Springbok captain Siya Kolisi on Sunday paid tribute to his team for chasing “lost causes” after they came from behind to beat France 29-28 to book a place in the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup.
South Africa trailed 22-19 at halftime and had Eben Etzebeth off the field for the opening eight minutes of the second half for a yellow card, but they prevented France from capitalizing and eventually came back to win the match by the narrowest of margins.
“We scrambled a lot, especially when we were short of numbers,” Kolisi said. “We talk about chasing lost causes. Don’t stop until they put the ball down over the try-line. Don’t do that and we’d be going home tomorrow. That’s what we do as a team. Never give up.”
Photo: AP
The Springboks edged in front thanks to replacement flyhalf Handre Pollard’s second-half points, setting up a last-four meeting with England back in Paris at the Stade de France on Saturday.
“It was an amazing game,” said Kolisi, who was substituted early in the second half. “It flowed, it was tough, physical, the way both teams played outshone everything. The French have been building for four years and [we] knew it was going to take something special.”
The South Africa captain, who is looking to repeat the triumph of 2019, said the Springboks had prepared for the noise and atmosphere of taking on the hosts in their own backyard in Paris by using speakers in training, but he paid tribute to the hosts, especially captain Antoine Dupoint, who returned to the lineup after suffering a fractured cheekbone in the pool games to play the full 80 minutes.
Photo: AP
“France can be proud. For their leader to be injured and come back and play like as if he had never been away was incredible,” Kolisi said.
South Africa coach Jacques Nienaber also praised France.
“If you play the French in France, and if you look at their performances and consistency over last four years, their team-building and results, we knew it would be a proper Test match,” he said. “Like all the games this weekend, it was won in the last eight minutes of the game, so it was a proper Test.”
Earlier in Marseille, England coach Steve Borthwick said he had no doubt his players would be written off for the semi-finals, but backed them to once again rise to the occasion after scrambling past Fiji.
Owen Farrell kicked 20 points, and Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant crossed for tries as England battled to a 30-24 quarter-final victory over Fiji to earn a meeting with reigning champions South Africa.
“An immense credit to players for dealing with it, but what a performance by Fiji, not just tonight, but this World Cup,” Borthwick said. “What a team they are. Well coached and jam-packed with world-class talent. We knew it was going to be a tough game and it was. For large parts of the game we controlled it. There was a spell when Fiji scored back-to-back tries which Fiji can do well, probably better than anyone else in the world, but we stayed composed and got back ahead on the scoreboard and that’s what the players did.”
Borthwick said his team, which suffered a first-ever loss to Fiji, at Twickenham in London, in both sides’ final pre-tournament warm-up match, had been “written off” going into the World Cup.
“A lot of people said we wouldn’t get out of the pool. We got out of the pool, now we got out of the quarter-final,” he said. “Now these players have an opportunity in Paris in the semi-final. I am sure we will be written off again, but these players rise to the occasion.”
Farrell said the arm-wrestle had been “what we expected,” with Fiji crossing for two converted tries in the space of four minutes through Peni Ravai and Vilimoni Botitu to set up a nerve-racking final 12 minutes at the Stade Velodrome.
“They are a tough, tough team that can turn it on in the blink of an eye. I thought we started the game really well. We really got after it in that first half,” the flyhalf said. “We always knew Fiji were going to have some good patches, and they did.”
Farrell dropped a goal and a late penalty to pull England clear, but played down his contribution.
“The forwards did a great job and put it on the plate for us. I just had to knock it over,” he said. “This team is finding ways to win and when it came down to it, we did that today.”
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