By Bhekizenzo Zonele
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus and captain Siya Kolisi offered no excuses on Saturday for South Africa’s 21-19 defeat to France, admitting the world champions had only themselves to blame after wasting several opportunities to win in Paris.
Despite fighting back from a 21-7 half-time deficit in Friday night’s Nations Championship clash at the Stade de France, the Springboks fell two points short after a performance marked by missed scoring chances, poor decisions and costly disciplinary infringements.
Erasmus was particularly critical of his team’s failure to capitalise on opportunities, saying France had simply played better rugby.
“France played really well and we didn’t, so I can’t find a lot of excuses. They took their opportunities when they got them and we didn’t,” he said.
“It’s probably a cliché, but I definitely think we had enough opportunities and there were simple tries we could have scored with one last pass, and perhaps one or two wrong decisions, such as not kicking for the corner and rather expecting the referee to give four penalties in a row.
“In front of a crowd like this you might feel you have dominance, but it’s just human not to keep on penalising the home team if they’ve already got a card or two. But in the end, it comes down to the fact that they played well, and we didn’t.”
Kolisi was equally critical of the Springboks’ inability to turn possession and attacking opportunities into points, saying their fighting spirit could not compensate for mistakes against top opposition.
“Early in the first half we created opportunities in the wide channels that we didn’t take, and when they created chances, they took them straight away. So, we could have been better in many areas.
“However, the effort and hard work was there from our team, and they fought till the end. But if you create so many opportunities and don’t take them against a team like this, you’re not going to get the win. We know what we need to fix, and hopefully we will play better next week.”
Erasmus also refused to use the disciplinary sanctions against Lood de Jager and Jasper Wiese as an excuse, saying that the decisions were justified.
De Jager received a first-half yellow card for a dangerous tackle, while Wiese’s second-half yellow card for a dangerous clear-out was upgraded to a 20-minute red following a bunker review.
“I don’t think any of it was intentional, but I agree it should have been a card,” Erasmus said.
“We can’t moan about that, but I didn’t think anybody flew in to try and hurt somebody. When we got the red card, we were a little under the pump.”
He conceded that the Springboks had contributed to their own downfall rather than being forced into mistakes by the French.
“They had the seven-pointers. One was beautiful and the other bounced off a player’s head, and no defensive system can stop that. With all the things that went wrong, we played ourselves into that hole. It wasn’t that they forced us to play that way.
“We were uncharacteristically a little tentative tonight, and when something like that happens it’s probably the coaching staff. When we got the opportunity, we were a little bit hesitant, and I have to find out why that happened.”
France had taken control of the match with three converted first-half tries, establishing a 21-7 advantage before the break.
South Africa’s hopes of reducing the deficit suffered a setback when Kurt-Lee Arendse’s apparent try shortly before half-time was disallowed after a television review found he had been offside at the lineout.
The Springboks recovered after the interval, with Cobus Reinach and Malcolm Marx crossing for tries as the visitors took control of large periods of the second half.
However, Manie Libbok missed the conversion following Marx’s try, leaving South Africa trailing by two points.
France were held scoreless in the second half but defended their narrow advantage to record their first home victory over the Springboks since 2005.
Erasmus acknowledged the determination shown by his players but said their comeback did little to ease the disappointment.
“If you must look for a positive, it’s the effort, the grind and the fight back. After about 30 minutes they didn’t score again, and we scored even though we were down to 14 men for most of the game. The frustration is that the discipline cost us. To lose by two points, or any number, is terrible.”
The Springboks will travel to Dublin to face Ireland on Saturday, 21 November.
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