By Mark Gleeson
PARIS (Reuters) – Indiscipline has often proven costly for South Africa but the Springboks are determined to steer clear of costly cards at this World Cup even though they anticipate a brutal physical challenge when they face France in Sunday’s quarter-final, captain Siya Kolisi said.
Along with Ireland and the host nation, who the Springboks meet at the Stade de France, South Africa have yet to receive a card at a World Cup littered with controversial calls on illegal tackles and head collisions.
Springbok flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit did see red when they played France in Marseille last November, which proved costly in a narrow 30-26 defeat. A repeat of that on Sunday would be potentially catastrophic to the defence of their title.
“We do play physical, and we do play on the edge but we train it over and over again, to tackle below the waist. That’s why our technique is so important,” Kolisi told a press conference on Friday.
“But at the same time, you can’t go out there (onto the field) in fear of doing something crazy, you have to live on the edge because that’s what our game is, that’s who we are as the South African team. We play as hard as we can for 80 minutes.
“Our whole plan is that we need to go forward, to be as brutal as we can to get ball for our backs to do their thing. And, obviously, if we stay clear of anything naughty, we’ll be alright.”
South Africa had the highest rate of ‘low’ tackles in the World Cup pool stages with 49% in that bracket.
Their physical approach is likely to meet its match in France, predicted prop Steven Kitshoff, one of the many Boks who were in the 2019 World Cup-winning team.
“France have got a big pack and they live for moments at the breakdown, looking for turnovers, so it’s going to be big collisions in the midfield,” he said on Friday.
“For us, it’s making sure we nail down our detail and then, when it comes to a big scrum battle, making sure you’re mentally in there, making sure you get onto the front foot and go forward for the team.
“There’s going to be a lot of physicality in the game, there’s going to be big collisions. But it’s something we’ve been working on since June.”
(Editing by Toby Davis)
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