Clinical Springboks thump Barbarians to kick off season with a bang

It was an impressive effort from the Boks, scoring eight tries in all, with their core of World Cup-winning stars leading the charge and allowing newcomers like Vincent Tshituka and Asenathi Ntlabakanye to shine.

The Boks were making their early passes stick and strung together a few solid phases to put the Barbarians under pressure, with a superb little kick-through from Apehelele Fassi forcing the Baabaas into touch and setting up an attacking line-out.

From the ensuing set-piece, it was a textbook line-out drive that took the Boks over the line, with Malcolm Marx dotting down at the back of the maul to score South Africa's first try of 2025.

All the early pressure continued to come from the men in green and gold, helped by a couple of unforced errors from the BaaBaas in the wet, and when the Boks found themselves with a two-on-two in the corner, another well-placed kick from Fassi sat up perfectly for Cheslin Kolbe, who gathered the ball and crashed over for another try, well converted by Sasha Feinberg-Mngomezulu from out wide.

An audacious dummy from the young flyhalf moments later nearly had the Boks in again, but it wasn't until another scrum penalty and a kick for the corner a few minutes later that the Boks picked up their third try, after a strong carry from Vincent Tshituka close to the line saw the Sharks flanker crash over for his first try in a Springbok jersey.

As the first half wound down, the Barbarians finally made their presence felt and started testing the Springbok defence, but with the rain coming down harder they weren't able to find a way over the line, as it finished 19-0 to the Boks at the break.

The second half started with the Barbarians trying to spark something on attack, but one pass too many ended up in a loose ball that was hacked through by the Boks as the Baabaas found themselves under more pressure.

Rassie Erasmus then took the opportunity to empty his entire bench, with the arriving replacements making their presence felt immediately, Manie Libbok and Cobus Reinach both carrying strongly before Jan-Hendrik Wessels crashed over for the Boks' fourth try.

The injection of energy by the 'Bomb Squad' was undeniable and any hopes of a Barbarians fightback were fading quickly. With just under an hour gone, the Springboks produced the try of the match, some beautiful interplay between the forwards and backs taking them nearly the length of the field before Kurt-Lee Arendse provided the finishing touch.

The floodgates were threatening to open - if they hadn't already - after another break from Kolbe following a superb high-ball take ended with Lood de Jager crashing over from close range.

The Barbarians finally opened their account in the 65th minute as the backline finally combined to send Melvyn Jaminet over in the corner, with the France fullback also converting his own try.

But the Boks were soon in for try number seven as they rode a bit of luck to charge up the field, with Kolbe again providing a bit of magic before Tshituka went over for his second score of the night.

With time running out, there was time for one more try from the Springboks, Damian de Allende getting his just reward for an impressive night at the office as the Boks kicked off their season in style.

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