Springboks put innovation to one side in destructive victory over Georgia

The Springboks decided not to reveal too many more tricks as they went the direct route to secure a comfortable 55-10 victory over Georgia.

A week after Rassie Erasmus’ men caused another stir in the rugby world by bringing some innovation in their triumph over Italy, they were a bit more traditional in Mbombela.

South Africa were stunned early on as Vano Karkadze crossed the whitewash, but they soon asserted their dominance, particularly up front, as Boan Venter and Marnus van der Merwe touched down on debut.

The Boks went over twice more in the first half via Canan Moodie and Van der Merwe before the latter’s namesake, Edwill van der Merwe, went over early in the second period.

Wing Van der Merwe would also complete his brace, but not before Damian Willemse had scored as the hosts eased to the win.

They would then end the game in style as Kurt-Lee Arendse and Handre Pollard took them past the 50-point mark.

After nilling Italy last weekend, Erasmus would have set them the task of being just as ruthless against Georgia, but those plans went up in smoke in the opening mistakes.

Two mistakes from the kick-off — Grant Williams’ clearance going awry and a subsequent penalty — enabled the visitors to set up an opportunity in the 22.  The lineout went smoothly and their drive marched the Boks backwards before Karkadze crossed the whitewash

After seeing their pride dented by the Lelos’ maul score, the hosts responded and looked to inflict similar forward-oriented pain on the away side.

Initially, they attempted a variation on the Cam Roigard try for the All Blacks last weekend but, after Van der Merwe was shunted backwards, they decided to go route one.

It didn’t take long for the Georgian line to be breached as on debut loosehead prop Venter touched down from close range.

South Africa then began to create more opportunities via their talented backline with Williams and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu both testing the visiting rearguard, but there was no doubt that the direct route was giving them the most success.

They went back to their trusty maul, and Marnus van der Merwe followed his front-row colleague by going over on his Test bow.

After a slow start, it looked like the Springboks could move away from their opponents, and when they manufactured a brilliant try for Moodie, a dominant victory looked on the cards.

However, a mixture of Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s errant kicking and Georgian resilience kept the game in the balance for a while.

The fly-half missed his first three conversion attempts, which meant when Luka Matkava kicked a penalty, just five points separated the teams after half-an-hour.

Erasmus’ side would give themselves some breathing space at the break, though, when Marnus van der Merwe completed their brace and they built on that at the start of the second period.

South Africa touched down twice in the third quarter to put the game to bed and make sure that they would head into the Rugby Championship with consecutive victories.

Firstly, Edwill van der Merwe scored one of the easiest tries of his career when Williams’ bullet pass landed in his arms just two metres out from the line before Willemse crossed the whitewash after a set play from a scrum.

The clash then became scrappy, but South Africa finished with a flourish as Van der Merwe, Arendse and Pollard went over in the final 10 minutes.

The teams

South Africa:  15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Cobus Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Neethling Fouche 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements:  16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Damian Willemse

Georgia:  15 Davit Niniashvili, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Demur Tapladze, 12 Giorgi Kveseladze, 11 Alexander Todua, 10 Luka Matkava, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Ilia Spanderashvili, 7 Beka Saginadze (c), 6 Luka Ivanishvili, 5 Lado Chachanidze, 4 Mikheili Babunashvili, 3 Irakli Aptsiauri, 2 Vano Karkadze, 1 Giorgi Akhaladze
Replacements:  16 Irakli Kvatadze, 17 Giorgi Tetrashvili, 18 Beka Gigashvili, 19 Demur Epremidze, 20 Sandro Mamamtvarishvili, 21 Tornike Jalagonia, 22 Tedo Abzhandadze, 23 Tornike Kakhoidze

Referee:  Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant referees:  Hollie Davidson (SRU), Adam Leal (RFU)
TMO:  Andrew Jackson (RFU)
FPRO:  Tual Trainini (FFR)