By Ben Jaycock, Assistant Editor
South Africa……………………..76
Tries: Reinach 3, 9, 24; Mapimpi 7, 64, 68; Willemse 12, Fourie 43, Williams 55, 62, Le Roux 74
Romania…………………………….0
Cobus Reinach scored a hat-trick after just 24 minutes as South Africa blew Romania away with a scintillating 12-try win in Bordeaux on Sunday.
Further tries from Damian Willemse, Deon Fourie, Willie le Roux, a penalty try and two from Grant Williams and another treble from Makazole Mapimpi were enough for the Springboks to secure back to back comprehensive victories ahead of next Saturday’s pressure cooker Test against world no.1 Ireland.
Romania couldn’t take their chances in the red zone and the second tier nation were overpowered throughout by a ruthless Springboks.
It took the reigning champions just two and a half minutes to open the scoring as Reinach went to the right off the base of a scrum, feinted to pass and glided over for a simple try.
Willemse missed out several green shirts with a long pass to Le Roux, who then selflessly flipped the ball back inside to Mapimpi just inside the corner flag.
It was three inside 10 minutes as Reinach slipped through attempted tackles for his second.
The four-try bonus point was sealed after 11 minutes as Willemse produced a wicked step to slide through a porous Romania defence.
After a rare Springbok error, Tevita Manumua missed a fairly straightforward kick at goal to at least get something on the board for Romania.
Marco van Staden crossed but the second row was deemed to have blocked illegally and the try was ruled out by the TMO.
Romania had a scrum five metres from their own line but the sheer force of the South Africa pack drove them backwards.
Scrum-half Reinach had the simple task of picking up the ball as it squirted out for his hat-trick try.
Fourie, usually a back row but pressed into action as an emergency hooker in Malcolm Marx’s injured absence, rolled over the line following a pinpoint throw and rumble inwards at the start of the second half.
Romania’s scrum couldn’t cope with the Springboks’ shove and the referee makes the call that gave the world champions another seven points.
Moments later, the Boys went left off a scrum and Williams slipped back to the right at pace to slice through a non-existent defence and touch down under the posts.
Faf de Klerk finished the game at fly-half and fed the ball on his inside to Williams, who blasted over from close-range.
De Klerk and Le Roux started an attack from inside their own 22, with Mapimpi then racing clear from deep inside his own half to touch down near the corner flag,
The two playmakers linked up once more setting up Mapimpi for his hat-trick.
In the closing stages, South Africa spun the ball right and Le Roux, despite having Mapimpi outside him, elected to have a go at the line himself and score his first ever World Cup try to round off the scoring.
SOUTH AFRICA: Le Roux, Williams, Moodie, Esterhuizen, Mapimpi, Willemse (de Klerk 57), Reinach (Hendrikse 46); Nche (Kitshoff 60), Mbonambi (c) (Fourie 41), Nyakane (Malherbe 60), Kleyn, Orie (Snyman 41), van Staden, Smith, Vermeulen
ROMANIA: Siminionescu, Manumua, Tomane (Pop 60), Gontineac (Conache 67), Onutu, Vaovasa, Rupanu; Hartig (Savin 57), Cojocaru (Irimescu 60), Gordas (Cretu 51), Motoc, Iftimiciuc (Iancu 52), Gorin (Stratila 55), Neculau (Bodoc 41), Chirica (c)
Referee: Mathieu Raynal
Star man: Cobus Reinach – South Africa
