South Africa ensured that they were not the victims of a second successive Rugby World Cup upset as they swept aside Samoa by a comprehensive 46-6 scoreline in their Pool B clash at Villa Park.
Winger JP Pietersen ran in a hat-trick of tries as the Springboks recovered from their astonishing defeat to Japan last weekend, including this effort from the halfway line after a clever interception.
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Michael Stanley’s two penalties gave the Samoans a 6-3 advantage in the early stages, but that was as good as it got for the Pacific Islanders, who went scoreless for the remaining 68 minutes.
Pietersen crossed for the first time on 15 minutes, and three further Handre Pollard penalties put South Africa 17-6 up at the interval, and they added 29 unanswered points in the second half.
Bryan Habana, Schalk Burger and Schalk Brits joined Pietersen on the scoresheet as the two-time champions got back on track ahead of their clash with Scotland next weekend.
Samoa have now won one and lost one of their opening two games, and can still qualify for the quarter-finals with victories over Scotland and Japan, who they face next on October 3.
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