Boks down French to win series
Brad Morgan
27 June 2005
The Springboks, using a dominant forward pack, outplayed France 27-13 in the series-deciding second test in Port Elizabeth, to maintain coach Jake White's unbeaten record on home soil.
It was a more emphatic victory than the score suggests, with a combination of Springbok dominance and an off-key French performance adding up to a convincing win.
It all began up front where the Springboks dominated the set pieces to take the game away from the opposition. Especially in the lineouts, the Boks stole ball, contesting the French throw-ins strongly, and created havoc by turning expected defensive positions into attack.
Just before the game, the Boks made a change in the front row, moving Lawrence Sephaka to loosehead prop after Os du Randt was declared unfit because of a hamstring injury he picked up in the captain's practice. CJ van der Linde came in on in the tighthead, but the late switch appeared to have no adverse effects as South Africa
held the upper hand at scrum time.
Second fiddle
French coach Bernard Laporte acknowledged that his team had played second fiddle, saying they were poor in the lineouts, while admitting: "They were stronger than us in the scrums".
Scrumhalf Ricky Januarie, although he made some errors, did a great job of putting pressure on French playmaker Frederic Michalak, and it showed. The talented flyhalf made a number of uncharacteristic simple handling errors.
At the back, Percy Montgomery played a beautifully solid, tactically sound, stabilising role. He joined the backline at the right times, and kicked superbly, both for touch and at posts, to guide the Springboks to victory. He was deservedly named man of the match.
And then there was Bryan Habana, who has developed the priceless knack of being in the right place at the right time. He confirmed his burgeoning reputation with a two-try haul.
The
game
Early on, the Springboks took an eighth-minute lead through Montgomery, who knocked over a penalty after the French had strayed offsides.
Three minutes later he was one of the architects of the opening try of the contest.
It started when Schalk Burger did great work to force a turnover of possession. Recycling the ball quickly, the Boks moved the ball quickly to the blind side.
Montgomery came racing in to join the backline, timing his entry to perfection as he beat one man on the inside before drawing the fullback and offloading to Habana on his inside. The Bulls' flyer raced away to dive over under the posts.
Montgomery converted the try to put South Africa 10-0 up.
On 20 minutes France hit back with a penalty by Dimitri Yachvili after Danie Rossouw was penalised for not releasing the ball while on the ground. 10-3.
After 27 minutes, though, the Boks extended their lead.
From defence to
attack
France were on the attack down the left-hand touchline when SA winger Jean de Villiers put in a hard tackle on his opposite number. Hitting man and ball at the same time, he sent the ball spinning up in the air.
De Villiers recovered quickly and snatched the ball before it hit the ground. He then wriggled out of an attempted tackle and found his way open for a 50 metre sprint to the tryline and another five-pointer underneath the uprights.
Montgomery once again knocked over the conversion to put South Africa 17-3 clear.
With half an hour played, France reduced the deficit with another Yachvili penalty after Januarie was penalised for not rolling away from a tackle. 17-6.
Shortly afterwards, the Springboks again opened up a 14-point advantage when Montgomery landed a penalty. This came after one of a number of scuffles that broke out in the opening half.
At halftime the score stood at 20-6 in favour of South Africa.
Habana extends SA lead
In the second half the standard of play fell off as both sides struggled to put together flowing movements. However, only five minutes into the half, Bryan Habana struck a huge blow for the home side to take them even further clear of the French.
France were in possession, attempting to move the ball from right to left, but found themselves under pressure from the South African backs. Yachvili made a poor decision to fling out a long pass and Habana grabbed it out of the air in midfield, pinned his ears back, and raced over for his second try from 55 metres out.
Another Montgomery conversion extended the South African advantage to 21 points at 27-6.
France had to wait until nine minutes from time before they found an answer. It came from the forward pack after they drove over from close range, before grounding the ball for the only French try of the game.
Michalak converted to make the final score
27-13.
Next up for South Africa is a visit to Australia, where the Springboks will face the Wallabies in the Mandela Cup in Sydney on 9 July.
Scorers:
South Africa:
Tries: Habana 2, De Villiers
Conversions: Montgomery 3
Penalties: Montgomery 2
France:
Try: Michalak
Conversion: Michalak
Penalties: Yachvili, Michalak
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