Jacques Nienaber and Siya Kolisi are bitterly disappointed the Springboks did not reap the full reward for their gutsy fightback in a controversial defeat to France in Marseille on Saturday.
Les Bleus scored a contentious try in the 74th minute to snatch a nail-biting 30- 26 victory over the Boks in a Test where both teams saw red at Stade Velodrome.
The decisive score from France, who let an early 13-point lead slip to trail 26-22 in the second half, came when tighthead prop Sipili Faletea burrowed over the line shortly after Deon Fourie was sent to the sin bin, leaving the Springboks defending with 13 men.
RECAP: France snatch controversial win from brave Boks
Kolisi and Kurt-Lee Arendse dotted down for the visitors as the side clawed their way back from 13-0 down after flank Pieter-Steph du Toit received a red card in the 12th minute for a head-on-head clash with centre Jonathan Danty.
Speaking post match, Nienaber told reporters: “It hurts a lot and this one especially, because the players showed a lot of attitude and put in a great effort and we certainly can’t fault that.
“The effort the players delivered was extraordinary and, in the end, goal-kicks proved to be the difference on the scoreboard.
“[Du Toit’s dismissal] was bad luck, and it was a red card. We had some tactical plans and I’m probably not going to share too much about that but the main thing was the rest of the pack had to put in 10% extra, and that’s probably why the loss hurts because they did that and they kept us in the game.
“We were 13-0 down and they kept on fighting and got us back into the game.
“The reality is that we lost by four points against the second-ranked team in the world at home and by three points against the top ranked team. We are facing Ireland in the pool stages of the World Cup and we could face France or New Zealand in the quarter-final, so we have to keep working hard as a team.”
Kolisi added: “We kept on working for one another after the red card and we are proud of that. It’s horrible to lose and especially like that. The guys played well and they kept on fighting, but France played a little better.”
One of the positives for the Boks to take from the match was the apparent resolution of their goal-kicking issue, with Cheslin Kolbe, Faf de Klerk and Damian Willemse combining for a perfect record on the night.
“I mentioned last week with the goal-kicking and everyone asked do we take it seriously and are the guys practicing and they are, we measure it, and the way they kicked last week in training probably didn’t reflect [against Ireland] when the way they kicked this week in training did reflect and sometimes it just goes that way,” Nienaber said.
WATCH: Dodgy try that buried Boks
Nienaber and Kolisi were tight-lipped on France’s late try – replays appeared to show Faletea making a double movement, before referee Wayne Barnes lost communication with the TMO and awarded the try – saying they have yet to see footage of the score.
The Boks will depart for Genoa on Sunday to begin preparations for the third Test of a four-match tour against Italy.
Photo: @Springboks/Twitter
