Springboks down Georgia during thrilling encounter in Mbombela

The Herald

2 days ago

The visitors were on a crusade to leave their mark, as decreed by their tough-as-teak coach Richard Cockerill. There was much bellicose talk from Cockerill in the build-up to the clash, with the combative former England hooker suggesting physicality is in the Georgian DNA.
Indeed the tourists were full of effort and endeavour in the opening half-hour. When flyhalf Luka Matkava slotted a penalty in the 29th minute, the Lelos — ranked 11th in the world — were just five points adrift from the back-to-back Rugby World Cup holders.
Eventually, though, the star quality of the hosts shone through as the Lelos struggled to keep up with the lung-busting pace of the game.
Centre Canan Moodie and wing Edwill van der Merwe revelled in the space and time afforded them, while in tighter confines lock Ruan Nortje was a Trojan as he splendidly rose to the challenge.
In the second half, substitute lock RG Snyman freed his arms as the Boks transitioned seamlessly from defence to attack.
Debutant front-rankers Boan Venter, Marnus van der Merwe and Neethling Fouche were tasked with quelling a Georgian scrumming vanguard and they did so effortlessly.
No 8 Cobus Wiese stepped into the breach for his banned brother Jasper and there were times he lacked finesse. His job, however, was to bring punch to the Bok carries and dead weight to their first line of defence.