Samoa 'hunted down' Boks
2007-06-10 22:41
Johannesburg - There were no reported major injuries but the physical approach of the Samoan rugby team left, almost predictably, a few dents in the South African squad after the Test match at Ellis Park on Saturday.
It seems as if scrumhalf Ricky Januarie, who injured his knee, could be on the sidelines for a while, but the Bok management had no coment.
At some stage, early in the second half, the Springboks went down as if it were hunting season in the Bushveld.
It was a cause of frustration for Jake White, the home team's coach, who said later more details about the injuries would be known only on Monday.
"I was rather satisfied with the way the guys played in the first half but we lost our rhythm in the second half," White said.
The Springboks had Jaque Fourie in place of right wing Ashwin Willemse when they returned to the field after halftime.
Willemse (hand injury), had defended well on a couple of occasions but at times seemed to be imitating a traffic officer the way he kept gesticulating.
About four minutes into the second half scrumhalf Ricky Januarie, who had been playing well, set off on a run that should have produced a try for Bob Skinstad.
Instead of passing, Januarie held on to the ball. He was heavily tackled, resulting in a knee injury that forced him to leave the field.
He had just departed when centre Wayne Julies collided with Samoan flank Daniel Leo. Julies stayed down but managed to get up before a stretcher could be called for.
He played on but was replaced by Percy Montgomery about ten minutes later.
Even before the replacement was made, Springbok captain John Smit went off with a bleeding nose. Some spectators approved, because Smit had just produced his second dismal kick of the match.
He was replaced by Gary Botha, and Bob Skinstad took over the captaincy.
Smit's nose had hardly been plugged up when debutant flank Luke Watson stayed down after a hard knock to the ribs. He was replaced by Pedrie Wannenburg.
It coincided with the pre-planned replacement of veteran prop forward Os du Randt, who made way for Deon Carstens, with 28 minutes of playing time remaining.
To add to the disruptions, Skinstad received a yellow card for playing the ball on the ground.
All these injuries and strategic replacements contributed to a period of thoroughly unconvincing rugby by the Springboks, a late try by the Samoans and a modest 35-8 score.