Lady Luck smiles on Boks
BEATEN: SA SNATCH VICTORY FROM JAWS OF DEFEAT
‘Not the most clinical performance, but the team was gutsy,’ concedes coach.
After his team grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus admitted “Lady Luck” had winked in their direction for a change. They scored a nail-biting 29-26 win over France in Paris at the weekend.
It took an 84th-minute maul try from replacement hooker Bongi Mbonambi to clinch matters for the Boks after the French had led the entire match and dominated large areas of the game.
Erasmus’ overall record improved to 50% with the national team’s sixth win in their 12th Test of the year. The Boks face Scotland in Edinburgh this Saturday, November 17, followed by their final Test of the season against Wales in Cardiff on November 24.
“Last week against England we took it through 15 phases to [try and] get a penalty to win the game [it didn’t happen], and this week we had to score a try to win the match,” Erasmus said.
A defensive error from scrumhalf Faf de Klerk led to France’s first try, scored by captain and hooker Guilhem Guirado late in the first half, which gave the hosts a lead of 16-9, while a failed clearance from Bok wing Sbu Nkosi led to the French side’s second try, scored by centre Mathieu Bastareaud, which extended their advantage to 23-9 shortly after the break.
“We’ve done it a few times this year, where we were behind quite early in the match, but this scoreline happened just before and after halftime, and that made it tough,” Erasmus said.
“There were a few big moments and I thought our guys handled those and the pressure very well.”
The Boks, who hadn’t lost to France since 2009, refused to surrender and Nkosi scored their first try in the second half to trail 23-16.
The superb kicking performance of flyhalf Handre Pollard ensured they trailed only 23-22 going into the final quarter.
“It was definitely not the most clinical performance, but the team was gusty enough and it feels much better,” Erasmus said.