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Where Rassie Erasmus and his Springboks failed against France
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Rassie Erasmus looked like a man whose entire worldview had just been challenged. Sitting before the microphones in Paris, he wore the thousand-yard stare of someone struggling to comprehend what had happened.
On their last two visits to the Stade de France, the Springboks had triumphed in the greatest rugby match ever played, the 2023 World Cup quarter-final, then returned last year to give France another hiding on their own patch. Erasmus had never lost here as a Springbok coach. It was starting to feel as though he never would.
“It’s shit sitting here on the losing side,” he said after Friday’s 21-19 defeat, incredulous to find himself in this position. The result seemed to offend his understanding of how these contests are supposed to work. South Africa had won every scrum and lineout on their own feed, extracted nine scrum penalties, and enjoyed 55 per cent possession and 58 per cent territory. They had all the ingredients for another French feast but somehow left hungry.
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That is because their attack was toothless beyond the scrum and maul. Both are integral, intricate parts of rugby, and the Boks perform them better than anyone. But with ball in hand they looked like a luxury car stuck in first gear. Too often the forwards supplied a wonderful platform, only for the backs to kick away the invitation, run into traffic or ask the pack to rescue them again. What is the point of a cheat code at the scrum if the reward is another aimless phase?
Credit to France for that. Their defence was ferocious, organised and, when the match began slipping away, brilliantly desperate. Antoine Dupont helped prevent Pieter-Steph du Toit from scoring close to the line, then pounced on a loose ball after Louis Bielle-Biarrey smashed Jesse Kriel in the dying seconds. France scored all 21 points before half-time and still found the fortitude to defend their lead for another 40 minutes.
Perhaps there was a difference in emotional intensity, too. France had been haunted by their one-point World Cup quarter-final defeat and last year’s drubbing in their capital. There was something urgent about their resistance, as though the players understood that another defeat would deepen a collective scar. Conversations with fans around the ground before kick-off carried an unmistakable whiff of insecurity and trepidation. There was a sense that France wanted this, needed this, with a desperation South Africa could not quite match.
Not that South Africa were coasting. They were certainly committed. Nobody who watched their scrum would suggest otherwise. But physical effort and emotional sharpness are not always quite the same thing.
Does this Springbok team sometimes need a reason to produce its best? The opening defeat against New Zealand in this year’s Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series did not end their hopes, but made every remaining Test feel like a final. They won them all, just as they won all three knockout games in the 2023 World Cup. By contrast, the emotional comedown around defeats to Australia in recent years has sometimes seemed almost as significant as the opposition’s tactics. For the past eight years, Erasmus’ team has demonstrated that they produce their best when they have to, and can be guilty of dropping their standards when a loss would be more an annoyance than a catastrophe.
Erasmus admitted that his players were uncharacteristically tentative. “We played ourselves into that hole,” he said, suggesting the coaches had to understand why. His French counterpart, Fabien Galthié and Dupont suggested that France’s character and mindset, as much as their tactics, was decisive.
Of course, a lack of emotional electricity cannot excuse a failure of attacking imagination. Which brings us to Tony Brown. His job has been to broaden the Springboks’ repertoire, and there is ample evidence that he has. But when a side enjoys that much front-foot possession, where was the deception, the change of angle, the pass that caught France unprepared? Brown’s attacking blueprint seemed to have been mislaid and his players need to own that. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu produced one glorious, curving break from deep. With support on either side, he tried to run over Maxime Lucu instead of releasing the ball. He earned a high-tackle penalty and a yellow card, so it was hardly disastrous. Still, it captured an evening of promising openings without satisfactory endings. Talent was abundant. Smart decision-making was not.
Kriel threatened from outside centre with some lovely breaks, proving he’s more than just a defensive asset. Ethan Hooker had his moments and Damian de Allende’s leg drive after contact remained imposing. Kurt-Lee Arendse’s best intervention ended with a disallowed try after he went early at a long lineout throw. Damian Willemse endured a dreadful night by his own standards, possibly his worst in a Boks jersey, while Morné van den Berg contributed a string of poor box kicks. There was plenty of ball but precious little cohesion, as if these backs who have conquered the world had met for the first time that morning.
Nations Championship
North
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
France
5
4
1
0
21
2
England
5
4
1
0
20
3
Ireland
5
4
1
0
20
4
Wales
5
3
2
0
15
5
Scotland
4
2
2
0
11
6
Italy
5
0
5
0
1
South
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
New Zealand
5
4
1
0
22
2
South Africa
5
4
1
0
21
3
Argentina
5
2
3
0
11
4
Australia
4
1
3
0
8
5
Japan
5
1
4
0
5
6
Fiji
5
0
5
0
0
Still, the Boks could have won. Manie Libbok missed the conversion that would have drawn them level after Malcolm Marx’s maul try. And they became so besotted with their scrum dominance that they appeared to believe another penalty must always be coming. Erasmus wondered whether they should have taken points or chosen the corner rather than expecting the referee to keep rewarding them. He blamed his own side’s decisions, not the official’s interpretations. They had become so intoxicated by their strongest weapon that they stopped looking for another.
There is no shame in losing to this French side, particularly on a night when Dupont seemed to be everywhere at once and the pre-match show lathered the home fans into a frenzy. The concern is how little South Africa made of the opportunities they created. They were not deprived of a platform. They built a runway and then forgot how to take off.
Now comes Ireland. If the Springboks pulverise another pack, we will hear the familiar hymns to the Bomb Squad, restored pride and the greatness of this dynasty. Fair enough. But we already know they can overpower anyone. A demolition of Ireland would provide more evidence for a case already proved beyond reasonable doubt. What we need to see is an attack capable of thinking its way around a defence when the forwards cannot simply smash through it. And a team that plays with the urgency of a World Cup final without needing a defeat to jolt it into life.
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