Five Springboks who impressed against Romania

Cobus Reinach

The livewire scrumhalf showed he has not lost any speed since the last RWC campaign in Japan. Against Canada in 2019, he scored the fastest hat-trick in the tournament's history, crossing the line three times in the opening 21 minutes. On Sunday, Reinach was back to his sniping best and slid across the whitewash for his third try of the afternoon in just the 24th minute. Aside from quick service and booming kicks, Reincah showed once again that he is difficult to deal with at the base of the scrum and around the rucks.

Had the nippy No.9 not been substituted early in the second stanza, perhaps Tonderai Chanvanga's long-standing six-try record would have been under threat¦

Makazole Mapimpi

With the embarrassment of riches on the wing for the Boks, Mapimpi has been struggling to get a start for the World Champions. But given his opportunity, he reminded everyone why he was once the Boks' premier winger.

Consistently looking for work, Mapimpi racked up 172 running metres off the left wing and made sure to put the finishing touches on the Boks' backline efforts. His perfect cutback for Willie le Roux's switch pass for his opening try was incredibly slick. He also turned from scorer to playmaker, as he set up le Roux for a wonderful try late in the second half.

Mapimpi scored twice more as the Boks ran riot, taking his career tally to 26 tries in 40 appearances.

Kwagga Smith

On a day when it was raining tries from the backline, Smith was the unsung hero of the Bok pack. Playing the full 80 minutes, Smith was a proper menace at the breakdown for its entirety, winning four turnovers and cleaning ruck after ruck.

It's difficult to employ the dark arts at rucktime without getting pinged by the referee, yet such is Smith's knowledge of where the line is, he gave away zero penalties. He also made 13 tackles in a typical tireless performance.

Grant Williams

The scrumhalf was picked on the wing for his electric pace and he did not disappoint. While struggling to challenge the high balls on his wing in the opening half, Williams went looking for more work later and earned two tries as a result. The 27-year-old has incredibly quick feet, just ask the ten defenders left in his wake.

Williams' opening try saw Marco van Staden come off the back of the lineout maul and pop it to him against the grain, after which he swerved and jinked his way over the line. He was also quick to revert back his honed skills at scrumhalf, filling in and providing lightning service when required.

Deon Fourie

Much has been made of Malcolm Marx's incredibly unfortunate end to his World Cup campaign. It leaves a massive vacuum in the Bok setup, one that has to be partially filled by Fourie. Having not played at hooker since 2018, the veteran was under pressure to perform.

But coming off the bench, the 36-year-old made an immediate impact, stealing the ball at ruck time. He also threw accurately at his five lineouts, scrummed down and scored a try from behind the powerful maul after just three minutes on the park.

Showing his versatility, Fourie switched to flank for the last quarter as van Staden - who also had an impressive outing - tried his hand at hooker.

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