South Africa reduced to 14 men before 10-try beating of gutsy Portugal

South Africa overcame Andre Esterhuizen’s third-minute red card and an early score by Portugal’s Jose Paiva dos Santos to cruise to a 64-21 win in Bloemfontein, finishing with 10 tries including a hat-trick for Makazole Mapimpi.

Esterhuizen was initially shown a yellow card by referee Hollie Davidson after making head-to-head contact with Portugal centre Jose Lima, who left the field after the collision. The decision was referred to the bunker and Esterhuizen’s card was upgraded from yellow to red. Joe Marler, the England prop and Esterhuizen’s former team-mate at Harlequins, described the decision as “ridiculous”. It was a tricky early moment for Davidson, the first woman to referee South Africa in a Test match. She did well.]]>