The Blitzboks dodged a bullet in Perth. What should have been a routine opening-day victory against Spain on Saturday turned into a full-blown crisis before South Africa scraped through 33-14 at HBF Park. If you thought the fourth-place finish in Singapore was bad, this nearly got a whole lot worse.
Philip Snyman’s men looked the business early on. Just two minutes in, Tristan Leyds spotted the gap from a scrum and put Shilton van Wyk through a massive hole. Van Wyk did the rest, burning through from the 22m line to score under the sticks. Ricardo Duarttee slotted the extras and suddenly it was 7-0 and looking comfortable.
Van Wyk nearly grabbed his second moments later, but got hauled down just short. No worries though – the Blitzboks shifted it wide and David Britz strolled over untouched on the opposite flank. Easy money, right?
Wrong.
Spain flip the script
Spain came roaring back. Wave after wave of attack battered the Blitzboks defence until something had to give. Jeremy Trevithick eventually found the gap and scampered under the posts right on the half-time hooter. Juan Ramos nailed the conversion and suddenly Spain were back in it at 12-7.
Then things got properly hairy. Spain picked up exactly where they left off in the second half, and within two minutes Trevithick was over again in the corner. Ramos produced an absolute screamer of a conversion from the touchline and the impossible had happened – Spain led 14-12.
Cue the panic stations.
Oosthuizen to the rescue
Ryan Oosthuizen saved South Africa’s bacon with a perfectly-timed interception as Spain threatened to run riot. He sparked the counter-attack and Zain Davids finished it off brilliantly. Duarttee’s conversion put the Blitzboks back in front 19-14 with about three minutes left, but the damage to their confidence had been done.
Zander Reynders finally put the game to bed, exploiting tired Spanish legs to cruise through and make it 26-14 after Donovan Don’s conversion. Luan Giliomee added a late debut try on the SVNS series, with Don converting again for the final 33-14 scoreline.
Reality check
On paper, a 19-point win looks decent. In reality, this was a disaster narrowly avoided. Spain exposed defensive holes and showed that any team can trouble the Blitzboks if they bring enough intensity.
Next up? Argentina, and then Singapore champions Fiji. If South Africa turn in another performance like this against either of those sides, they might not escape with a win.
