Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber lauded the Springboks’ fighting spirit in their nail-biting Rugby World Cup semi-final victory against England on Saturday night.
The Springboks staged a dramatic second-half fightback from 15-6 down with ten minutes to go to score a converted try and vital penalty goal in to snatch the dramatic victory by 16-15.
“Credit to England, they had a good tactical plan and they put us under pressure,” said Nienaber.
“We’ll have to improve on that if New Zealand uses the same tactic in the final. But one has to commend the strength of this team for the way they find a way to get a result.
“It took us 70 minutes to get a foothold in the match, and the players refused to give up and fought until the end. I’m very proud of them for that.”
The Bok skipper added: “It’s great to be in a position to defend our title. It was not about how ugly the game was, for us it was about South Africa winning the game.
"I must start with paying a lot of credit to England. I thought they were outstanding on the night. They had a very good tactical plan and they really put us under a lot of pressure. We will have to improve in terms of that, if New Zealand decide to maybe use the same tactic."
"It took us some time to get to grips with it. That is probably the strength of this team. They find a way, even if things are not going our way, to get a result. It took them [his players] probably 70 minutes to get a foothold in the game. They just refused to give up and they fought to the end so I am very proud of that."
RG Snyman scored a late try, converted by Handre Pollard, who then added a 50m penalty goal to edge the Boks in front with two minutes left on the clock.
“They (Snyman’s try and Pollard’s penalty goal) were both big moments,” said Nienaber.
“Similarly, to 2019, we needed something special to break the game, and we scored the only try of the match against England, which was great.”
“We struggled to get a foothold in the game and get things going. Like the 2019 World Cup quarter-final and semi-final, you need a 60-metre maul, something special to break the game open, and I think the Pollard touch kick that set us up for the try [was it]. In this weather and these conditions, to score a try against England that has an unbelievable defence, and this is their first loss in the tournament, was special. And then there was big pressure on nailing that last kick for the win.”
The team will have Sunday off to recover and will return to the training field on Monday to prepare for the final against New Zealand at the Stade de France on Saturday.
