Springboks’ Swizz Army Knive, Andre Esterhuizen said the key to the Springboks' win over France was them keeping their emotions in check and sticking to the team’s blueprint.
“It was a highly anticipated game, but we had to treat it like any other Test match. You can’t play a full game on emotion, so we were just sticking to our processes, being physically dominant and taking it through to 80 minutes.”
“When we got the red card, the boys made good plans. We spoke at half time about what we want to do, to stay on top and dominate them physically, and we made plans at scrums and lineouts to be able to do that. I think the boys really pulled together, and we just executed the plan perfectly.”
“At half-time, we went down to 14 men, and plans were made at that time regarding line-outs and scrums. I was told when I go on, go on as a 12 and then we can have similar line-outs again, so the line-outs because I’ve been practising there all week. And then on defence play at 12. The plans we made worked out quite well,” he stated.”
“It was quite a strange game for me, jumping between the two positions. It was a tough game, it was hard. France obviously has a pack of big boys, so it was quite physical. So the big plan at half-time was that we stay physically dominant, and I think our boys did that.”
“In the beginning, the hybrid was weird, but now I am getting accustomed to it. I’m joining more forward sessions with line-outs and scrumming sessions, so I’m definitely fitting in more now and understanding the role more. It’s just getting better every week.”
“We just pulled together and stuck it out.”