South Africa overcame Andre Esterhuizen’s third-minute red card and an early score by Portugal’s Jose Paiva dos Santos to cruise to a 64-21 win in Bloemfontein, finishing with 10 tries, including a hat-trick for Makazole Mapimpi.
Esterhuizen was initially shown a yellow card by referee Hollie Davidson after making head-to-head contact with Portugal center Jose Lima, who left the field after the collision. The decision was referred to the bunker, and Esterhuizen’s card was upgraded from yellow to red. Joe Marler, the England prop and Esterhuizen’s former teammate at Harlequins, described the decision as “ridiculous.” It was a tricky early moment for Davidson, the first woman to referee South Africa in a Test match, but she handled it well.
Portugal were ecstatic to take the early lead, a loose carry by Evan Roos leading to a turnover forced by Manuel Cardoso Pinto and a breakaway score, with the lively Simao Bento at full-back winning back a grubber and feeding Paiva dos Santos to run in from 70 meters. With the scrum holding firm, an early score, and a player advantage, it was a dream start for Os Lobos.
But the defending world champions began to settle, and Portugal struggled to keep up with their powerful hosts. RG Snyman, in the thick of the action throughout, provided a great offload to set up Jan-Hendrik Wessels for a try on debut.
Wessels was one of seven South African debutants, another big move by Rassie Erasmus to blood new players as the Springboks kick off another four-year cycle trying to win a third straight tournament. For the likes of Thomas du Toit, so impressive this season for Bath, it was a chance to impress, and he had his moments in the scrum against the Portuguese veteran Francisco Fernandes, still playing at the age of 38.
South Africa powered into a convincing half-time lead, as the combination of their strength upfront and wide threat became too much for Portugal and Phepsi Buthelezi, Kurt-Lee Arendse, and Ben-Jason Dixon went over in a 10-minute spell. A yellow card for Arendse for a croc roll was a rare negative.
Perhaps the most popular scorer in the first half for South Africa was Lukhanyo Am, playing in his first Test since suffering a knee injury that kept him out of the Rugby World Cup. His score helped the Springboks to a 29-7 lead at the break.
The arrival off the bench of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu certainly livened up South Africa’s attack, with the talented back setting up Makazole Mapimpi brilliantly and adding a superb 50:22. But Portugal kept scrapping, Paiva dos Santos giving Feinberg-Mngomezulu the slip to score his second and Jose Madeira powering over for Portugal’s third. “I think we showed the heart and courage, which is all you can ask for as a coach,” their coach, Simon Mannix, said afterward. He was absolutely right.
As for South Africa, Quan Horn and Andre-Hugo Venter also scored tries on their debuts, continuing the trend started by Wessels, and Mapimpi finished his hat-trick. Salmaan Moerat, the first Muslim to lead the Springboks, was an immensely proud captain.
”I think it’s a massive moment [for the Muslim community in South Africa]. I’m extremely proud to represent them all, and hopefully, we put out the performance tonight which made them proud,” Moerat said.
The result was obviously never in doubt, winning by 43 points, but certain performances will have given Rassie Erasmus plenty to think about before he names his squad for the Rugby Championship this past Tuesday.
My Goat Sports 