Rassie Erasmus has admitted the Springboks were outsmarted as well as beaten by France in Paris. “In a way we weren’t just outplayed,” he said. “I think we were outsmarted as well.”
France won the Nations Championship Test 21-19 at the Stade de France on Friday. They led 21-7 at half-time and held on with captain Antoine Dupont in the No 10 shirt, picked there by head coach Fabien Galthié because of injuries.
Dupont was named player of the match. By Erasmus’s own account, he did not stay at 10.
Is Dupont now France’s best option at 10, even when the injured fly-halves are fit? Tell us in the comments.
READ MORE: France team v Springboks: Dupont at 10, Alldritt back at No.8
‘Dupont was going to play 10, he played 9’
That was how Erasmus summed up France’s selection when he was asked about his own late changes. “Dupont was going to play 10, he played 9,” he said.
Before the game Erasmus had said that, with Dupont in the side, he was not sure who would play 10, eNCA reported.
Galthié named Dupont at 10 on the Wednesday, with Maxime Lucu at 9. Romain Ntamack had hurt his shoulder against Fiji the week before, with Matthieu Jalibert and Antoine Hastoy also out. In the match Dupont spent long spells at scrum-half, and Lucu kicked all three conversions.
READ MORE: France player ratings vs South Africa: a 9.5 for Antoine Dupont
‘So instinctive’
Erasmus was then asked whether France had planned to keep the ball in play and away from the Springboks’ lineout and maul. He said he was not sure, and put it down to Dupont.
“I’m not 100% sure if that was their tactics, you know. I think Dupont is just a player that’s so instinctive,” he said. “He sees the space and when he sees in the middle of the field there’s space there, he kicks it down there.”
“As we all know, a brilliant player,” he added, saying France were harder to prepare for, “especially when we didn’t know he’s going to play 10 or 9”.
‘Good in the air’
Erasmus also credited France’s work under the Springboks’ kicking game.
“I thought they were good in the air,” he said. “They were also sharp with putting the five-lock sometimes back and receiving some of our box kicks.”
A box kick is the high kick a scrum-half puts up from the base of a ruck. France kept a lock back to catch them.
Kolisi agreed France had been sharper with their chances, saying they “took them straight away”.
France scored three tries before the break through Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, Théo Attissogbe and Louis Bielle-Biarrey, then did not score in the second half. Erasmus said it was difficult to criticise a side that had just beaten his.
France now top the northern hemisphere table. The Springboks go to Dublin to face Ireland.
READ MORE: Rassie Erasmus: front-row switch had ‘an eye on the World Cup’
Watch Rassie Erasmus and Siya Kolisi’s full post-match press conference after France 21-19 South Africa:
Comments
No one has weighed in yet.
Be the first - what did you make of it?