Super Sacha leads the Boks centurion celebrations for Siya
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was the Player of the Match against France, but he dedicated everything to the influence of Springboks captain and South Africa’s 9th Test Centurion Siya Kolisi in Paris, writes Mark Keohane.
The Boks won 32-17 after trailing 14-6 midway through the first half.
Paris is the city of love for the Springboks and the Stade de France has become a spiritual home and a fortress for the Boks.
In 1999 it was Jannie de Beer’s five drop goals that sent England packing in the World Cup quarter-final.
In the 2007 World Cup, it was England in the Pool Stages, Argentina in the semi-final and England in the final.
In the 2023 World Cup, it was France in the quarter-final, England in the semi-final and New Zealand in the final.
Since 2005’s defeat to France in Paris, the Boks have won five in succession against France. They have beaten France nine times in their last 10 Tests since 2010. It is 20 years since France now beaten the Boks in Paris.
There is a reason the Boks could win three play-off matches by a point each time in 2023. There is a reason why they could not play for 20 months during Covid and beat the British & Irish Lions and seal a 2-1 series win in the 239th minute of 240 over three Tests in 2021.
There is a reason why they have won back to back World Cups in 2019 and 2023.
There is a reason why they have won back to back Castle Rugby Championship titles in 2024 and 2025.
There is a reason why they won back to back Tests against the Wallabies in Australia.
There is a reason why they won back to back Tests against the All Blacks in New Zealand, including a record 43-10 win in Wellington.
There is a reason they put 67 points past Argentina in Durban en-route to the 2025 Rugby Championship title.
There is a reason why they have lost just four in their past 26 Test matches.
There is a reason why they are the world’s best team and in the conversation for the greatest ever, alongside Richie McCaw’s 2011 and 2015 back to back All Blacks winners.
There is a reason why Siya Kolisi has played 100 Tests and been at the helm for 68 of them and won 47 of them.
There is a reason why Rassie Erasmus has the best ever head coach winning record for a Boks coach who has been in charge for more than 20 Tests.
There is a reason why the Boks, since Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber returned from Ireland in 2018, have dominated world rugby since 2019.
It seems unreal that in their first year, they won just seven from 14 Tests with an inherited squad they had to improve or cull.
In Paris, the Boks were out of this world in managing the play 14 against 15 after Lood de Jager’s red card.
De Jager’s sending off, just before half-time was a shocker of a call. The current law would support a yellow card, but not an outright red for the last 41 minutes of the match. The Boks, having been awarded a penalty to go ahead 16-14, trailed 14-13 at the break.
Yet despite being a player down until the 60th minute, having just 33 percent of possession and field position, they conceded just one penalty to the French fullback Tomas Ramos, who screamed decapitation after being tackled by De Jager.
Ramos did not even leave the field for a minute for a concussion Test.
The decision was a farce, as was the Boks not being awarded a penalty try for a deliberate French knock on when Jesse Kriel would have walked in a for try; alternatively handed the try to an unmarked Cheslin Kolbe on his outside.
These frustrations aside, the Boks were just immense in their fight for Kolisi and for victory.
Kolisi was sacrificed at halftime to allow for the introduction of rugby’s first hybrid Test player Andre Esterhuizen, a centre now playing as a a flank when necessary at Test level. Estehuizen did both roles in Paris, when the Boks were down 14 to 15, and he was all power.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu got the MVP, with an all-round wonderful display, but he would be the first to admit that this was a 23 player collective, if not a squad player collective, including those sitting in the stands.
Erasmus’s substitutions were that of a rugby Doctor, in timing, precision and certainty.
He was forced to implement his worst-case scenario of having one of his front line starting locks and line out caller in De Jager red carded before half-time. The response was revolutionary and so calm that it muted talk of risk in his 23.
Each player knew his role.
Hooker Malcolm Marx was extraordinary among the individuals, and he was my choice for the MVP, but that individual accolade has no merit within this Boks set-up.
They play for each other and they play for South Africa.
In Paris, on this spectacular night when the Boks scored three second half tries to a solitary French penalty in winning 32-15, they played for the captain who sacrificed his night on 40 minutes because it is always about what is best for this team and not what matters to any individual.
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This was Siya’s night and the biggest tribute his teammates could give him was to win the second half with him on the sidelines, not because of injury but because the team needed a different kind of balance to survive and triumph 14 against 15.
The magnitude of Erasmus’s decision, no emotion and only match specific, Kolisi’s acceptance, no emotion and only match specific, was a summary of what makes the duo so spectacular as a combination and also of what makes these Boks so good and so loved.
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