BORDEAUX – South Africa score 12 tries in their 76-0 victory over Romania in Pool B at Stade de Bordeaux on Sunday, 17 September.
South Africa continued their winning ways at Rugby World Cup 2023 with a 76-0 win over Pool B opponents Romania at Stade de Bordeaux on Sunday.
It took just over 10 minutes for South Africa to race to a 26-0 lead with tries from Cobus Reinach (2), Makazole Mapimpi and Damian Willemse, before Reinach made it a hat-trick to enter the break 33-0 ahead.
In the second half, Mapimpi scored a brace to pick up his hat-trick, while Deon Fourie, Grant Williams (2) and Willie Le Roux also crossed the line in a dominant display by the Springboks.
Mapimpi, Mastercard Player of the Match, thanked the Boks fans who roared their approval whenever their team kept the scoreboard moving in their favour.
“We appreciate that. I see you guys behind us all the time,” said the wing.
“I don’t put myself in front (first), it’s all about the team. It’s not about me walking over to score the tries. A lot of guys did well – André [Esterhuizen], Willie [Le Roux] – and I appreciate their work.”
Romania head coach Eugen Apjok took solace in parts of his team’s displays in their first two Rugby World Cup 2023 matches against world number one Ireland and South Africa, the reigning world champions.
He said: “We had the first 25 minutes in the Irish game and today the last 20 minutes of the first half – we can take some positives.
“We need to learn a lot about how to manage, especially in the breakdown.”
Apjok’s captain, Cristian Chirica, maintained an upbeat tone despite the heavy defeat in the rain.
“It is very important for us to play against the best teams in the world because we are a young team that needs experience,” he said.
“It is very hard to play against teams like South Africa which are very tough and very physical, but we are happy to be here and we are trying to do our best.”
South Africa can now focus on playing Ireland in Saint-Denis on Saturday in a confident mood.
“I’m especially happy with a couple of things we tried,” said Jacques Nienaber, the Boks’ head coach.
“The three different hookers that we used – I thought that paid off. Then Faf [de Klerk] got some exposure at 10 – so I thought a lot of things that we wanted to get out of the game, we got.”
Jean Kleyn, second row
On the result:
“Today was a challenge for ourselves against a proud opposition, we spoke a lot this week about the pride that they have and the way they go about their game, how physical they can be, so obviously it was a very important game for us and a good game to build into what’s coming. We’ve still got two big matches left so we’re looking forward to it.”
On the depth in the squad:
“We speak a lot about anyone being able to fill the role and that’s a great thing we’ve worked on the last 3-4 months, everyone being able to step up and do the job. Credit to the coaches they’ve given us all a shot to show what we can do and what we can bring to the team.”
Cobus Reinach, scrum-half
On his hat-trick:
“We came in with the goal to be dominant in all aspects and I think that’s what the forwards did, they give you good platforms to play off and I was lucky enough to score off it.”
On looking ahead to Ireland game and beyond:
“We don’t change how we prepare for games, if it’s Romania or Ireland or New Zealand, we have to go and look at what we did wrong and where we can improve. We’ll hit the training ground running, focus on how we can get better and then put it on the pitch on game day.”
On celebrating the win tonight:
“We always have to have a bit of music, it’s part of our culture, but we’ll keep the celebrations to a minimum as it’s a six-day turnaround before the next match.”
On his personal growth since Rugby World Cup 2019:
“I don’t think I’ve changed much except I’ve got a bit more experience. I feel 21 in the legs and 21 in the head, so I just want to keep on going and keep on playing as best as I can.”
Faf de Klerk, scrum-half
On the intensity of South Africa:
“We focused on that this weekend, we didn’t want to make it an exhibition game or a Barbarians-style game, we just wanted to focus on our sequences and really work on that and make sure our forwards are focused on that. We’re naturally a physical team so I’m very proud of the boys to do that, the forwards are very focused and I’m happy with the way the boys played.”
On the hat-trick of Cobus Reinach and almost beating his record for fastest Rugby World Cup hat-trick from 2019:
“I teed up Cobus all week to say he has to break his record, but I think he missed it by a couple of minutes. But most of it came off some great set-piece pressure from the big boys. The boys did their job up front and some good skills from the backs to get it to him, and some great finishing obviously.”
Jacques Nienaber, head coach
On Cobus Reinach’s hat-trick:
“He did it in 2019, I think he’s got the quickest hat-trick in World Cup history, and today I think he was a couple of minutes out of his own record.”
On the injury to Vincent Koch and being taken out of the starting line-up:
“Vincent hobbled in the warm-up, I think its his knee. I don’t have an idea how bad it is, but the doctor will go through it and we’ll have a better understanding maybe tonight.”
On the match against Ireland and potential quarter-final opponents:
“It will be a good game to see who finishes one and two in the pool, but there’s still games to play, so I don’t want to get too far ahead. If it’s Italy, if it’s France, New Zealand, it’s going to be a tough quarter-final, it doesn’t matter who we play.
“From a selection point of view, we’re open and honest with the players, they know what we’re thinking and we’ll share that with them even tonight. We have an idea in our minds what we want to do for the next game. It’s nice that there’s such good internal competition within this group and positive competition. There’s not a big gap between the players.”
Makazole Mapimpi, Mastercard Player of the Match
On the crowd:
“Thanks for the South African support, we appreciate that. I see you guys behind us all the time.”
On the game:
“We prepared for the rain – we knew it was coming – but the only thing we spoke about was the physicality. We needed to bring it. I don’t put myself in front (first), it’s all about the team. It’s not about me walking over to score the tries. A lot of guys did well – André [Esterhuizen], Willie [Le Roux] – and I appreciate their work.”
Bongi Mbonambi, captain
On keeping up the intensity after securing the try bonus point early:
“We just kept it simple, we stick to our plan, we kept it tight, because all respect to Romania – they’re tough in contact, full of pride and we knew it was going to be difficult.”
On leading the team out in a Rugby World Cup:
“It’s a milestone in my career but it’s never about one person in this team – we’re all doing it for the Springbok jersey.”
Jacques Nienaber, head coach
On how happy he is:
“I’m especially happy with a couple of things we tried. The three different hookers that we used – I thought that paid off. Then Faf [de Klerk] got some exposure at 10 – so I thought a lot of things that we wanted to get out of the game, we got.”
On nine games with just two tries conceded:
“This team has always prided themselves on their defence so extremely happy.”
On the game against Ireland next week:
“You must always enjoy rugby. We do it because it’s fun and we love it. But knowing it’s a six-day turnaround [from this match] it will be controlled enjoyment, then from tomorrow we’ll start working.”
Thomas Cretu, prop
On the experience of playing in Rugby World Cup 2023:
“My mum was in the stadium watching and I’ve already received a lot of messages from family and friends, so I am very proud of that.
“But obviously we’re disappointed by the result, we would have liked to have scored. But we’ll go back to training and prepare for the next match. One thing is for sure – we are not going to give up. We’re going to keep giving our all to give the best image of Romania at this World Cup.”
Taylor Gontineac, centre
On his family origins:
“My mother is South African, my father is Romanian, and I’m born in France. They met after the match between Romania and South Africa at the World Cup in 1995, and my father went to play in France, so I was born and raised here in France.”
On him playing against South Africa nearly 30 years after his father played for Romania against South Africa at Rugby World Cup 1995:
“It’s a family history, my parents met after this match in South Africa in 1995 and I think if it wasn’t for that match I wouldn’t be here today (laughs). So it’s a nice little tribute for me and my family to play against South Africa, the world champions, more than 20 years after my dad. It’s fantastic and a wonderful feeling.”
Marius Simionescu, full-back
On his assessment of Romania’s performance:
“The last 20 minutes in the second half and the first few minutes of the second half we can take away some good points, but it is very disappointing that we’ve lost again [to a score] close to our first game [against Ireland]. We must do better in these types of games.”
Robert Irimescu, hooker
On the game:
“Obviously it was a tough match for our side. Full credit to South Africa, they are the reigning champions, they looked in form and played a complete game.
“We definitely had some spurts and moments where it was like, ‘OK, we can play now’ but small mistakes really ended up costing us and every time we made a mistake they capitalised so we need to get better.
“Luckily we have two weeks until the next match against Scotland so we’ve got time to regroup and get it going and we’ll be hoping for the best against Scotland.”
Eugen Apjok, head coach
On the level Romania have reached now compared to last year:
“I don’t like these comparisons. The players are different and the teams are different. Our team is very young and our objective was to get experience for our players, for them to play great games and be prepared for the next qualification [for the Rugby World Cup].”
On how Romania can avoid more high-scoring defeats against Scotland on 30 September and Tonga on 8 October:
“First of all we have to rest. We have to improve and learn from these two games. We won’t have enough time to improve everything but we will do our utmost to get better for these two games.”
On which aspects South Africa dominated most:
“I think we mainly had issues with set-pieces.”
On playing more leading nations to improve their standard and not concede so heavily:
“We need to play at a higher level. You can see the difference, the intensity, the speed, the physicality of it. Tier-two nations need more games against tier-one nations. It is crucial to be able to prepare for such games.
“We are playing every four years against such teams. In 2015 we faced Ireland – that was the last time we played them. We would need to play one game a year at least against a top-tier nation.
“Look at Italy. First they played in the Five Nations and then the Six Nations. They have had heavy defeats but they are at a much higher level now. All nations need that.”
On Tonga’s strengths and weaknesses:
“We watched the game [against Ireland, which Tonga lost 59-16]. We didn’t do a proper analysis because we were doing this one [the game against South Africa]. We know they are a very physical team, very strong in the scrum.
“They have some issues with adherence to the rules. But they are a very physical team who can hurt our defence. We have to be able to tackle as hard as they do. We have to be physical too.”
Cristian Chirica, captain
On the strengths and weaknesses of Ireland and South Africa:
“These two games were very difficult for us and we were well prepared for them.
“I trust our team and all the players are trying their best to leave everything on the pitch. We have young players and we are trying to grow and these games will make us better for our next qualification.”
On reflecting on the match:
“It was a very difficult game. The match was very intense. We knew South Africa would be a very physical team with very fast players who play a very good running game so we need to work on these aspects of our game. We need to improve, let’s face it. We need to reach a higher level of rugby.”
Cristian Chirica, captain
On his thoughts on the match:
“It is very important for us to play against the best teams in the world because we are a young team that needs experience.
“It is very hard to play against teams like South Africa which are very tough and very physical, but we are happy to be here and we are trying to do our best.”
Eugen Apjok, head coach
On playing high-ranked duo Ireland and South Africa:
“We had the first 25 minutes in the Irish game and today the last 20 minutes of the first half, we can take some positives. We need to learn a lot about how to manage, especially in the breakdown.”
On what his team will do before the next game:
“We need to recover, with the injured players. We’ll have two days off to enjoy the World Cup and then we need to work hard for the Scotland and Tonga games.”
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