He may not be the best off the tee, but it was an outrageous Manie Libbok kick from open play against Scotland that left onlookers stunned. In a good way.

The Springbok fly-half unleashed arguably one of the best bits of skill the World Cup has ever seen with an outrageous no-look cross-field kick that fell perfectly into the hands of the onrushing Kurt-Lee Arendse who dotted down to score.

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South Africa were playing with a penalty advantage after Scotland scrum-half Ben White had been caught straying offside by Australian referee Angus Gardner, and Libbok took full advantage of the chance to try something as his pinpoint kick found his team-mate in space on the right wing.

Libbok’s struggles off the tee were ended when scrum-half Faf de Klerk took over the kicking duties. The No 9 duly slotting an excellent touchline conversion after Arendse scored right in the corner.

The try perfectly encapsulated how South Africa came flying out of the blocks after half-time. They dominated territory in the first 40 but Scotland finished on a high after winning an emphatic scrum penalty on the cusp of the break.

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Finn Russell duly converted to narrow the gap to just 6-3 at the interval in Marseille. South Africa centre Jesse Kriel was perhaps still lucky to be on the field after an early head-on-head clash with Jack Dempsey went unseen and unpunished by the match officials.

Former Scotland captain turned ITV pundit John Barclay was adamant the offence, which took place in the second minute in a similar manner to the red shown to England flanker Tom Curry against Argentina, warranted a sending off during his half-time analysis.

Tries from Pieter-Steph du Toit and Arendse helped put the Springboks in the driving seat, establishing an 18-3 lead in a bruising Pool B clash.

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