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Match Info
 South Africa  United States 64 - 15
(Half Time 24 - 10)
Date & Time: Sun 30th Sep 2007, 19:00
League table
Pos
| Team
| Pl
| Pts
|
|---|
| 1 | South Africa | 4 | 19 |
| 2 | England | 4 | 14 |
| 3 | Tonga | 4 | 9 |
| 4 | Samoa | 4 | 5 |
| 5 | United States | 4 | 1 |
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Other fixtures
| Georgia | 30 - 0 | Namibia |
| | Samoa | 25 - 21 | United States |
| | England | 36 - 20 | Tonga |
| | New Zealand | 85 - 8 | Romania |
| | Australia | 37 - 6 | Canada |
| | Wales | 34 - 38 | Fiji |
| | Scotland | 18 - 16 | Italy |
| | France | 64 - 7 | Georgia |
| | Ireland | 15 - 30 | Argentina |
| |
Schalk Burger trucks it up for the Springboks
Photo copyright: © Getty Images
Boks down brave Eagles
30 September 2007, 8:00 pm
By PA Sport
South Africa warmed up for their World Cup quarter-final with Fiji by running in nine tries against the United States in an entertaining Pool A clash in Montpellier.
Deadly winger Bryan Habana and centre Jaque Fourie touched down twice, with Schalk Burger, Francois Steyn, CJ van der Linde, Fourie du Preez and Juan Smith also going over.
Percy Montgomery added six conversions and a penalty in a 15-point haul as the Springboks rounded off their group campaign with a fourth straight win.
The Eagles, who return home winless and with the group's wooden spoon to boot, managed tries through Takudzwa Ngwenya and Chris Wyles, with Mike Hercus booting a penalty and a conversion.
Habana got his own back when he notched his second try of the night, in the 42nd minute, to open the second half.
Burger and Akona Ndungane did all the hard graft down the middle before the ball made its way to James, who fed Habana for a simple score close to the left corner flag.
Montgomery failed with his conversion, as did Steyn with a 46th-minute penalty attempt.
But the gap was widened two minutes later when Van der Linde ran onto a pop-up pass from Juan Smith and threw off two would-be tacklers to bulldoze over.
The Eagles were not giving up though and managed a second try of the evening when full-back Chris Wyles wriggled over in the left corner, after more good work by Clever.
Hercus missed the conversion, leaving the score 36-15, but normal service was resumed at the other end moments later.
Scrum-half Fourie du Preez, who had been impressive all night, picked up from the base of the ruck and snaked his way through a gap to ground under the sticks, with Montgomery adding his fifth conversion.
Following a clash of heads with Ngwenya, Habana was substituted off to be replaced by JP Pietersen but it did not look too serious for the winger.
The half-century was brought up when Montgomery converted a stunning try by Fourie, who finished off stylishly after some sensational scissors moves in midfield.
And after absorbing a spot of United States pressure, the Springboks broke out again to grab their eighth try, Fourie strolling in for his second. James converted with Montgomery having been substituted.
Smith was the next to go over on 77 minutes and James converted to complete the scoring.
These two sides have met on just two previous occasions with South Africa winning both clashes.
The Springboks won their first meeting 38-7 in the United States in 1981 and triumphed 43-20 when the two sides met on US soil once again in 2001.
Click here for full details of their previous clashes using ScrumStats
South Africa coach Jake White fears BJ Botha's World Cup is over, after the prop suffered knee-ligament damage in tonight's 64-15 win against the United States in Montpellier.
The Sharks front-row forward sustained the injury in the 27th minute and was replaced by CJ van der Linde, who went on to score one of the Springboks' nine tries in the Pool A romp.
Bryan Habana, who grabbed a try double, was also forced off the field with a head injury - but White's prognosis on the winger was distinctly better than his forecast for Botha.
``Bryan is fine - he just had some stitches,'' said White.
``BJ, I think, will be ruled out - he has done something to his knee ligaments.
``We will decide who will come in tomorrow. I'm not quite sure yet.''
Botha's injury ruined what was otherwise an encouraging evening for the Springboks, who built on a 24-10 half-time lead to race away to their fourth straight group win.
White played close to his strongest team, with a quarter-final date with Fiji coming up next week - and once they got into their stride, they were unstoppable.
Centre Jaque Fourie joined Habana in scoring two tries - with Schalk Burger, Francois Steyn, Van der Linde, Fourie du Preez and Juan Smith also going over.
Percy Montgomery added six conversions and a penalty in a 15-point personal haul, while Butch James kicked two more conversions.
The Eagles, who return home winless and with the group's wooden spoon to boot, managed tries through Takudzwa Ngwenya and Chris Wyles - with Mike Hercus booting a penalty and a conversion.
Ngwenya's was a beauty, the Zimbabwe-born flyer outpacing Habana down the right flank to score a sensational try which received warm applause from the crowd.
White, however, was happy with the way his side applied themselves in their last test before the knockout stages.
``We are very pleased,'' he added.
``What we wanted to accomplish was to get some structure and continuity to our game - and some of the tries we scored were very pleasing. I don't think the US are as weak as the scoreline suggests.
``The most important thing was that we put things together on a game day.
``We haven't been executing them that well so far, but I was happy with the way we kept the ball alive.''
The Springboks were expecting to play Wales in the quarter-finals, but Fiji's marvellous win in Nantes yesterday put paid to that.
``I think everyone would have assumed Wales would win that game,'' White added.
``But we mustn't worry about who goes through. We have won our four group games - and now we have to win three knockout games.
``It's now getting tough. But we have played Samoa and Tonga, so we have had practice against South Sea sides.''
The Eagles played their part in an entertaining, end-to-end encounter which rounded off the tournament's pool stages.
Once again, a minnow worried one of the competition's big guns in patches - but the Springboks had too much pace and power for Peter Thorburn's men overall.
New Zealander Thorburn, taking charge of the team for the last time, was proud of his team's performance.
``My players fought for every bit of ground,'' he said.
``We didn't get the rub of the green with the little things - they seem to go against the minnow sides.
``But we fought it out until the end. South Africa put their best side out to prove something and they will be fairly pleased with their work-out.
``People will look at the scoreboard, but that is not what the game was about.
``It was fantastic. am so proud, as I was after the England game [which the US lost 28-10].
``Even though we haven't had a win, we have really.''
In Ngwenya, the US have one of the finds of the tournament - and his try tonight will live long in the memory.
He also scored a superb solo effort in the Eagles' 25-21 defeat to Samoa in midweek, and captain Hercus was quick to sing his praises.
``I guess the rugby world considers Bryan the fastest guy around, but Ngwenya put his hand up here,'' said the former Sale fly-half.
``We've seen what he can do in training; he's so fast. I just wanted to get the ball to him.''
Schalk Burger trucks it up for the Springboks
Photo copyright: © Getty Images
Boks down brave Eagles
South Africa warmed up for their World Cup quarter-final with Fiji by running in nine tries against the United States in an entertaining Pool A clash in Montpellier.
Schalk Burger will make his return from suspension for South Africa in Sunday's World Cup Pool A clash with the United States in Montpellier.
The talented Stormers back-row forward missed the Springboks' games against England and Tonga after he was suspended by a citing commissioner for a
dangerous tackle during the opening win over Samoa.
Burger will start at number eight in a team that shows 13 changes from the largely second-string line-up that squeezed past Tonga 30-25 last weekend.
Lock Albert van den Berg and flanker Wickus van Heerden are the two players to be retained.
The back-line is completely refreshed, with the likes of full-back Percy Montgomery, winger Bryan Habana and scrum-half Fourie du Preez all present.
Hooker John Smit returns as captain and takes the armband off number eight Bobby Skinstad, who is demoted to the bench.
The Springboks, who have a 100% record this tournament, have already qualified for the quarter-finals by finishing top of their pool.
The United States have made just two changes to their team for Sunday's World Cup Pool A clash with South Africa in Montpellier.
Number eight Dan Payne comes in for Fifita Mounga, who was taken to hospital on Wednesday night after suffering a serious injury in the 25-21 defeat to Samoa in St Etienne.
Mounga, who underwent tests for spinal injuries and had an MRI scan, has regained feeling in his fingers and toes but was not considered for the match against the Springboks.
The other change sees Mike Mangan return to the second row in place of Hayden Mexted.
Coach Peter Thorburn, taking charge of the Americans for the last time, has named an unchanged back-line as the Eagles pursue an unlikely first win in the tournament.
They lost their first three games - against England, Tonga and the Samoans - and have already picked up the group's wooden spoon.
South Africa: P Montgomery; A Ndungane, J Fourie, F Steyn, B Habana; B James, F du Preez; O du Randt, J Smit (capt), BJ Botha, A van den Berg, V Matfield, W van Heerden, J Smith, S Burger.
Replacements: B du Plessis, CJ van der Linde, Bakkies Botha, B Skinstad, R Pienaar, A Pretorius, JP Pietersen, W Olivier.
United States: C Wyles; T Ngwenya, P Eloff, V Esikia, S Sika; M Hercus (capt), C Erskine; M MacDonald, O Lentz, C Osentowski, A Parker, M Mangan, L Stanfill, T Clever, D Payne.
Replacements: B Burdette, M Moeakiola, M Aylor, H Bloomfield, M Petri, V Malifa, T Palamo.
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