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Courageous 14-man Springboks fall just short as France hold on

Cheslin Kolbe was taken out in the air by French captain Antoine Dupont, who received a red card. Photo: Sylvain Thomas/AFP

Cheslin Kolbe was taken out in the air by French captain Antoine Dupont, who received a red card. Photo: Sylvain Thomas/AFP

Published Nov 12, 2022

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Cape Town – They lost Pieter-Steph du Toit in the 12th minute to a red card, but the Springboks produced one of their best performances of 2022 and were denied an improbable win over France on Saturday night.

The French may have held out for a 30-26 victory, but the Boks made a serious statement that they have all the tools to launch a successful defence of their Rugby World Cup title in the same country next year with a courageous performance in Marseille.

Du Toit’s red card for a dangerous ruck clean-out could have resulted in the Boks battling to remain competitive, but the world champions showed their class to take the fight to the French in front of a boisterous Stade Velodrome crowd to nearly snatch an improbable triumph.

A miracle was on the cards for the South Africans when flyhalf Damian Willemse slotted a terrific penalty from 51 metres out on the angle to extend the Bok lead to 26-22 with about 15 minutes to go.

But then replacement flank Deon Fourie was yellow-carded in the 70th minute after the Boks conceded a few penalties inside their own 22, and the French rallied to score a five-pointer via prop Sipili Falatea, while fullback sharp-shooter Thomas Ramos landed a late penalty to seal the deal.

The showdown promised so much for Bok fans as captain Siya Kolisi – who was an inspirational figure throughout with an outstanding display – and his team took on the French by holding onto possession in attack.

Even the likes of Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse were unleashed and disrupted the home side’s defence by running the ball back from kicks instead of booting it back downfield.

The Boks, though, were hampered by poor execution at times as they often coughed up possession inside the French half, and also lost three attacking lineouts.

And soon after they carried through 10 phases, the visitors were rocked by Du Toit’s sending-off. It was an unfortunate incident as the Bok No 7 went in to clear out a ruck, but he was pushed by Kwagga Smith, which saw him make direct contact to the head of French centre Jonathan Danty.

English referee Wayne Barnes – who set a new world record in his 101st Test match – had little choice but to send Du Toit packing, and the big loose forward was in tears on the sidelines afterwards.

But instead of the French dominating from that point, it galvanised the Boks and they played with terrific intensity and spirit to cover for Du Toit.

Even though prop Cyril Baille dotted down after the first quarter to stretch the French lead to 13-0, the South Africans soon hit back via an astonishing 54-metre penalty on the angle from Kolbe.

Not long after that, the Bok pack got their maul marching forward once more, and skipper Kolisi emerged out of nowhere to dive over.

Suddenly it was 13-10, but just went it looked like the Boks had the momentum, Smith dropped the subsequent kickoff, which was a perfect example of how the French were relieved of the pressure.

In fact, it was the hosts who seemed as if they were playing with one man short, such was the momentum generated by the South African forwards, where Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Ox Nche and Franco Mostert were tireless.

The big hits kept coming from Jacques Nienaber’s team, and they managed to stop French captain and scrumhalf Antoine Dupont from dictating terms like he normally does.

Ramos landed another three-pointer just before the break to make it 16-10 at halftime, but the Boks would have felt that they were still in with a real chance of victory.

Kolbe and Ramos exchanged penalties early in the second half, but at 19-13, Dupont was also red-carded for taking out the Bok right wing in the air.

With 14 against 14, South Africa would have felt confident that they could finish off the job, and they got the breakthrough when Arendse scored smartly from an excellent Willie le Roux pass to put the Boks in front at 20-19 with about 30 minutes to go.

Kolbe had to leave the field for a concussion test, but De Klerk stepped up to nail the touchline conversion and a subsequent penalty, and it looked like the Boks could pull it through at 23-19.

Cobus Reinach replaced De Klerk later on, but Willemse stepped into the goal-kicking breach to bang over a superb penalty from distance.

The French, urged on by their partisan home crowd, roared back into the Bok 22, though, and Fourie was sent to the sin-bin.

Down to 13 men, the visitors just couldn’t cover all the holes in the defence, and when Falatea wormed his way over – although Barnes had it checked for a possible double movement – France had enough composure to close out the game with Ramos’ sixth penalty.

But Kolisi and his team can hold their heads high. They may not have secured the victory – and France extended their winning streak to 12 matches – but the Boks proved that with just a bit more fine-tuning to their execution on attack, they can be a real force at next year’s World Cup.

Points-Scorers

France 30 – Tries: Cyril Baille, Sipili Falatea. Conversion: Thomas Ramos (1). Penalties: Ramos (6).

South Africa 26 – Tries: Siya Kolisi, Kurt-Lee Arendse. Conversions: Cheslin Kolbe (1), Faf de Klerk (1). Penalties: Kolbe (2), De Klerk (1), Damian Willemse (1).

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