There was something deeply ominously about the way the Springboks set about the dismantling of a USA side that had previously been highly competitive in its meetings with Samoa and Scotland.
American resolve was pretty well broken by the physicality of an opening half which produced a horribly soft score for Damian de Allende and, more tellingly a penalty try as scrummage power was asserted.
Still more significant was the interval ire of coach Heynecke Meyer, whose demands got the desired response as his team embarked on as one-sided a half of rugby as has occurred at this tournament.
Bryan Habana’s second half hat-trick took him into a share of the all-time World Cup try scoring record with Jonah Lomu but that should fool no-one since this was Springbok rugby at its most direct and still smarting from the embarrassment of that opening weekend defeat to Japan which he hinted afterwards almost saw him summarily sacked, Meyer is clearly determined that they do what they do best throughout the remainder of this tournament.
The pack more than made their mark on the scoreboard with Francois Louw crossing twice and Bismarck Du Plessis claiming a try before Jesse Kriel and Lwazi Mvovo took their try tally into double figures.
Even more telling was the determination to keep a clean sheet, making them the first team to shut the Americans out in a World Cup tie since the first tournament in 1987.
Clearly the suspicion is that the USA’s main target this week is Sunday’s more winnable looking game against Japan, but they remain proud men, individually and collectively so the way they were swept aside felt like a message to the rest.
Two first half penalties by Theuns Kotze as Namibia seized their chances while staging a remarkable rearguard action, saw them turn 6-0 ahead.
However second half tries from, inevitably Mamuka Gorgodze, Georgia’s captain and Lasha Malaguradze eventually earned them their narrow win.
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