South Africa produced a scintillating first-half display as they secured their place in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals with a big win over 14-man Canada.
The Springboks ran in seven tries in the first half, with scrum-half Cobus Reinach notching the earliest hat-trick in a World Cup game after 20 minutes.
Schalk Brits, Damian Willemse and Frans Malherbe all went over following tries from Reinach, Damian de Allende, S’busiso Nkosi, Warrick Gelant and Frans Steyn in the opening 40 minutes.
But it was Reinach who made the biggest impression with his 11-minute hat-trick completed by the 20th minute of the game.
Reinach’s first try was arguably the best of the match. The Northampton Saints scrum-half sliced through the defence, chipped the full-back and caught the ball on the bounce before accelerating away to score.
He secured his team’s bonus point after just 17 minutes, diving over the line after his forwards had smashed their way through.
The 29-year-old’s third arrived three minutes later, the scrum-half running through after the Springboks once again cut the Canadian defence wide open.
Rassie Erasmus’ side go top of Pool B but defending champions New Zealand – who beat the Springboks earlier in the tournament – are expected to defeat Italy on Saturday to win the group.
