Can lightning strike in the same place twice? Well, as the Springboks perhaps proved under the Stade France lights, it can happen if it is part of a repeat plan that has worked for you before.
France should have had a horrible feeling of déjà vu enveloping them as the second half unfolded, with visions of their nightmare exit from their own World Cup at the quarterfinal stage at the same venue just over two years ago playing out as the clock ticked down.
It was the clutch kicking of Handré Pollard who got the South Africans home in 2023, but the narrative was the same: the Boks prevailed because they outlasted their opponents, because in boxing parlance they rolled with the punches, and then once they had survived the barrage, they executed a gear shift and delivered the coup de grace.
Unlike two years ago, this time it was a three-try flurry rather than a three-pointer that won it for the Boks, but there was a similarity. In 2023 the French started like they had a train to catch and scored 22 points in the first half but could manage only six in the second half as the Bok forwards came into the game and the home pack faded.
This time there were just three points added after halftime by a France team that probably deserved more than the 14 they scored in the first.
Remembering what happened two years ago, I was counting down the minutes in the third quarter. It felt like if the Boks could get to the 60th minute and still be in the game, they would be able to go through a gear and win it. Which is exactly what happened.
The way the two games two years apart unfolded speaks to the resilience that has become such a hallmark of the Bok success, but also on this occasion something else. If you take a look at the five games in a row that the Boks have won since they last lost, which was to the All Blacks in Auckland, they have mostly been comfortable victories, which includes the Rugby Championship-deciding game against Argentina at Twickenham. Even though the final winning margin was just two points, there is a trend that has emerged.
With the exception of last week’s one-sided game against minnows Japan, the Boks have always been involved in a close game and even trailed at halftime and then put their opponents away with a mixture of power and class in the second.
That speaks to their fitness, to the relentlessness of their power game, and also to their mindset. But also to the evolution that has taken place, for when France coach Fabien Galthié assesses where it went wrong for his team, he might have to admit he made plans for the game that were two years out of date.
France have aped SA by employing a Bomb Squad-style bench, and Galthié clearly thought that might be where the gap could be made up. He was wrong, though, for the Boks have brought a different dynamic to their game since 2023. They’ve added an angle to their skill level that builds their success around far more than just the power of old.
And Bok coach Rassie Erasmus has continued to be the leader in innovation and a step ahead of his opponents. In Paris not only were they trailing until the 65th minute and evidently struggling to stay in the game, but they were also down to 14 men from just before halftime. Against a team as well rounded and good as France, that should surely have meant their chance of victory had gone.
But Erasmus’ decision to convert André Esterhuizen into a hybrid player who is now as at home on the flank as he is in the midfield had a handsome payoff, and that contributed to the scenario whereby it was the team that was down a man who had all the energy at the end, while, once again, despite their Bomb Squad selection, it was France who were out on their feet.
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