Brisbane - Who said good old prime South African beef was obsolete in the modern rugby world? Well, the countries still alive in the Rugby World Cup will have noticed with unease that the glorious enterprise exhibited by the Samoans against England was crushed under the boot of a mighty Springbok pack.
It was a bit like the Charge of the Light Brigade, with the outgunned Samoans courageously charging at the enemy only to be wiped out by the heavy artillery. It was sabres against cannons. There would be only one winner.
This was no more apparent than in the set scrums. You often hear of David and Goliath contests in sport but the ruthless manner in which Goliath obliterated little David was almost unsporting.
The foundation of the magnificent scrummaging by the Boks is the startling new combination of Christo Bezuidenhout, John Smit and Faan Rautenbach, who were the "B" team front row during the Boks' training camp.
Smit, at 116kgs, is the lightest of the three. Before the match he said that he was going to be flanked by "monsters" and that the result "could be devastating".
He was right. Bezuidenhout, the Pumas prop who retired from rugby between 1994 and 2000, and Rautenbach, who has barely played this year because of injury, have hit form timeously, and the All Blacks will know that they are in for a mighty battle up front this week in the quarter-final in Melbourne.
Ever since the narrow loss to the Kiwis in the Tri-Nations match in Dunedin, the Boks have looked forward confidently to a "rematch" with the All Blacks, their confidence based on a feeling that they can take the Kiwis on up front.
That confidence will be redoubled after the pack's utter dominance of the Samoan forwards that achieved parity with mighty England last week.
Before we get too carried away, it must be taken into account that the Samoans were physically and mentally below the level they played at against England, and next week the Boks will be subjected to pressure that the Samoans could not muster.
And even with wonderful forward momentum, the Springbok backline lacked creativity and penetration, particularly in the midfield and it seems likely that Jaque Fourie will be reintroduced at outside centre.
And flyhalf Derek Hougaard continues to improve with each outing at international level. He made the odd error but he also did many impressive things. The 20-year-old showed great courage, too, when he eventually got up off the turf after Brian Lima flattened him in one of the biggest hits in World Cup history.
The tone of the match was set from the first kick-off. The Boks drove the ball up until Corne Krige was freed for a dash down the line. The Samoans were awarded a scrum from the resulting melee and the Boks wheeled them 180 degrees in an instant. South African got the put in and Joost van der Westhuizen broke blind to set up Joe van Niekerk for the first of four first half tries.
In that first half, the Boks did what they liked in the scrums. The first three put-ins by Samoa ended in the Boks wining the ball.
And on each occasion the Boks registered points. Hougaard kicked a drop goal on the second occasion and Jorrie Muller's try also originated from possession secured from the Samoan scrum.
Hougaard scored the Boks third try, a fine effort when he nudged the ball through the defence with the boot, gathered and scored.
The Boks had been on top from the word go which thankfully silenced the 48 000-strong Australian crowd that was unashamedly supporting the underdogs with great fervour.
But the South African domination meant they had to save their voices for the occasions when the Bok substitutes did their warm-up routine in the in-goal area. They were roundly booed.
The Aussies love their sport, make no mistake, but they are hardly sporting. In fact, there was more culture in the tub of yoghurt I had for breakfast this morning than their was at the Suncorp Stadium.
The try-scoring bonus point was secured in style shortly before half-time after John Smit took a pass in the flyhalf position and threw a dummy to set up No 8 Juan Smith for the try.
The opening 15 minutes of the second half belonged to the valiant Samoans. They threw the kitchen sink at the Boks but their prolonged siege on the Boks' line produced only one try, scored by lock Opeta Palepoi.
The Boks will be well pleased with their defence and when they lifted the siege they put the Samoans to the sword.
Ashwin Willemse showed terrific pace to score a 50m try when turnover ball popped up into his hands; Jaco van der Westhuyzen also showed great pace to finish brilliantly in the corner; Fourie came on and immediately glided through a gap for a try; and substitute scrumhalf Neil de Kock also showed fine finishing skills to score the eighth and final try.