Brunel: Ref was 'indulgent' to Boks
REACTION: South Africa may have received some favourable rulings from Welsh referee Nigel Owens in their come-from-behind win over France at the weekend.
France coach Jacques Brunel admitted that he was “very annoyed” by the way his team snatched defeat (26-29) from the jaws of victory against South Africa in Paris at the weekend.
The French were leading Saturday’s one-off Test 23-9 just after half-time, following tries by captain Guilhem Guirado and Mathieu Bastareaud, and then 26-22 with a scrummage in the Springbok 22 as the game entered its final minute.
What happened next was a catalogue of misadventures as the French were first penalised, allowing the South Africans to clear their lines.
Damian Penaud then handed the Boks a line-out which eventually saw replacement hooker Bongi Mbonambi slide in with a match-winning try to make it 29-26 in the 85th minute.
“Yesterday [Saturday] I was trying to look at the positives, today [Sunday] I am very annoyed, because we lost a match we should never have lost,” said a downcast Brunel who has won just two out of nine matches since taking over from Guy Noves last December.
“We didn’t manage things well, especially in the last four minutes.
“We had four minutes left and later on, just 30 seconds left to win a match that a top side simply would not lose from that position. We cannot let opportunities like this pass us by.”
Brunel also took a sideswipe at referee Nigel Owens, accusing him of being “indulgent” towards the Springboks, but still managed to look on the bright side as the team moves on to face Argentina in Lille next weekend.
“[South Africa] are very strong, with a very big defence, which squeezes you,” he said.
“We managed to break out and reverse the pressure. We succeeded in forcing errors and get ourselves ahead.
“We showed a lot of control over the whole game even if I’m angry about the last four minutes, ” said Brunel.
France have now lost their last seven matches against South Africa. Their last win came in Toulouse in 2009.
Agence France-Presse
