Boks enjoy return of winning feeling
After two narrow defeats, South Africa were able to reverse their fortunes and snatch a last-gasp victory of their own against France in Paris on Saturday, even if coach Rassie Erasmus felt they had not been at their best.
Substitute hooker Bongi Mbonambi rumbled over well after the final hooter to help secure a 29-26 victory that made up for last month’s home loss against New Zealand and last weekend’s controversial onepoint defeat to England at Twickenham.
“We learnt a few lessons from last week that we were able to apply and we were rewarded for it, even if it was not our best performance,” Erasmus said at the Stade de France.
“It was a stressful match, but the emotion is good tonight. We showed courage.
“Fighting back after being so far behind is often hard, especially when it is raining. The guys handled the key moments well and were better at withstanding the pressure.”
France had led 23-9 early in the second half as South Africa looked lacklustre and showed little enterprise in possession.
But they began the run the ball better thereafter, clawing their way back into the game and eventually securing victory with a dramatic last-minute drive upfield after stripping the French of possession with just one minute left on the clock.
“The most important thing is to put everything into perspective. Ireland are one of the best teams in the world at the moment and in the Six Nations they won here [in Paris] in the last minute,” Erasmus said.
“We beat France 3-0 in our June series of internationals last year but their team is not the same as last year – it is better.”
Captain Siya Kolisi felt a change of attitude in the second half was key to their victory.
“In the first half, the French team dominated us, it was hard. It was not technical mistakes, but it was physical and they were winning the battles.
“We knew we had to change in the second half and we managed to,” he said. The result also extended SA’s nine-year unbeaten run against France and restored some confidence for Erasmus with less than a year to go until the start of the World Cup in Japan, where his team face world No 1 side the All Blacks in the group stages.
France coach Jacques Brunel was left to rue a number of errors. “We allowed them to keep in touch with us because of little mistakes. We lacked control,” he said.
The Boks next face Scotland and Wales on their four-test end-of-year Europe tour while France host Argentina in Lille.
France South Africa