South Africa secured a convincing 76-0 win over Romania in Pool B this afternoon at Stade de Bordeaux.

Head coach Jacques Nienaber named a team showing 14 changes to face Romania but, despite the changes, the Springboks overpowered Romania in every aspect of the game.

Scrum-half Cobus Reinach scored a first half hat-trick and was joined on the scoresheet by Makazole Mapimpi, and Damian Willemse, who also scored before the break.

The misery continued for Romania in the second half with two further tries from Mapimpi, two tries from Grant Williams, a penalty try and Deon Fourie and Willie Le Roux also touched down to add to the impressive scoreline.

With just two and a half minutes gone, the reigning champions were already on the board after the scrum-half Cobus Reinach went right off the base of the scrum, feinted to pass but then glided over the line for a simple try.

It was just minutes later when the Springboks struck again, with Damian Willemse missing out several green shirts with a long pass to the left to Willie le Roux, who then selflessly flipped it back inside to Makazole Mapimpi just inside the corner flag.

Willemse then landed a difficult conversion from a tight angle.

Romania’s error strewn defence once again allowed Cobus Reinach to slip through the tackles to go in under the posts for his second in under 10 minutes and Willemse showed his class when he stepped off his right to slide through and score underneath the posts to give his side the bonus point within 12 minutes.

The first half rout continued when the South African scrum shunted the Romanian pack backwards and Reinach collected the ball to dot down for his hat-trick try, which Damian Willemse converted.

Five tries for South Africa in the first half, three of them for Cobus Reinach and a completely one-sided affair as the teams went in at the break.

The Springboks were relentless in the second-half, with Deon Fourie, usually a back row but pressed into action as an emergency hooker with Malcolm Marx out injured for the rest of the tournament, rolling over the line following a pinpoint throw and effective maul.

To rub salt in the wounds, minutes later the Romania scrum could not cope with the Springboks' scrum and the referee awarded a penalty try to give the world champions another seven points.

Wave after wave of attack continued as Grant Williams sliced through a non-existent defence and touch down under the posts to bring South Africa’s lead to 50 points followed within a few minutes by another try from Mapimpi who was slipped in for an easy run to the corner.

The Springboks never took their foot off the pedal and Grant Williams blasted over from close range and minutes later substitute scrum-half Faf de Klerk and Willie le Roux started an attack from inside their own 22, with Makazole Mapimpi then racing clear from deep inside his own half to touch down near the corner flag.

Mapimpi got his hat-trick in the last 10 minutes after yet another slick backs move and De Klerk knocked over the conversion from the left.

To cap off an impressive performance, South Africa spun it right and Willie le Roux, despite have Makazole Mapimpi outside him, elects to have a go at the line himself and crossed for his first Rugby World Cup try.

The game turned into a training exercise of a match for South Africa, but they will now have their sights set on Ireland.