Victor Matfield says the Springboks’ performance in Paris was even better than their record-breaking victory over the All Blacks in Wellington.
The world champions, who crushed New Zealand 43-10 in September on their way to defending their Rugby Championship crown, beat France 32-17 at the Stade de France despite losing lock Lood de Jager to a red card just before half time.
Speaking on the Rugby Rivals podcast, Matfield described the display as “fantastic” and said it proved again why South Africa are setting the standard in world rugby.
“I thought the Boks couldn’t surprise me anymore – and then they do this. I really believe this was a better performance than Wellington against the All Blacks. The guys came out in that second half and were unbelievable.”
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The former Bok lock praised the team’s power up front and the impact from the bench as crucial to the turnaround.
“Malcolm Marx was immense, Jasper Wiese stood up, Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] moving to 15 worked, and Manie [Libbok] came on and added tempo. The scrum before half time changed the game – once the Boks knew the French couldn’t handle them physically, it was over.”
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Former All Blacks wing John Kirwan agreed that the Springboks are “head and shoulders above everyone else”.
“It was a statement performance,” he said. “The rest of the world is looking on, dreading playing South Africa. I thought it was South Africa and France leading the pack, but now it’s South Africa clearly ahead. They just keep getting better.”
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After lauding the performance, attention turned to De Jager’s red card, which sparked debate around the consistency of officiating.
Matfield said he was surprised the referee issued a permanent red card rather than a 20-minute dismissal.
“Yes, there was contact to the head, but Ramos had been tackled from behind and was already on his knees. Lood was going low – his own knees were almost on the ground – and within a second Ramos dropped nearly a metre. I definitely thought there were mitigating factors. The straight red felt harsh.”
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Kirwan said the decision highlighted ongoing confusion around head-contact rulings.
“We need clarity on what ‘mitigating factors’ actually mean,” he said. “If a tackler bends that low and the ball-carrier falls, surely he’s made an effort? I thought it should have been a yellow upgraded to red after review. There was no malice in it.”
Former Ireland back Andrew Trimble said that while the tackle looked bad in real time, the sanction seemed unusually heavy.
“I’d forgotten that the proper long-term red card was still even a thing,” he said. “It’s supposed to be for something close to assault. It looked horrific, but whether it’s right to call that ‘always illegal’ is still debatable.”
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Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
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