Record Boks put one foot in W. Cup quarters

Defending champions South Africa trumped their own World Cup points record with an 87-0 blitz of doughty Namibia to all but book a place in the quarter-finals at North Harbour on Thursday. The Springboks didn't quite replicate their landslide 105-13 15-try win over their African neighbours four years ago but they still finished with 12 tries, seven of them coming in the final 20 minutes as the floodgates opened. It was a night of milestones with the Springboks bettering their previous record winning RWC margin of 66 points against Uruguay in 2003. South Africa also equalled their own record run of 10 unbeaten games at the World Cup and former IRB Player of the Year Bryan Habana set a new Springbok tryscoring record with his 39th career try. Winger Gio Aplon, replacement back Juan de Jongh and scrum-half Francois Hougaard all scored try doubles with fly-half Morne Steyn finishing with 20 points from a try, six conversions and a penalty. "I am pretty happy with how the set piece went and that along with our defence is what we've working the hardest on," Springboks skipper John Smit said. "There will be bigger tests coming in the future but it was a step." The Namibians gave it a crack and held the Springboks to 31-0 at halftime before the effort told and their defensive line cracked wide open. "Eighty-seven points is very disappointing and we expected to do better. They really punished us when we made mistakes," Namibian skipper Jacques Burger said. "Unfortunately, we made the same mistakes as the other games. We just made too many mistakes and got punished for it." South Africa moved to 14 points at the top of Pool D, eight ahead of Samoa and nine ahead of Wales, needing only one more point in their final group game against Samoa next week to clinch a berth in the last eight. The Springboks have now totted up 153 points in their three games at the World Cup and are moving ominously into form ahead of a likely quarter-final with Australia. Habana finally overtook Joost van der Westhuizen to establish a new Springbok tryscoring record with his team's second try in the 22nd minute. "Records are great to get but without my coaching staff and teammates it would never have been possible," Habana said. "When you have try-scorers from one to 22 it makes for a great performance." Right winger Aplon, who proved a handful for Namibia, scored the opening try after seven minutes helped by centres Jaque Fourie and Frans Steyn. But the Springbok scoring was stalled by dropped ball and wayward lineout throws until Habana scooted clear after a great cut-out pass from lock Danie Rossouw. The Springbok pack was relentless with loosehead Gurthro Steenkamp prominent and were awarded a penalty try in the 30th minute after attempts for a pushover try. Fourie extended his Springbok record for most career tries as a centre to 28 when he scored off a clever Frans Steyn offload. Fourie has now scored nine RWC tries. Fourie's try claimed South Africa a scoring bonus point and a 31-0 halftime lead. Namibia had their moments in the opening half none more than blindside flanker Tinus du Plessis punching through the Springbok line twice, while winger Heini Bock took play deep into the Springbok half in a rare excursion. The impressive Frans Steyn crossed nine minutes after the interval off a Pierre Spies offload and Morne Steyn's conversion pushed the Boks to a 38-0 lead. Morne Steyn's last act was to convert his own 60th-minute try from the sideline for seven out of seven kicks before he was replaced along with Frans Steyn and Steenkamp.