Springboks

Bok wings shine in comfortable Japan win

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Makazole Mapimpi
  • Post published:September 6, 2019

The Springboks ended their preparations for the upcoming World Cup with a 41-7 win over hosts Japan in a warm-up in Kumagaya on Friday. DYLAN JACK reports.

The major talking point going into the Test surrounded the upset that Japan caused the Boks in the 2015 World Cup. The hosts were expected to give the Boks a similar contest, but a hat-trick from Makazole Mapimpi and brace from Cheslin Kolbe steered the visitors to what was a comfortable victory in the end.

Rassie Erasmus will be pleased that the Springbok defence operated well especially and forced Japan into errors whenever they tried to spread the ball. The Springboks also outplayed the hosts tactically, with Handre Pollard and Faf de Klerk, in particular, enjoying standout matches in this regard.

There will be a bit of concern, however, over how the Boks let Japan back into the match in the second half as the game opened up and the visitors started to fall off tackles. Trevor Nyakane also hobbled off after coming on in the second half with what appeared to be a leg injury.

As predicted, Japan started the Test at a high tempo and tried to exploit the space out wide whenever possible. The Boks, meanwhile, took their time to adjust to conditions, slowing the game down and testing the Japanese back three with a number of well-placed kicks.

It was from a pinpoint kick from Willie le Roux that the Boks were able to score the opening try as they forced a knock-on from the ensuing Japan lineout. Strong carries from Lukhanyo Am and Le Roux from the scrum gave the visitors momentum, before Cheslin Kolbe stepped past his man and reached over to open the scoring.

Japan tended to keep their clearance kicks short to give their wings the best possible chance of regathering. However, this came back to hurt them when Le Roux was able to snatch the ball out of the air just outside the 22 and send Mapimpi away for the second try. A massive scrum effort saw Le Roux able to again release Mapimpi who sprinted clear for his brace. Pollard knocked over a penalty to see the Boks into a 22-0 lead at the break.

Japan flew out of the gates in the second half but the Bok defence once again held out on their own tryline. Mapimpi went over for his hat-trick after good hands from Pieter-Steph du Toit.

The Boks experimented with Frans Steyn as a flyhalf as he came on for Pollard in the second half. However, the replacement did not have the best first action as a mistimed pass was intercepted and saw Kotaro Matsushima sprint clear for Japan’s only try.

Francois Louw saw yellow for a breakdown penalty as the hosts continued to try and claw their way back into the match. An intercept try from Kolbe stretched the lead, though, with Herschel Jantjies also going over for his fourth Test try in the last minute.

Japan – Try: Kotaro Matsushima. Conversion: Yu Tamura.
Springboks – Tries: Cheslin Kolbe (2), Makazole Mapimpi (3), Herschel Jantjies. Conversions: Handre Pollard (2), Frans Steyn (2). Penalty: Pollard

Japan – 15 William Tupou, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Timothy Lafaele, 12 Ryoto Nakamura, 11 Kenki Fukuoka, 10 Yu Tamura, 9 Kaito Shigeno, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Pieter Labuschagne, 6 Michael Leitch (c), 5 Uwe Helu, 4 Luke Thompson, 3 Koo Ji-won, 2 Atsushi Sakate, 1 Keita Inagaki.
Subs: 16 Takuya Kitade, 17 Isileli Nakajima, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 James Moore, 20 Yoshitaka Tokunaga, 21 Yutaka Nagare, 22 Rikiya Matsuda, 23 Ataata Moeakiola.

Springboks – 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Subs: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Francois Louw, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Frans Steyn, 23 Jesse Kriel.

Photo: Steve Haag Sports/Hollywoodbets