Sunday, June 22, 2008
South Africa vs Italy highlights from Cape Town
South Africa showed promise in both the tight drives and the loose interplay though could not stop the conditions from affecting multiple handling errors at crucial times. Francois Steyn, who started in the number 10 shirt, scored the try of the game following some vintage play from 2007's Player of the Year Bryan Habana, who had gone under the radar somewhat in the previous two Tests.
Habana beat numerous defenders, before Steyn backed himself with a kick through, then scooped the ball up with ease before diving over for a top quality try.
Bismarck Du Plessis found himself with a brace of tries, both from powerful lineout drives while Tendai "The Beast" Mtawarira got himself on the end of a sweeping Springbok attack to touch down for his first ever Springbok try.
Italy, on the other hand, competed where they could with flyhalf Luke McLean using his boot to control the play when possible. Apart from Alessandro Zanni holding his own against the likes of Luke Watson of South Africa, the Italians struggled to match their opponents in tight situations.
That said, playing the world champions in their own backyard is never going be easy and this should be seen as a building block towards an improved showing against Los Pumas in Argentina next weekend.
Springbok captain Victor Matfield admitted, "We won't be able to do that against the All Blacks," but will no doubt be happy with the win, despite coasting for most of the game.
Time: 04:29
Posted at 11:10 am | 15 comments
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Viewing 15 comments
AbbyNo7 June 22, 2008 11:22 am
Love the BEAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Chant.What a pick up from Francois Steyn. That boy is awesome.
Anonymous June 22, 2008 12:40 pm
Sheer class from Habana and Steyn for Steyn's try and Habana again for The Beast's try. I know Shane Williams outshone Habana in the last two tests but I never agreed with people who said that Habana wasnt a good player anymore.
Anonymous June 22, 2008 12:40 pm
Sheer class from Habana and Steyn for Steyn's try and Habana again for The Beast's try. I know Shane Williams outshone Habana in the last two tests but I never agreed with people who said that Habana wasnt a good player anymore.
bD June 22, 2008 12:46 pm
BEEEEAAAAAST!! good to see sharks forwards getting on well in the sprinkbok jersey...and steyn at 10 too :)
Ref June 22, 2008 1:39 pm
Perhaps I just haven't seen enough in the last few years, but it's great to see the growth in numbers of other-than-white players and fans for SA.
samitarugby June 22, 2008 2:50 pm
I think Italy held off pretty well - SA had at least 3 easy scoring opportunities but messed them up some way or another. And italy we missing more or less their whole pack who were busy with French club commitments. Hopefully they will score some points against the pumas next saturday.Forza Italia!
Anonymous June 22, 2008 5:54 pm
it's a shame Italy was missing Bortolami, Parisse, Nieto, Perugini, Castro and the Bergamasco brothers, otherwise they might have given the boks a run for their money.Great play by SA nevertheless. Hope they win the tri-nations this year.
Chazza June 23, 2008 6:14 am
I rekon it will be a killer tri nations this year.Australia has one of the best sides its had in around 8 years, even with all these youngsters. but i hope they play al baxter as number 1 and dunning as 3 as for hooker it should be james hanson
Sharky June 23, 2008 10:45 am
Steyn's pickup was sensational, particularly considering the soaping wet conditions and the height of the man, not to mention running at virtually full speed with guys on his tail. When he picked it up I was like 'AAAAHHHHH!!!' - Shouted so loud I think some of the neighbours thought something was wrong. Quite the opposite.Such a pity about the weather. Italy are no pushovers, but an easy 26-0 in shocking conditions surely means close to 50 in conditions conducive to running rugby. We can only speculate though. Besides Steyn's try, I thought he lost the plot with some of his aimless kicking, which he admitted to afterwards.Great to see the BEAST playing well, and getting in for a try too. Gotta love the new breed of Zimboks. :)
Anonymous June 23, 2008 3:00 pm
What id love to see is the ball getting shifter wide a little more, i mean you have mr "JET SHOES" Habana waiting to explode and then you have Tonderai "Greased Lightning" Chavanga on the other side, it really doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out what these two can do given the chance....then again, the opposition coach prob makes sure his charges close down the space...ahhh well we'll have to see in the 3 nations.Can anyone come up with reasons why the wings havent recieved ball?
Anonymous June 24, 2008 12:59 am
Am I the only one who is going to critisize the South African performance? I thought for a world champion team it was an absolutely shocking game, a win is a win yes but I think some serious evaluation needs to be considered about the South African backs. If not for the forwards I would dread to think what would happen.
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