French cockerel would love to crow in Durban

FOR the Tricolours in Durban, it has been a case of so close but not quite close enough since the teams first squared up at Kings Park in 1967, and we are not just talking about the controversial millimetres that separated France from beating South Africa in the 1995 World Cup semi-final.

In six internationals between the countries in Durban, France have drawn three times, lost twice by narrow margins and been smashed just the once, the 26-3 drubbing in ’67.

Perhaps it should not be mentioned too loud in Durban that France have never been victorious here lest the French be seized by the spirit of the Los Pumas team that in 2015 picked Durban to register their first win over the Springboks.

France have, of course, won in South Africa before, more times than the Boks would care to remember, with South Africa being a country where the cockerels have crowed the loudest on no fewer than six occasions. The Boks have won 11 of the 22 matches and there have been five draws in total.

But of those games, surely none came close to matching the drama that unfolded in monsoon-conditions in Durban in the Rugby World Cup semifinal of ‘95.

The match almost never took place and kick-off was delayed by 90 minutes because Welsh referee Derek Bevan was concerned that field conditions were so bad that a front row forward could have drowned had a scrum collapsed in one of the worst lakes, near the southern posts of the ground.

The Springbok management were panic–stricken. If the match was called off, France would advance to the final because of their superior disciplinary record in the tournament (the Boks had had James Dalton red-carded in the spiteful match against Canada in Port Elizabeth).

There was talk of bringing across water-soaking machines from neighbouring golf club Durban Country Club; there was serious discussion of calling up air force helicopters to spin up the moisture and distribute it away from the playing field – but that would mean half-drowning the spectators.

So ultimately the game went ahead and to cut to the chase of one of the most dramatic chapters in Springbok rugby history, France came within a debatable centimetre of scoring the winning try, with time just about up. A little earlier, first James Small and then Andre Joubert, pictured, had dropped up-and-unders in the Bok 22, resulting in attacking French scrums. Somehow the Boks held on but when 110 kg forward Abdelatif Benazzi collected the ball just three yards from the line, Small courageously redeemed himself for his earlier knock-on by literally putting his body on the line, diving across the try-line kamikazi-style to prevent Benazzi grounding the ball.

The big fellow (to this day) thought he had, and in these days of the TMO, he might have been proved correct, but on this occasion the ruling went the way of the Boks.

The Boks were jubilant beyond description as they sprung into the air when Bevan sounded his whistle while the Frenchmen were broken. They collapsed in the mud and wept.

It was not the first time Frenchmen had been shattered at having come so close to winning in Durban. In perhaps one of the most infamous Tests between the country in terms of dirty play and ambiguous crowd reaction, the teams drew 8-8 in 1971, with much of the action having been far from the ball.

Frik du Preez was in the middle of the frequent scraps, as was the great Jo Maso, and when he was crash-tackled from behind by inside centre Joggie Jansen and had to leave the field, it sparked the ire of his countrymen, and free-forall followed free-for-all.

Natal’s Tommy Bedford to this day recalls his most painful moment in rugby – being lustily kicked in the crown jewels by an angry Frenchman after crowd abuse had been targeted at France’s black wing Roger Bourgarel, who early in the game had been tackled into the crowd to raucous cheers. Bedford had nothing to do with it, of course, but when a fracas broke out in those days, anything went ...

Bourgarel, who was of Jamaican descent, was feisty as heck and twice he planted Bok hero Frik du Preez on his backside when he was in full flight down the touchline. Later in the game, Bourgarel was reportedly cheered every time he was involved in the action. It is impossible today to say if that was patronising or genuine respect but at the least we can acknowledge that rugby courage was noticed.

Will another slice of history await us on Saturday?