Springbok coach says discipline ‘cost us in a big way’ against France

Many missed opportunities, one yellow and one 20-minute red card, and 11 penalties conceded told the story. Head coach Rassie Erasmus rued poor discipline and missed opportunities during the Springboks’ 21-19 defeat to France in Paris on Friday night. The Boks fought back from 21-7 down at half-time to ultimately fall 21-19 in the fifth round of the Nations Championship. While lamenting some decisions by his team after unrewarded scrum dominance in the final quarter, Erasmus pointed to the 11 penalties conceded by the Springboks as central to the result. Lood de Jager received a yellow card for a high tackle on Maxime Lucu in the first half, with France scoring two of their three tries while he was off. Jasper Wiese’s dangerous cleanout on Kalvin Gourgues earned him a 20-minute red card early in the second half. While that stole some of the Springboks’ momentum, France were also a player down for a while, and the Boks still held scrum dominance despite centre Damian de Allende packing down at flank in the set-piece. ‘The discipline cost us’ “It hurt us. It cost us in a big way,” Erasmus said. “I don’t think any of that was intentional but I agree that they should have been cards… “They [Lucu and Gourgues] didn’t even go for HIAs, so I hope they are okay and it didn’t cause too much harm to the players. “But yes, the penalty count was six-four at half-time and then straight afterwards we got a red card for Jasper, and then you are under the pump… The discipline cost us, without a doubt.” He said if he had to look for a positive, it would be how the Springboks fought back despite having 14 players for so long. France, in fact, conceded three more penalties than the Springboks. Three of their players also received yellow cards (Lucu for a high tackle, Theo Attissogbe for a deliberate knock-on, and Regis Montagne for repeated scrum collapses). France the better team But they made the most of their opportunities while the Springboks didn’t. “I can’t find a lot of excuses. They were on top of the game and we were a little bit off. “Like in the past, it was one point here and one point there, and tonight they took their opportunities when they got them.” Erasmus said the Springboks had enough chances to win. If one more pass stuck, if Kurt-Lee Arendse was not offside before his disallowed try, or if the ball had not bounced favourably off a French player’s head in the build-up to one of their tries, the Boks might have won.