Boks clear first hurdle as England lie in wait

PERTH - South Africa coach Rudolf Straeuli pronounced himself satisfied with his side's 72-6 demolition of Uruguay yesterday but accepted his team would need to operate at a considerably higher level to beat England this weekend.

Captain Joost van der Westhuizen led the way with a hat-trick as the 1995 winners scored six tries in each half against a Uruguay team strong on will but short on technique.

"We've scored 12 tries, which we enjoyed, but it was also important not to have one against us," Straeuli said. "Building up to next week there are other things we need to concentrate on.

"We made mistakes, there were handling errors, problems with the structure, timing and support play, we were not there quick enough to recycle.

"But that will be a totally different game.

"We wanted to be positive tonight, pick up the tempo, and hopefully that will be possible against England."

Straeuli handed debuts to three players against the Uruguayans - centre Jaque Fourie, flanker Danie Rossouw and, as a replacement, first five-eighth Derick Hougaard.

The first two scored tries and Hougaard was denied one by the video referee, vindicating the coach's often-criticised selection policy.

"We have experienced players but there is a nice energy coming through from the young players," he said.

The Springboks, bedevilled by dire form and off-pitch accusations of racism and violence, picked up 36 points in each half.

The victory was the South Africans' biggest in their three world cups, easily overhauling the 47-3 win over Spain four years ago.

Van der Westhuizen is the only survivor from the South Africans' 1995 World Cup-winning side.

He took his South African try-scoring record to 38 having got things moving with a score in the first minute.

He said more was still needed to silence the critics.

"It will take more than one game but we said we wanted to answer them on the field.

"I just wanted to enjoy the game and use it to get myself sharp. The tries were just gaps there that I took after the forwards had done the work."

Dejected Uruguay coach Diego Ormaechea could take little from the game.

"I expected to lose but not such a heavy defeat," he said. "It's disappointing but we did do some positive things. This team is better than you saw today."

Captain Diego Aguirre, who scored his team's points with two penalties, said despite the defeat it was an experience his predominantly part-time squad could learn from.

"This is going to help to improve our rugby, our mentality," he said.

If Straeuli had any concerns it would probably be about his players' concentration, which wavered during the second half with the game won and replacements pouring on to the field.

But the coach, who has used more than 80 players in the last year, is unlikely to be complaining after a dream start, with two tries in the first six minutes settling any early nerves and paving the way for an easy night's work.

Uruguay are back in action on the same ground against Samoa on Thursday morning.

- REUTERS

Full World Cup coverage

Fixtures and Results