It seems as if this Springbok team for old men still have a bit of a kick. Despite a slightly disjointed performance in the first half, the South Africans completed a demolition job on the USA, crushing them 64-0 with a hat-trick from Bryan Habana and Damian de Allende, Bismarck du Plessis, Francois Louw, Jesse Kriel and Lwazi Mvovo all going over the whitewash. Hitting form for South Africa’s veterans also could not have come at a better time as they prepare for a knockout match against either Wales or Australia.

Habana crossed the line three times in 19 minutes after the break to equal Jonah Lomu’s record of 15 World Cup tries and will surely go on to break the record if his current form is anything to go by.

“He is always the guy who comes through in big games, he didn’t have a good off-season and couldn’t get going. Now he is getting momentum as I didn’t think in the last three or four weeks he has been at his best.

“I didn’t even know he had got the record, I was more focused on the game. But I’m so proud of him and it is great, he is a great ambassador for South Africa and I hope he has peaked at the right time. He will need to score more tries as well but I’m pleased for him,” Meyer beamed afterwards.

If the Boks’ opening match was a disaster, then this was a triumph, even if they once again won a little bit ugly. It was the biggest winning margin of the tournament to date and the first time a team had failed to score. This win should be taken with a pinch of salt, though, considering that the USA team that lined up against them was a slightly weakened side, with the Americans clearly keeping one eye on the weekend’s match against Japan. That is not an attempt to take credit away from South Africa, it’s simply a reminder that the real work will begin now and that the mistakes they have made over the last two weeks must yield some lessons.

And there were lessons aplenty against the USA on Wednesday night. If ever the cliché “it was a game of two halves” could be applied without too much cringing, this would be it. The first half handling errors and general under-par performance could simply be put down to the short turnaround time or to South Africa’s struggle with pressure. Whatever it was, South Africa put the USA to the sword in the second half, dominating possession, scrumming well and looking like they were “in knock-out” mode as captain Fourie du Preez put it after the match. Tactically, South Africa have stuck with what they know and while that might not always be everyone’s cup of tea, it has worked for them but there have also been some gems unearthed in the wake of injuries.

For all of the frustration that South Africa has caused over various stages of this tournament, you have to give credit to their defence, even against a weakened USA team. And central to that defence over the last two games has been Lood de Jager. The cherub-cheeked lock has been tackling as if his life depends on it with Victor Matfield out of action. If Matfield recovers, Meyer will have to make a tough call: experience or the in-form player? If his previous challenges in logic are anything to go by, he will opt for experience, but perhaps he has had an awakening in the last week or so.

Prior to the match against the USA, Meyer had spoken about the team “doing a Roger Bannister”, regarding overcoming the impossible. While the Boks probably aren’t quite the favourites to win the thing yet, and become the first team to do so after losing a pool match, they are making some progress and Meyer is looking slightly more relaxed.

“The great thing after we played Japan was that we changed the game plan. It will be a cracker of a game and it doesn’t matter what happened before. We are looking forward to it, the confidence is there but we have to stay humble as we haven’t achieved it yet. It is great that people are writing us off but I know what this team can do. Slowly but surely we have been improving,” the coach said afterwards.

It has been a long and hard road for the Boks to get to this stage – a stage some didn’t expect them to reach. But instead of breathing a sigh of relief, South Africa will have to take a deep breath in. The real tournament begins now. But with 10 days off, no injuries sustained and the momentum of a crushing win behind them as they head into the business end of the tournament, they can inhale just a little bit easier than after that shock loss to Japan. DM

Stats to mull over

• It was the fourth time in a World Cup match that South Africa kept their opposition scoreless – a better record than any other team in the tournament’s history.
• The biggest winning margin in the this year’s World Cup and the first time a team has been kept without a point at this year’s edition.
• It was the USA’s biggest ever World Cup defeat and the sixth biggest margin overall.

Photo: South Africa’s Duane Vermeulen (C) is tackled by Blaine Scully (2-R) of the USA during the Rugby World Cup 2015 pool B match between South Africa and the USA at the Olympic Stadium in London, Britain, 07 October 2015. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA