A commanding physical display powered South Africa to a 49-3 Pool B victory over 14-man Italy at the Shizuoka Stadium on Friday.
Italian loosehead Andrea Lovotti was shown his marching orders after he and Nicola Quaglio illegally dump tackled Duane Vermeulen early in the second-half.
With the Boks already leading 17-3 at that stage, the numerical advantage allowed them to run riot in the end.
The result leaves the Springboks just one win away from qualifying for the knockouts. Victory over Canada in their final pool fixture on Tuesday will see them through to a seventh-consecutive quarterfinal.
Despite claiming the maximum 10-log points on offer from their opening two games, Italy will struggle to progress after this loss. They are unlikely to defeat New Zealand in their last pool match next Saturday and will surely bow out before the business end of the tournament.
The Bok defence was outstanding all game, with Vermeulen a colossus in the trenches. What little possession Italy had was immediately snuffed out by a ferocious green and gold defensive line.
Both Italian tightheads were injured within the opening 20-minutes, meaning the final three quarters of the Test were to be played with uncontested scrums; something of an advantage for them given the Boks’ early dominance in this department.
Still though, South Africa’s physicality far outmatched that of their counterparts with their driving maul proving particularly effective.
The ever-lively Cheslin Kolbe, again marvelous on the day, finished off in the corner following a number of Bok phases to set the tone for the match early on.
Tommaso Allan and Handre Pollard traded penalties before a typically abrasive driving maul allowed Bongi Mbonambi to extend his side’s lead ahead of the halftime interval.
The Boks went up a gear after Lovotti was ejected from the pitch. Kolbe bagged his brace soon thereafter, while further scores to Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi, RG Snyman and Malcolm Marx – along with another Pollard penalty – saw the two-time champions canter home.
Scores
South Africa – 49
Tries: Kolbe (2), Mbonambi, Am, Mapimpi, Snyman, Marx
Cons: Pollard (4)
Pens: Pollard (2)
Italy – 3
Pens: Allan
Red card: Andrea Lovotti
Teams
South Africa
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Franco Mostert, 21 Francois Louw, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Frans Steyn
Italy
15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Jayden Hayward, 11 Michele Campagnaro, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Jake Polledri, 6 Braam Steyn, 5 Dean Budd, 4 David Sisi, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Substitutes: 16 Federico Zani, 17 Nicola Quaglio, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Alessandro Zanni, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Sebastian Negri, 22 Callum Braley, 23 Carlo Canna
