MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Manie Libbok wasn’t even looking where his pinpoint cross-kick was going when he set up the try that sealed South Africa’s 18-3 win over a game Scotland to start its Rugby World Cup title defense.
It still went exactly where he wanted.
The Springboks’ new flyhalf was glancing, almost cheekily, at Scotland defenders at the moment he connected for the kick. It landed in Kurt-Lee Arende’s arms on the right wing for South Africa’s second try and breathing space in a tricky opener in Marseille on Sunday.
“I saw the space out wide and knew what I wanted to do, and managed to get it there,” Libbok said. “I practice that stuff a lot so it was good that it came off.”
Arendse did the rest to see the Springboks home in a game they were worried about due to Scotland’s recent rise, and which coach Jacques Nienaber called “a slippery one” afterward.
Libbok was inconsistent again off the kicking tee, missing three out of his five shots at goal. But his timely piece of vision showed why the Boks coaching team of Nienaber and director of rugby Rassie Erasmus have backed him as the only specialist No. 10 in the squad to set free a backline with try-scoring potential in Arendse, Cheslin Kolbe and others who weren’t used against Scotland.
Arendse cruised in untouched from the cross-kick for a 12th try in 11 tests to continue a fantastic strike rate from one of South Africa’s new backline stars.
The theory is if Libbok can help arm the Boks with a backline rapier to go with the forward pack sledgehammer they always bring to a World Cup, that might be an unstoppable combination.
“Rugby is not a complicated sport,” Nienaber said. “If you get a good platform from the forwards, then you can create space and create some magic.”
South Africa certainly had to put the squeeze on Scotland first to come away with the win, and needed two tries early in the second half to break open a close game at Stade Velodrome.
The Springboks’ tries showed both sides of that all-round game they are trying to find. Flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit bashed his way over in the 46th minute for the first. Arendse flew onto Libbok’s kick out wide three minutes later for a converted score to make a narrow 6-3 lead at halftime suddenly comfortable.
There were no more points as South Africa closed it down in the last half-hour, using a set-piece dominance it ultimately gained and physical, rushing defense to keep the Scots at bay.
That forward dominance for the world champion wasn’t guaranteed, though, especially after Scotland held its own early in the scrum battle and even shunted the daunted Boks pack back on their own put-in to set up Finn Russell’s long-range penalty and Scotland’s only points on the stroke of the break.
The powerful Scottish scrum drew coach Gregor Townsend and most of his management team off their feet in the coach’s box to roar with delight.
But the momentum was settled in South Africa’s favor from early in the second half and the Boks ruled at scrum time for the last 40, boosted by their renowned ‘bomb squad’ of forward reserves off the bench.
“Got to give credit to South Africa for putting us under pressure and we just couldn’t execute under that pressure,” Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie said. “We pride ourselves on taking those opportunities, so we’ve got to be better.”
While more than happy to take the win, South Africa might still have concerns from its tournament opener.
Lock enforcer Eben Etzebeth, the Boks’ most experienced forward, left after 25 minutes with a shoulder injury that would be further assessed. He watched the rest of the game from the bench and took a lap of honor with the team at the end.
Center Jesse Kriel might face a post-game citing and disciplinary hearing after his head clash with Scotland No. 8 Jack Dempsey in a front-on tackle which was missed by referee Angus Gardner early in the game.
Kriel was upright in the tackle and his head went straight into Dempsey’s face, which appeared to meet at least the yellow card and possibly red card threshold under strict new tackle laws.
South Africa, looking to win a record fourth title and become just the second team to retain the World Cup, has Romania next in a week’s time before a showdown with top-ranked Ireland on Sept. 23, which looks like being the pool decider, as everyone expected.
Scotland plays next against Tonga on Sept. 24.
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