The sign in the crowd said it all: 2015: Never again!
Simple, short and to the point. The Springboks were never going to revisit the memory of the Miracle of Brighton - as the rest of the world put it. This was Wembley, and a far more focused Springbok team simply did the business and put Japan to the sword in a 61-7 one-sided contest.
There were no shocks, and no last minute smiles by Eddie Jones. Brighton was a decade back and the Boks are a far different beast now to what they were then. In that first week of the World Cup it was a game made for complacency, for a shock and for the unknown.
As the Boks ran in nine tries for their victory, there wasn’t a thought on the result in the same country a decade back. The Boks had deflected it the entire week, even as the British press had tried hard to make it a narrative.
Before Brighton 2015 we would have hardly given a 61-7 scoreline between the Boks and Japan a second thought. Most Bok fans would have gone “mmm” and moved on. And that is what this game did.
TICKED THE BOXES
For all the playing up of narratives through the week, this game came down to a few things. It was the way to get the Japanese-based players - who know their opposition better than all their teammates - a run after a month on the sidelines.
It was a confidence boosting matter and a ticking of the boxes, so to speak. A number of players got game time and ahead of the potentially massive Stade de France fixture against the aggrieved French next weekend that is all that counts.
But there were costs as well. The Boks found - at least by the crowd numbers - that playing at the same time as England in Great Britain doesn’t quite draw the crowds, especially when your opposition may not be first tier.
Japan may have pushed Australia to within four points last weekend, but it is hard to say this Bok team is anywhere near the same level as that. They have moved upwards, onwards and are on a different level.
OX INJURY COSTLY
The biggest cost was the injury to Ox Nche - the player who should walk the World Player of the Year award hands down, but probably won’t because of the precluding bias against front row players.
Nche limped off the field early on, felled by two Japanese players who conspired to take him out off the ball and with an awkward thump his game was over. The Bok staff will hope it is more stiff and sore than a lasting injury.
Not that the Boks lack depth in his place. Gerhard Steenekamp has done enough deputy duty to show he is ready for the task, but Paris is a whole different kettle of fish altogether and after their 2023 quarterfinal loss, the French will be seething with revenge. This coming week will be a very interesting week indeed.
There were also heavy sighs of relief when referee Eoghan Cross decided Wilco Louw’s audacious run and fend off of replacement scrumhalf Kenta Fukuda was just a penalty, when the TMO seemed to suggest leading with the elbow. A conspiracy theorist’s day would have been made had the decision been different.
GLIMPSES OF THE SFM SHOW
There were good moments too. We saw a glimpse of the SFM show as upstart Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu stole the early limelight with two tries and put the Boks on the road to a predicted victory.
There was also the return of Kurt-Lee Arendse, who moved past Pieter Rossouw to go into ninth spot overall and be just one behind JP Pietersen on the all time scoring list with his brace.
But for the most part it was what was expected. The Bok pack would have too much power, their maul would be too strong and ultimately Japan would struggle to contain the power and pace of the Bok team.
There was never going to be a Brighton miracle. There was never going to be another upset. This was a regulation day at the park for the Bok team and they made sure they got enough in before Stade de France next weekend.
The carnage started as early as the fourth minute when in the second powerful maul, Japan’s defence disintegrated and captain Siya Kolisi went over.
Then the SFM show got rolling. First it was an audacious up and under that placed Seunsin Lee under pressure and when the flyhalf couldn’t collect and knocked it back, Feinberg-Mngomezulu snatched up the ball and scored with ease.
He then took the Boks further ahead with a show and go, putting on the pace after the dummy to surge through and score untouched.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s read when Japan finally got on the front foot also saved a try - intercepting a short pass that would have put Japanese veteran Michael Leitch over the line and stopping an almost certain try.
BOK PHYSICALITY ON TOP
Japan’s lack of physicality was shown up late in the first half when first their tighthead Shuhei Takeuchi was penalised at the scrum, then for sacking the lineout support at the ensuing corner kick lineout from the penalty. When he sacked the maul less than a minute later he received his marching orders from the referee.
Japan made it into the halftime whistle 26-0 down and lost another player when Ben Gunter clashed heads with Kolisi shortly after the break. While it was a yellow, it was a soft one at that and had them briefly down to 13 for a few seconds.
It didn’t matter much. Feinberg-Mngomezulu found a half gap, offloaded to Kwagga Smith who sent an inside pass to a rampaging Wilco Louw for the prop to claim his first Bok try.
Japan finally scored through fullback Yoshitaka Yosaki but it was to be their only happy moment for the evening.
HYBRID FLANKER ESTERHUIZEN GETS FIRST “FORWARD” TRY
Andre Esterhuizen officially appeared on the field as a flanker, then almost claimed his first try by rumbling over from a rolling maul, before the TMO disallowed it for RG Snyman double banking.
But while Arendse added his name to the scoresheet shortly afterwards, a try coming again from a dropped ball in an aerial contest to land at the winger’s feet, it was Esterhuizen who smiled the most after finally getting his try in the 62nd minute with the Boks on attack, coming around the corner to barge through two defenders.
Arendse added his second, chasing down a counter attack started by Cheslin Kolbe to pick up a chip and slide in from 7 metres out.
And then Jesse Kriel - the same player who missed the fateful tackle in Brighton 10 years ago - scored the final try to finish off the massacre in a fitting way. A decade ago Kriel was heartbroken after the game, and there couldn’t be a more fitting finish for the Wembley outing than his name on the scoresheet.
A load of confidence and tries now follow the Boks from Wembley. France will make sure its not a hospitable welcome next Saturday when they get to the stadium. But the Boks will know that and after this, they will relish the opportunity to head to Paris.
Scorers
South Africa - tries: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2), Kurt-Lee Arendse (2), Siya Kolisi, Penalty try, Wilco Louw, Andre Esterhuizen, Jesse Kriel. Conversions: Feinberg-Mngomezulu (3), Manie Libbok (4).
Japan - try: Yoshitaka Yosaki. Conversion: Seungsin Lee
