Eramus happy to see South Africa show courage in France win

South Africa coach Rassie Eramus does not believe his side are yet firing on all cylinders, despite getting a win on the board against France on Saturday night in Paris.

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 one-point defeat to England at Twickenham.

“We learned a few lessons from last week that we were able to apply and we were rewarded for it, even if it is not our best performance,” Erasmus said.

“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 back into the game and securing victory with a dramatic last-minute drive 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 [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 the team’s 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. South Africa next face Scotland and Wales on their four-Test European tour at the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Joe Schmidt will let Conor Murray decide himself whether the British and Irish Lions scrum-half should make a surprise return against New Zealand.

Ireland ground past Argentina 28-17 in Dublin on Saturday, with the luckless Sean O’Brien breaking his right arm just 38 minutes into his first Test in 12 months.

Murray was omitted from Ireland’s 42-man autumn international squad due to ongoing neck problems and has not played since the summer tour to Australia.

But Schmidt admitted Murray, 29, could yet face the All Blacks – but only if he feels fully ready himself. “I’m going to chat to Conor and see how he is,” Schmidt said. “It will really be Conor’s call.”

New Zealand coach Steve Hansen has previously joked it could have been an “Irish trick” to leave Murray out of the autumn squad.

Asked why Murray was left out of Ireland’s squad in the first instance, Schmidt replied: “Well again it was really to take the pressure off him.”