HIT AND RUN

THE Springboks delivered a rollercoaster performance of highs and lows in Saturday’s 55-10 win against Georgia in Nelspruit.

South Africa were put through a serious examination by the Lelos ahead of the Rugby Championship, which kicks off next month.

It’s ideal, because now they will know they are some way off their best form, and a mountain of improvement is required if they are to beat the All Blacks at Eden Park on 6 September, the match which is the climax of the Boks’ international season.

It was not easy on the eye for the 40 000 in the Mbombela Stadium as the Lelos blasted out of the blocks. Captain Siya Kolisi was bowled over in a frenzied forward assault and went off for a concussion assessment.

The visitors silenced the stadium with a perfectly executed try off the back of a maul, with hooker Vano Karkadze diving over for the opening touchdown.

The setback sparked the Boks into action as debutants Boan Venter and Marnus van der Merwe went over off the back of lineout drives.

The Boks looked to set the ball rolling for a groot score when Grant Williams sniped before putting away Canan Moodie for a powerful finish, but another missed conversion saw the world champions only lead by 15-10 as the first half drew to a close.  

Local boy Marnus then scored his second off the tail of a rolling maul, to hand South Africa a 22-10 lead at halftime.

The second half saw the Boks up the ante, as Edwill van der Merwe scored to extend the lead.

Replacement fullback Damian Willemse immediately got in on the action after crossing the chalk in the 55th minute, before wing Edwill scored his second of the night as the Georgian defence began to fade.

Kurt-Lee Arendse and Handre Pollard’s five pointers late on then put some gloss on a stuttering Bok performance.