The Springboks, playing the entire second half with only 14 players due to the red card shown to Lood de Jager, had to dig deep and scored three tries in the final 20 minutes to beat their hosts by 32-17 at the Stade de France – their biggest victory over the French in Paris since 1997.
Kolisi played in his 100th Test, making him the ninth Springbok centurion in history, but he had to spend the second half watching from the sidelines after the red card required one forward to be ‘sacrificed’ in the substitutions.
Despite losing De Jager to a red card late in the first half, which forced Erasmus to make unplanned changes to the team, the Springboks still managed to pull off a stunning victory.
The decision to send off the big forward was a controversial one, with referee Angus Gardner initially seeming to imply it had only met the yellow card threshold, before his assistants and the TMO suggested otherwise.
Ultimately it was deemed that because De Jager had not wrapped his arms, the head high tackle on Sergio Ramos was therefore ‘always illegal’, and mitigating circumstances – such as the low position of his opponent – was no longer applicable.
The reaction sparked a huge reaction on social media, and in all likelihood De Jager will now receive a subsequent ban that is expected to span the remainder of the November tour, which includes matches against Italy, Ireland and Wales.
WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE LOOD DE JAGER RED CARD?
Springboks found a way to win
Asked what he said to the team at half-time after losing De Jager for the rest of the match, Rassie Erasmus said: “I can take very little credit for what was said because all the coaches of the different departments did most of the talking and made plans.
“A lot of people said the players are getting older, but they are wiser. We desperately wanted to win this game. Playing here (in France) is tough, but fortunately, we experienced it in 2022 and 2023, so the experience of the players, and both the team and the assistant coaches made plans.”
Meanwhile, Wilco Louw said the Springboks remained focused on the task at hand.
“It’s an incredible game to be part of. The French are a really good team, and obviously we didn’t think we’d win by that margin.
“The boys were out there with 14 men for a whole half, so we’re really proud of the effort. Everyone stayed focused on our task today. The guys really stepped up, especially defensively, and we managed to get a bit of momentum in the maul.”
