In the scrums the Samoans were constantly under pressure and on the back foot, while the Boks also stole several balls from the Pacific Islanders' line-outs.
Having received so little of the ball and then still receiving it on the back foot, the Samoan runners were very tentative. Add to this some very solid hits from the Bok defenders and it was not surprising that the South Africans held a comfortable 31-3 lead at the break.
The first of the tries were scored when the Boks mauled up field and captain Corné Krige sprinted down the right-hand touchline and then, after play broke down, scrum-half Joost van der Westhuizen went on the blindside and off-loaded to Van Niekerk to score.
The second try came from a fine break by No.8 Juan Smith and a number of rucks, which produced quick ball. When the space opened wide, the ball was spread to Jorrie Muller, who summed up the situation before darting over.
Hougaard also got it on the act when he pounced on a loose ball, after the Samoans were put under pressure. The fly-half kicked the ball through and followed up to score.
And Smith completed the first-half scoring when hooker John Smit sold a huge dummy and handed the ball to the young No.8.
All the Boks' second-half tries came from broken-play, when the Samoans started to tire and could no longer close all the gaps. But it showed that the Boks do have the ability to put a team away at the death.
Man of the match: Some of the veterans in the team, including captain Corné Krige and scrum-half Joost van der Westhuizen, stood up and showed their true class. In fact, this was probably the best performance of the year from these two. Then there was fly-half Derick Hougaard's outstanding performance. But our vote goes to the entire tight five for that awesome performance in the first half, when they absolutely destroyed the Samoans.
Moment of the match: This one goes to an incident midway through the second half, when Samoan centre Brian Lima almost cut Bok fly-half Derick Hougaard in half with a tackle, following a real hospital pass from Van der Westhuizen. The young Bok No.10 was pole-axed and was down for quite a while, but after a few agonising minutes he got to his feet and took up his position at fly-half again, as if nothing had happened. That was when he signalled his arrival as a class act on the international scene.
Villain of the match: This one goes to the Australian thug that ran onto the field near the end of the match and attempted to tackle replacement fly-half Louis Koen as he aimed a conversion at the posts. Following the outcry against Piet van Zyl's actions in Durban last year, this idiot should be locked up and the key thrown away.
The Teams:
South Africa: 1 Faan Rautenbach, 2 John Smit, 3 Christo Bezuidenhout, 4 Victor Matfield, 5 Bakkies Botha, 6 Corne Krige (c), 7 Joe Van Niekerk, 8 Juan Smith, 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Derick Hougaard, 11 Ashwin Willemse, 12 De Wet Barry, 13 Jorrie Muller, 14 Thinus Delport, 15 Jaco Van Der Westhuyzen
Reserves: Jaque Fourie, Neil De Kock, Richard Bands, Schalk Burger Jr., Danie Coetzee, Louis Koen, Danie Rossouw
Samoa: 1 Jeremy Tomuli, 2 Jonathan Meredith, 3 Kas Lealamanu'a, 4 Leo Lafaiali'i, 5 Opeta Palepoi, 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 7 Peter Poulos, 8 Semo Sititi (c), 9 Steven So'oialo, 10 Earl Va'a, 11 Lome Fa'atau, 12 Romi Ropati, 13 Brian Lima, 14 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 15 Tanner Vili
Reserves: Dominic Feaunati, Des Tuiali'i, Tamato Leupolu, Denning Tyrell, Kitiona Viliamu, Dale Rasmussen
Unused: Mahonri Schwalger
Attendance: 48496
Referee: White c.
Points Scorers:
South Africa
Tries: Van Der Westhuyzen J 1, Willemse A.K. 1, Muller G.P. 1, Hougaard D.J. 1, Smith J.H. 1, Van Niekerk J.C. 1, De Kock N.A. 1, Fourie J. 1
Conv: Hougaard D.J. 5, Koen L.J. 2
Pen K.: Hougaard D.J. 1
Drop G.: Hougaard D.J. 1
Samoa
Tries: Palepoi O. 1
Conv: Va'a E.V. 1
Pen K.: Va'a E.V. 1
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