The Springboks stormed to a 61-7 victory over Japan at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. They scored four first-half tries, including a penalty try.
Captain Siya Kolisi opened the scoring. Two tries from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and a penalty try completed a 26-0 half-time lead.
Heavy rain in the first half caused multiple handling errors for Japan. The Red Blossoms were reduced to 14 men before the break when Shuhei Takeuchi was sin-binned for repeated scrum infringements.
Second-half surge secures win
Early in the second half, Japan dropped to 13 players as Ben Gunter was sin-binned for a shoulder charge on Kolisi. Substitutions in the fourth minute of the second half shifted momentum firmly to South Africa.
Wilco Louw, coming off the bench, scored the fifth try. Japan managed to score their only try through Yoshitaka Yazaki in the 51st minute, breaking the deadlock. However, they never threatened South Africa’s dominance.
South African substitutes make impact
In the 55th minute, Mannie Libbok and Grant Williams replaced Cobus Reinach and Feinberg-Mngomezulu. This added fresh pace. A try by Andre Esterhuizen was ruled out after a TMO review, but Libbok soon crossed the line to extend the lead.
Esterhuizen scored South Africa’s seventh try in the 62nd minute after a powerful maul. Cheslin Kolbe’s brilliance enabled Kurt-Lee Arendse to score the eighth try. Jessie Kriel secured the final try in the 78th minute. A Libbok conversion sealed the 61-7 win.
Springboks maintain top ranking
Japan, ranked outside the top 10 in World Rugby, were never able to replicate their famous 2015 victory. South Africa, ranked first, demonstrated clinical execution across all areas of the game.
