Flyhalf Manie Libbok was named man of the match on Sunday as South Africa opened the defense of their Rugby World Cup title with victory over Scotland, as Wales held out against a spirited Fiji comeback.
Libbok had a second-half no-look assist for Kurt-Lee Arendse as the Springboks began their search for a record fourth Webb Ellis Cup in clinical fashion in the Marseille heat, winning 18-3.
Former World Player of the Year Pieter-Steph du Toit had crashed over earlier in the tie for Jacques Nienaber’s outfit in Pool B.
Photo: AFP
Their next major test to reach the quarter-finals would be world No. 1 side Ireland on Saturday next week, six days after facing Romania.
“I think it could have been a slippery one. Scotland are a good side, they are not No. 5 in the world for nothing,” Nienaber told the BBC.
“I thought we had a little bit of dominance in the first-half, but we had to grind the win out,” he said.
Photo: AFP
Earlier in the game, Springboks center Jesse Kriel avoided a yellow card despite making contact with the head of Scotland No. 8 Jack Dempsey during a tackle.
It was a similar incident that led to Tom Curry being shown a red card in England’s victory over Argentina on Saturday, raising questions about consistency in refereeing decisions just three days into the tournament.
“It looked like a head-on-head collision and I was expecting the TMO [television match official] to come in,” Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend.
Wales began their campaign by overcoming Fiji 32-26 in Bordeaux, avoiding defeat to the highest ranked side in Pool C.
Winger Josh Adams claimed one of four tries for Wales as experienced flyhalf Dan Biggar crossed the 100-point mark for his country at World Cups, surpassing Neil Jenkins’ 98-point record.
“You can never write Fiji off. Right at the end they could have won the game,” Adams told S4C after his side led by 18 points with less than a quarter of an hour to play.
“We don’t want another game like that,” he added before Saturday’s match with Portugal.
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