South Africa 87 Namibia 0:Bryan Habana became South Africa's record try scorer as the Springboks claimed a record World Cup win with a 12-try romp against Namibia in their Pool D meeting at North Harbour Stadium.
Habana registered the second of South Africa’s tries, being put clear by Danie Rossouw for a simple run-in to move beyond the mark of 38 he shared with 1995 World Cup winner Joost van der Westhuizen.
The other five-pointers came from Gio Aplon (2), Jaque Fourie, a penalty try, Francois Steyn, Morne Steyn, Juan de Jongh (2), Francois Hougaard (2) and Rossouw as Namibia were brushed aside.
Morne Steyn added a penalty and six conversions for a 20-point haul, with replacement Ruan Pienaar also adding the extras to six scores. The only concern for South Africa was the sight of lock Bakkies Botha, who has struggled with an Achilles injury, limping off in the second half.
Namibia had enjoyed a brief early period of possession but Steyn’s penalty booted the Springboks into a fourth-minute lead. The first try came just three minutes later as Namibia were robbed in contact and Hougaard sent Aplon clear.
Hougaard had a try called back but there then followed a scrappy passage of play with the Boks making a plethora of handling errors and allowing Namibia, whose flankers Jacques Burger and Tinus du Plessis were getting through a mountain of work, to stay in the game.
But South Africa’s second try arrived after 21 minutes with Rossouw’s cut-out pass giving Habana a straightforward score to go to the head of the Boks tryscoring list.
While South Aftica’s all-round game had lacked accuracy, their scrum was, as expected, proving far too strong for their opponents and that power yielded a penalty try on the half-hour mark after Namibia’s front-row were pulverised once again.
And Fourie rounded off the first-half scoring as Francois Steyn’s half-break and smart offload saw him canter in by the posts.
Aplon thought he had his second try of the night five minutes into the second half after getting to Habana’s chip through, but video referee Graham Hughes deemed that the wing had knocked on. But the fifth try of the match was not long in coming as the lively Hougaard’s quick tap led to Francois Steyn scoring for his third-straight World Cup match.
A scything break from Francois Steyn should have yielded a sixth try only for the ball to be lost forward as the pack rumbled over the line. A powerful maul then laid the platform for Hougaard to give Morne Steyn an easy try before Pierre Spies’ barrelling run down the right saw him feed inside for replacement De Jongh to score just seconds after taking the field.
The floodgates were now wide open and Aplon waltzed over for the eighth try, with Hougaard gaining a richly-deserved score shortly after. De Jongh took the try count in to double figures before Rossouw’s workaholic outing was rewarded and Hougaard rounded off the scoring.
