South Africa brimming with confidence for England ‘challenge’
Manie Libbok admitted South Africa will be loaded with confidence going into their World Cup semi-final with England after coming through one of the greatest rugby matches in living memory with a one-point victory over hosts France.
In a titanic quarter-final in Paris on Sunday, the Boks twice came from behind to eke out a 29-28 triumph, ending Les Bleus’ 18-game winning run on home soil and ruining their talismanic captain Antoine Dupont’s much-hyped return from injury.
Having pulled off such a momentous victory, the defending champions are now hot favourites to see off Steve Borthwick’s England at Stade de France next Saturday and reach the final for a second tournament running.
“Obviously we’re going to take a lot of positives out of the game because France are a quality team who have done well over the past few years,” said stand-off Libbok.
“We’ve still got a lot of stuff to work on and rectify for the semi-finals but we can take a lot of confidence from beating France.
“They put us under pressure from the word go and it was really hard. I am very proud of the guys for sticking in there and sticking to our game.
“It definitely felt like a game that could go either way and we came out on the right side of it.”
While supporters inside the stadium and watching on television on Sunday were gripped by a captivating showdown that ebbed and flowed at breakneck pace, Libbok found it a thrill to play in.
“Most definitely it was one of the best games I have ever been involved in,” he said. “It was big, obviously with the crowd as well, it was an amazing atmosphere. I really enjoyed it.”
The drama of the quarter-final showdown was highlighted by a moment in the six-try first half when South Africa winger Cheslin Kolbe bolted out to successfully charge down a conversion attempt from Thomas Ramos.
“Cheslin doing that was insane, actually,” said Libbok. “We were very happy for what he did because it took two points away from them and when you look at the result, there was only one point in it, so it was massive from Cheslin.”
Libbok is adamant South Africa will not treat England lightly even though they have been struggling in recent years and are widely deemed to have reached the semi-final mainly due to being in the half of the draw that featured none of the five top-ranked teams in the world.
“England are also a quality team and it’s a play-off so anything can happen,” said the number 10. “It’s important for us to focus on ourselves.
“Recovery is massive now. We have to recover well and prepare well so we are ready to play to the best of our abilities.”
Saturday’s semi-final represents a rematch of both the 2007 and 2019 finals and South Africa scrum-half Faf de Klerk insisted Borthwick’s side should not be underestimated.
“We have played against England a lot. Obviously they have been struggling before the World Cup but they have definitely started to turn things around,” said the 31-year-old, who came off the bench on Sunday to help the Boks see the job through.
“It is going to be a very big, tough challenge, especially with a six-day turnaround. We just have to focus on recovery and make sure we are ready for that.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Think it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
5 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
5 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
5 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
5 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
3 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
3 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
237 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
4 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
90 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
20 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
30 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
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