S. Africa scores definitive win over Namibia at Rugby WC

Wing Bryan Habana became South Africa's all-time leading try scorer as the Springboks delivered an 87-0 drubbing to Namibia in their Rugby World Cup Pool D match in New Zealand Thursday. His score in the 23rd minute of the game at Auckland's North Harbour Stadium was his 39th try for South Africa, putting him ahead of Joost van der Westhuizen. These two African countries had only previously met at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, when the Springboks notched up a 105-13 win before going on to become champions. The Springboks were first on the board after a scrum allowed Morne Steyn to land a penalty after just four minutes and shortly after wing Gio Aplon put the ball over the line after Namibia lost possession. Steyn converted to put South Africa 10-0 up. Namibia fought back with Tinus du Plessis running 40 meters after a lineout, but they failed to capitalize. South Africa extended their lead to 17-0 when Habana grabbed his historic try. Namibia lost their form before the interval, conceding a penalty try, converted by Steyn to make it 24-0. Jaque Fourie crossed near the posts after a pass from Frans Steyn taking the Springboks to 31-0 at halftime. Aplon came close to scoring his second try minutes after the break, but was ruled not to have had control of the ball. Scrum half Francois Hougaard took a quick tap which led to their fifth try, with Frans Steyn putting it over the line. Namibia held off a concerted attack halfway through the half, but eventually Morne Steyn crossed and scored his seventh conversion from seven attempts. Juan de Jongh then scored from the restart and the South Africans eventually finished with 12 tries. The loss is Namibia's third in the tournament after going down to Fiji (49-25) and Samoa (49-12).