Boks’ 12-try thumping of Romania: ‘We kept it simple,’ says Mbonambi

The Springboks put in a dominant display to brush aside a poor Romania at a wet Stade de Bordeaux on Sunday afternoon, cruising to a 76-0 win in their second pool match of the World Cup.

Despite some tricky conditions stopping the Boks from running completely rampant, they still did the job they needed to do, picking up a big points difference win while also testing out a few combinations, ahead of their big clash against Ireland this coming weekend.

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Scrumhalf Cobus Reinach and wing Makazole Mapimpi both ran in hat tricks as the Boks ran in 12 unanswered tries over the 80 minutes, with Mapimpi as humble as ever after the match.

“We prepared for the rain, we knew it was coming, but the only thing we spoke about was the physicality. We needed to bring it,” said Mapimpi after the game.

“I don’t put myself in front (first), it’s all about the team. It’s not about me walking over to score the tries. A lot of guys did well, like André (Esterhuizen) and Willie (Le Roux), and I appreciate their work.”

Bonus point

Bok captain Bongi Mbonambi was also happy with the work of his players as they secured a bonus point try within the first 13 minutes of the match.

“We just kept it simple, we stuck to our plan and kept it tight, because all respect to Romania. They’re tough in contact, full of pride and we knew it was going to be difficult,” said Mbonambi.

The Boks got the game off to a blistering start as Reinach sniped over for two tries either side of a first for Mapimpi, while a massive step from flyhalf Damian Willemse allowed him to score their fourth, with three conversions giving them a 26-0 lead.

Flank Marco van Staden had a try chalked off by the TMO before Reinach was in for his hattrick after a monster scrum from the Boks against the head in the 23^rd minute, with Willemse’s extras putting them 33-0 up.

The poor weather that had threatened since before the match then arrived with the rain pouring down which saw the game become extremely scrappy over the rest of the half, which saw the Boks not adding to their tally as they went into the break comfortably ahead.

Seven tries

Conditions got slightly better in the second half and that allowed the Boks to kick on as they ran in a further seven tries over the second 40.

Replacement hooker Deon Fourie was the first off the back of a big maul, while a penalty try after a massive scrum on Romania’s 5m put the Boks 45-0 up after 52 minutes.

A quickfire double from right wing Grant Williams, converted by Willemse and replacement flyhalf Faf de Klerk, was followed by Mapimpi running his hattrick with a quickfire double of his own as fullback Willie le Roux superbly assisted both tries with delayed passes.

De Klerk slotted the second conversion which gave the Boks a massive 71-0 lead in the 68^th minute, before Le Roux got himself on the try scorers list five minutes later as he threw a dummy and ghosted over for the teams 12^th and final try of the match.

Scorers

Springboks: Tries – Cobus Reinach (3), Makazole Mapimpi (3), Damian Willemse, Deon Fourie, Penalty Try, Grant Williams (2), Willie le Roux; Conversions – Willemse (5), Faf de Klerk (2)