The eyes of the Rugby World Cup were on one scrum cap, allowing another man wearing headgear to steal a match-winning march.
Antoine Dupont’s cheek and his protective scrum cap had the whole Stade de France transfixed last night, as the scrum-half delivered a mesmeric performance.
Tournament hosts France could not dislodge reigning champions South Africa, though — thanks to another man in a hat, Cheslin Kolbe.
The scrum-capped winger flew off the line and somehow charged down Thomas Ramos’ conversion attempt. Come full-time and South Africa’s win by one point, the 29-year-old Kolbe’s stunning intervention proved decisive.
Fine margins only sound boring when everyone talks about them all the time. On such hair’s breadth interventions do the tightest of Test encounters spin.
South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber hailed Kolbe for turning a lost cause into a match-winning moment.
“You don’t see that often, and it was somebody chasing a lost cause,” said Nienaber. “We were opened up a couple of times but the scrambling, the effort the players put in was enormous.”
Dupont was back in action just 24 days after breaking a cheekbone against Namibia.
The fear was he would need protecting, instead he protected Les Bleus: filling gaps, dropping into defensive pockets. Then the little general led attack after attack, with astute passes, incisive kicks and typically assured sleights of hand.
Cyrille Baille scored twice and Peato Mauvaka crossed, too, in a first half of mayhem. But South Africa levelled that, through Kurt-Lee Arendse, Damian de Allende and Kolbe himself.
After the break, the reality dawned that one team would have to lose an epic match that almost deserved no loser. Just like the Ireland-New Zealand clash the night before, this was a match to be won, not a contest to be lost.
There would be no surrender, no relenting. France threw everything at a savage South Africa but could not deliver the killer blow. Instead, Eben Etzebeth ploughed home, Handre Pollard converted and then added a penalty two minutes later. Again France pressed, but to no avail.
South Africa held on to keep their Webb Ellis Cup defence alive. Dupont had come back from the dead, but could not quite live to fight another day.
England be warned. Whatever has been thrown at South Africa in this World Cup, they have chewed up and spat out.
These pristine predators will happily feast on every single morsel. Anything other than a near-perfect approach, and these big, bad Boks will come and get you.
South Africa’s overarching control could hardly seem more daunting, unless and until the head coach turns around and insists they still have plenty to fix.
“There’s a lot of things we got wrong,” said Nienaber. “That’s probably the pressure of a knockout game, but there’s a lot for us to fix now.
🗣️"How often do you see this"
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) October 15, 2023
🗣️"That moment was massive in the context of the game" 😱@johnbarc86 applauds Kolbe's charge down of Ramos's conversion!#RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/UPQO2xPCWD
“I know you guys look at the bench, but it’s a squad of 23 players we pick to get a result on the day. The gap between our players is not big. We’re fortunate in that.”
South Africa never lack for motivation in making their nation proud, but now perhaps they might gain the support of the French public for the rest of the World Cup.
“We have 60 million South Africans who support us all the way and I think for now that will do,” said hooker Bongi Mbonambi.
“But if the French want to support us, they’re more than welcome!”
For France, the swashbuckling attempt to win a first World Cup on home soil is over.
“It’s the end of the adventure,” said flanker Francois Cros. “It’s a shame for this group, who deserved to go further. We’ll never play another World Cup in France. It’s tough to end like this.”
