Rarely have the all-conquering rugby players of the South Africa national team had to compete for their public's affections with Bafana Bafana, their under-achieving, football-playing countrymen, in recent years. However, in Newlands yesterday, a side who represent such good value for their tag of world champions were looking to tap into the adulation that had been reserved for their plucky, round-ball compatriots of late.
The Springboks had done the charm offensive. They had worn the football team shirts and blown vuvuzelas in support of their cross-code colleagues. Now it was back to business. Happily for them, expectations sit comfortably on the broad-shoulders of the Bok players. France are supposed to be the best-equipped of any of the European nations to challenge South Africa's pre-eminence, but they were swatted away as though they were little more than pesky tsetse flies.
"It has been a unique week," John Smit, the Springboks captain, who confessed his side had to wear ear-plugs to sleep the previous evening such was the din of vuvuzelas outside their hotel, said in a television interview. "We have been happy to take a back seat. The energy throughout SA is amazing, not just Cape Town. Even though that is for Bafana Bafana, we still feel the same vibe." The crushing win for Smit's side capped a clean sweep for southern hemisphere rugby's top nations yesterday. Picking a winner for next year's World Cup in New Zealand already seems to be down to a choice between the three Sanzar sides.
As if their rivals did not have enough catching up to do already, South Africa have unearthed a new gem this summer, in the form of Gio Aplon, a fleet-footed winger. The Stormers back, who first cut his teeth in the international game via Paul Treu's prolific South Africa sevens side, touched down two tries on his second appearance for the national team. "It is nice to be back at home at Newlands, it is a very special place for me," Aplon, 27, said after the game.
The French had also seen their football playing compatriots start their campaign a day earlier, when they spluttered to a tepid draw against Uruguay across Cape Town at the Green Point Stadium the previous evening. It appeared as though Marc Lievremont's players had caught the plague of lethargy from Raymond Domenech's men, as they were incapable of repelling the early onslaught from the Springboks.
The French were behind with a mere minute and 21 seconds on the clock as Pierre Spies, the multi-skilled No 8 from the Bulls, powered over for South Africa's opening try. Bryan Habana and Jaque Fourie punched holes in the French defence, and Spies earned his reward for keeping pace with his outside backs as he ran in under the posts. Aplon then proceeded to double the advantage in the seventh minute.
When Aurelien Rougerie went over in the 29th minute, for his 22nd Test try, it was the first time the French had posed any significant threat at all in attack. However, the respite against the green tide was short-lived. Gurthro Steenkamp, the prop celebrating his 29th birthday, did the best impersonation of Habana a front-rower could feasibly manage, as he charged in at the corner for the third Bok try.
Aplon doubled his tally of Test tries just as France were enjoying their first spell of sustained pressure in the second half. He recovered a loose ball 10 yards out from his own line and outstripped the desperate covering defence to run the remaining 70 yards to the tryline. Francois Louw, the flanker who, like Aplon, had made his Test debut a week earlier, applied the gloss with a try of his own late on, before France scored a consolation through Marc Andreu, the replacement winger.
* Compiled by Paul Radley
