South Africa eliminated France by the narrowest of margins (29-28) in the quarter-final of the World Cup on October 15 at the Stade de France. The Springboks advance to the semi-finals and will face England on October 21.
Published on: 15/10/2023 – 22:59
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It was nothing short of an early final. A huge shock from the quarter-finals against the reigning South African world champions and three-time winners of the competition (1995, 2007, 2019) to set out to conquer the world title. A clash at the top that the Blues have
The Blues sought to knock out the Springboks from the first seconds, well launched by Jalibert who took advantage of a favorable rebound through the South African line, before transmitting to Dupont who almost found Bielle-Biarrey on the diagonal, without achieve flattening (2nd). The French immediately attacked again thanks to a superb carried ball which ended up in the hands of Cyril Baille at the end of the line for the first try of the match (4th, 7-0).
The French team almost doubled the lead straight away with a nice breakthrough from Mauvaka, but the ball was caught by Etzebeth five meters from the goal (6th). The South Africans then got back on track following a candle from Reinach, well followed by Arendse who darted between the French defense to recover the ball thanks to a favorable rebound and flatten it in the in-goal (8th, 7-7 ). Ramos then missed a penalty from 51 meters, the ball narrowly failing at the foot of the posts (16th).
The Boks continued without time out, piercing the French defense again to allow De Allende to score another try after a fake pass (18th, 7-12). Imperturbable, the XV of France returned to the fight and returned blow for blow to their opponent at the end of a sequence of play initiated by a pass from Dupont to Mauvaka on the wing, who did not tremble to score the second French test (22nd, 12-12).
But the Boks once again devastated the French camp, serving Kolbe towards the outside behind Penaud who was unable to catch the South African arrow (26th, 12-19). Once again, the Blues showed composure, led by Mauvaka who made the South African wall suffer before serving Baille to pick up the score (31st, 19-19). Just before half-time, Etzebeth was then guilty of head contact with Atonio, which earned him a yellow card and allowed Ramos to score a penalty from 40 meters to put the Blues in the lead ( 40th, 22-19). The two selections fought an unparalleled battle with six tries scored in the first period alone.
The Springboks’ formidable footwork
The French team did not let their opponent breathe, outnumbered, by going on the offensive with a vengeance as soon as they returned to the pitch. Ollivon first penetrated the South African axis, but Penaud ended up committing a forward attack (43rd). Blues captain Antoine Dupont then attempted a pass on the wing for Bielle-Biarrey, without succeeding in getting his hands on the ball (46th). The French persevered by chaining attacks into the Boks camp, close to breaking at several points, but who showed great discipline.
Ramos rewarded his team by scoring a penalty to continue to widen the gap (54th, 25-19), followed by a nice scratch from Mauvaka which relieved the Tricolores on an opposing offensive (56th). The Springboks tirelessly continued their attempts to break through the French line, but made several inaccuracies in passing which benefited the French team. In the process, a superb sequence of play from the Blues hurt the South Africans, but ended with a forward from Ollivon (62nd).
South Africa then materialized one of its only chances in the second half by scoring a try thanks to the power of Etzebeth (67th, 25-26). A penalty converted by Pollard 50 meters then extended the Boks’ lead (69th, 25-29), to which Ramos responded in the following minutes (72nd, 28-29).
The Blues tried everything to score the winning try, but did not succeed in breaking through the South African wall (28-29). South Africa reaches the semi-finals and will cross paths with England on October 21 at the Stade de France.
