Kurt-Lee Arendse was a little giant on Saturday as the Springboks gutted Italy in Genoa, running in nine tries in a 63-21 rout, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.
The world champions were in a menacing mood and romped past the half-century mark for the first time under Jacques Nienaber to register the first win of their end-of-year tour following narrow back-to-back losses to Ireland and France.
Our top three Springbok standouts were:
Kurt – Lee Arendse
He was magnificent in Marseille, but Arendse upped the ante even further in his second start on the left wing. The pint-sized predator was at his pulsating peak as he initiated the punishment and ultimately put the Azzurri out of their misery.
His was the first of the 1000 cuts by which the world champions condemned Italy to death at Stadio Luigi Ferraris, using his express pace and low body positioning to beat two cover defenders to score inside two minutes.
His second in the second half was just reward for his scintillating, sustained endeavour and it was only fitting that he helped facilitate the final blow as he cut inside and fed Cobus Reinach to cap off a glorious Man of the Match performance.
It’s rare that a player runs for more than 100 carrying metres in a Test match, and even more seldom, one goes past 150. Arendse racked up an astonishing 216 metres in 14 carries.
Everything he did, he did at full tilt. He never got comfortable in the sense of camping out on his wing, chasing hard, and regaining a Faf de Klerk box kick on one occasion (in the 26th minute). He stood up on defence again and even bravely stuck his head into rucks to dig for turnovers.
In the space of just two weeks, Arendse may well have taken ownership of the green and gold No 11 jersey.
Willie le Roux
Le Roux was the electrical current that ran through the Springboks and their nine-try rout. He was the puppet master in chief, pulling the strings like he did in his prime, both at first receiver and when he joined the line in the wider channels.
Officially, he had two try assists but he was at the heart of the brilliant Springbok attack. His long passes to both sides were pure perfection and his kicking game was on point as well.
He took his team to the halfway line with touch-finders in the tight first half and troubled the hosts with clever chips, one of which gave the cover man no other option but to run out on his 5m line.
Decision-making and execution are essentials and the reinvigorated veteran was equally outstanding in both.
Manie Libbok
Siya Kolisi has to be acknowledged as the primary workhorse on the day. The Springbok captain continued his strong international season with a double-barrelled assault that saw him clean and compete at the breakdown as well as run hard and add deft touches out wide, including a try assist.
However, Libbok was nothing short of spectacular. With just four minutes of Test rugby to his name, he came on for the injured Cheslin Kolbe in the 47th minute – when the Springboks led 23-16 – and took the game away from the Azzurri with the confidence of an international veteran.
Slotting in at flyhalf with Damian Willemse moving out to the right wing, the 25-year-old was a full bottle of fuel poured onto the green and gold fire that burned Italy’s hope of a second huge win to the ground following their historic triumph over Australia seven days prior.
Libbok was bewilderingly brilliant, firing 25-30-odd metre passes like a cannon to spark two tries and kicked five conversions, including a beautiful maiden effort from the left-hand touchline. As far as passes go, the money ball he threw to set Reinach’s try in motion was the best of the year.
Was this magical cameo the light bulb moment Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber needed to include Libbok in their bigger plan instead of discarding him as simply a temporary injury-enforced solution? One can only hope.
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