SPRINGBOKS THRASH JAPAN

South Africa’s Springboks kicked off their Northern Hemisphere tour in style, crushing Japan 61-7 at Wembley Stadium in London.

The world champions, fresh from their Rugby Championship triumph, were simply too powerful and too fast for Eddie Jones’ side.

It didn’t take long for the Boks to show their intent, with captain Siya Kolisi opening the scoring within four minutes, crashing over from a driving maul.

Then 23-year-old fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu lit up the first half with two quick tries, adding two conversions to help South Africa race to a 19-0 lead. His form and composure impressed head coach Rassie Erasmus, who said the youngster “doesn’t buy into his own hype.”

Japan’s discipline didn’t help their cause, with two yellow cards before the hour mark. One of them led to a penalty try that pushed South Africa further ahead before Wilco Louw grabbed his first-ever try for the Boks.

Yoshitaka Yazaki finally gave Japan something to cheer about with a well-taken try, but the Boks answered immediately. Kurt-Lee Arendse scored twice, while Andre Esterhuizen and Jesse Kriel added to the tally.

Replacement fly-half Manie Libbok slotted four conversions to seal the deal.

Image credit: Planet Rugby