How France's kicking game outplayed Boks
INTERVIEW: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus conceded that his side were outplayed and outsmarted by France’s kicking game in their 19-21 Round Five Nations Championship defeat to Les Bleus.
France kicked 30 times during the match, four times more than the Boks’ 26, but the quality and execution of Les Bleus’ kicks proved to be the difference.
Fabien Galthie’s men bossed the aerial contest on the defensive and offensive side of things and minimised giving South Africa line-out opportunities by kicking in-field for the majority of the contest.
*Also read: Player Ratings: South Africa
Erasmus wasn’t convinced that it was a clear tactic from France, but stated that their player personnel’s skills caught the Boks off guard at times.
“I’m not 100 percent sure if France’s tactics were to not kick for touch and give us set-piece opportunities,” Erasmus told reporters on Friday evening.
“I feel Antoine Dupont is a player that’s just so instinctive who can identify space and exploit it to perfection; he’s just naturally like that.
“He’s a brilliant player, and it’s difficult to plan to play against him, especially if you don’t know if he will play No.10 or scrumhalf and that made it difficult.
“But overall I felt France were good in the air; they were also sharp to put their No.5 lock sometimes back to receive some of our box kicks.
“In a way, we weren’t just outplayed, we were outsmarted as well.”
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That’s quite interesting 🤔
Link to Rassie’s explanation: https://t.co/VdNcKx1FHp
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Erasmus said on Friday that their chances to reach the Nations Championship Final are hanging by a thread.
That situation changed on Saturday when Wales stunned the rugby world by defeating New Zealand 35-28 in Cardiff, giving the Boks a lifeline ahead of their Round Six encounter against Ireland.
Depending on what happens between England and New Zealand in the match before, it could come down to the following permutations:
Should England defeat the All Blacks, a win would be enough to see the Boks contest the Final in London.
Should New Zealand win with a bonus point, the Boks will stay out of the running; however, if the All Blacks win without a bonus point, the Boks will have to get the full house against Ireland to go back on top due to their superior points differential.
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Erasmus elaborated why he felt France opted to roll the dice to kick for the corner instead of going for the posts on all but one occasion when the Boks were penalised.
“It’s hard to criticise a team that just defeated you, but I think if we scored one more try we would’ve gotten five points from this game and be in the running.
“We basically killed our dreams of playing in the Nations Championship Final following this performance, to not get the win and the four tries.
“Maybe France were also in the mindset of getting four tries and trying to top the Northern Hemisphere standings; that might have contributed to that tactic.
“But look, it took a lot of energy out of us defending their mauls; we stole one of their line-out balls, and they threw one over, but for the rest of it it really took our legs away.
“Maybe it was because of their log position; I’m not in their changeroom to say I’m surprised; the scoreboard tells a different story.”
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