Game time spread, mission accomplished for Boks in Romania romp

Dressed to the nines and finding hookers left, right and (not quite) centre, the Springboks left Bordeaux for Paris with a sense that their mission there was accomplished.

They overwhelmed Romania, scoring 12 tries, including a penalty try, to keep the pressure on Ireland who lead pool B but who they crucially play at Stade de France on Saturday.

The men who were on display did what was expected of them — and perhaps more. How many of them will force their way into the match-day 23 for Paris, however, is highly debatable, with a short six-day turnaround to the match involving the game's two top-ranked teams.

The emphasis in this game was to give the Boks greater flexibility in their squad. Players were deployed in positions different to those in which they originally caught the selectors' eyes.

Scrumhalf Faf de Klerk played flyhalf in the second half. Bongi Mbonambi, Deon Fourie and Marco van Staden all got a crack at hooker. Scrumhalf Grant Williams got to wear his jet shoes on the right wing. He is an electrifying talent.

“I'm especially happy with a few of things we tried,” head coach Jacques Nienaber said.

“The three different hookers we used, I thought that paid off. Then Faf got some exposure at 10 — so I thought a lot of things we wanted to get out of the game that we got.

“Using three hookers and four 9s, I thought there was some good and bad in that,” Nienaber said without elaborating, even when asked to.

Given they opted not to call up Joseph Dweba to replace the injured Malcolm Marx, it was essential the Boks expose Fourie and Van Staden to the hooker berth.

Elsewhere Canan Moodie had another outing at outside centre, while Damian Willemse served more time in a flyhalf position that could become a hot topic in the coming days.

If Nienaber was happy game time was spread through the squad and the Bok attack had shown more cutting edge, as a coach who holds defence dear, he will be thrilled his team did not concede any points.

The Boks conceded just three points against attack-minded Scotland in Marseille last weekend. That Finn Russell penalty on the cusp of half time at Stade Vélodrome just over a week ago feels like it happened in the distant past.

On Sunday they completely shut out Romania in Bordeaux.

“This team has always prided itself on its defence, so extremely happy,” Nienaber said.

They conceded 36 points in the pool stages en route to the title in 2019, 23 of which came in their opening match against New Zealand. After that opening weekend defeat they conceded just two more tries for the rest of the tournament.