Best Boks v Portugal: Fresh And Familiar Faces Seize Opportunity

Makazole Mapimpi scored a hat-trick as the Springboks romped to a 64-21 win over Portugal in their historic one-off Test in Bloemfontein on Saturday, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.

An overhauled South African side led by new captain Salmaan Moerat and featuring seven uncapped players were too strong for Os Lobos, running in 10 tries to three to comfortably clinch the first-ever meeting between the nations despite losing Andre Esterhuizen to a red card in the second minute.

In doing so, the back-to-back world champions bounced back from the previous week’s heart-breaking 25-24 defeat to Ireland in Durban, which resulted in the two-match series being drawn after the Boks had won the opening encounter 27-20 in Pretoria.

Our top three Springbok standouts were:

Ben-Jason Dixon

Dynamic and relentless, Dixon was pure dynamite in the City of Roses.

The 26-year-old was the business in his first start and second Test, popping up everywhere in an explosive 80-minute effort that left one wanting more. More is undoubtedly in the cards for the Stormers star, who showed he has all the tools to become a titan in the Test arena.

His work rate was wonderful and summed up in three big plays. One, it made him Johnny on the spot and allowed him to pick up and go over for his first Bok try. Two, his motor and hunger made him the first man to support Kurt-Lee Arendse after the winger was brought down following a breakaway and three, it saw him win a lightning-quick turnover.

He was both bullish and skillful with ball in hand, showing not only great tackle fight in heavy traffic but good footwork in the tramlines as well, while he punished the Portuguese on defence, including mowing down their captain Tomas Appleton and making ferocious cleanouts.

He’s very much a player in the Pieter-Steph du Toit mould and had a magnificent evening.

Makazole Mapimpi

The 33-year-old showed he’s still as sharp as ever as he produced a busy outing and grabbed a hat-trick.

He finished off a slick set-piece try from a scrum, ran in the try of the game when he once again combined with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and completed his treble in the final play of the game to take his Bok try-scoring tally to 30.

Tries aside, Mapimpi was outstanding with his overall output, particularly the hard yards he put in on cover defence, while he carried strongly, made a brilliant break up the middle and executed a crafty chip.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu

RG Snyman was combative and displayed his offloading ability in his Man of the Match performance, while Lukhanyo Am showed his class and composure as he single-handedly manned the midfield after Esterhuizen’s early exit and scored a try in his first Test since last August.

However, Feinberg-Mngomezulu deserves the final place on our podium. A super-sub of note, he showed he’s the future with a highly skilled and commanding cameo at flyhalf. The 22-year-old prodigy pulled out all the stops with two try assists, nailing all five of his kicks at goal and blasting a beautiful 50:22 that led to Andre-Hugo Venter’s try.

🤩 SACHA FEINBERG-MNGOMEZULU v Portugal.#RSAvPOR #Springboks pic.twitter.com/mY3UsRob9d

— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) July 21, 2024