Best Boks v Tonga: Fourie Fires On All Fronts

Deon Fourie’s strong all-around effort and Handre Pollard’s solid return were the key positives as the Springboks beat Tonga 49-18 in their final World Cup pool game in Marseille on Sunday night, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.

It wasn’t the best performance by the defending champions, who’ll rue conceding three tries to the ‘Ikale Tahi, but they ultimately came away with the full five points they were looking for to move to the top of Pool B for the time being and put themselves in a good position to qualify for the quarterfinals. 

Our top three Springbok standouts were:

Deon Fourie

The most pleasing part of the game from a South African perspective was Fourie’s fine 80-minute effort in his first Test start at hooker. It was a full-circle situation for the man affectionately known as “Brannas” as he returned to the position he’d made his bones in before his highly successful switch to flank a few years ago. 

Turning back the clock, the 37-year-old didn’t skip a beat as he fired a flawless 12 from 12 with his lineout throws, starting with two confident darts on the opposite 5m lines. Granted, other teams will look to put more pressure on him than Tonga did if/when the time comes, but he was on the money in the key area he was judged on.

What’s more, he was a menace at the breakdown, winning no less than three turnovers. His pilfering started with an important steal on his 5m line early on, the second was in his 22 in the 67th minute and the third came in the 72nd minute. His wonderful defensive work extended to a high output of 11 tackles, bested only by Siya Kolisi and Marvin Orie’s 12, and included stopping big Ben Tameifuna and a try-saving hit on Malakai Fekitoa. 

It’s only fitting that the evergreen Fourie wasn’t just rewarded with a try but also with the Man of the Match award. 

🏉 ℝ𝕌𝔾𝔹𝕐 𝕎𝕆ℝ𝕃𝔻 ℂ𝕌ℙ 𝔽ℝ𝔸ℕℂ𝔼 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟛 🏉

𝐓𝐑𝐘: 🇿🇦 Deon Fourie!#RSA 🆚 #TGA

🚨 LIVE
📺 SABC 2
📻 SABC Radio Stations
📱 SABC+
🌐 https://t.co/hibb8lgo8P#SABCSportRugby #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/UjQUqgJBwT

— SABC Sport (@SABC_Sport) October 1, 2023

Handre Pollard

It takes a special type of mental fortitude to produce the type of comeback Pollard did. Kolisi did it earlier this year and Pollard showed in Marseille that he’s made of the same mettle as his skipper, he captained his country for the 50th time on the night. 

After playing only 30 minutes of rugby a fortnight ago for his English club Leicester following a long injury-enforced absence, Pollard was assured in his first Test since last August, starting by drilling a good penalty into the corner and slotting a difficult conversion near the right-hand touchline. 

With goal-kicking being a key talking point after Manie Libbok and Faf de Klerk missed 11 points between them in the preceding 13-8 loss to Ireland, Pollard came good right away, nailing all four of his conversion attempts. Had he not, the scoreline would’ve read 20-13 instead of 28-13 at one point, which could’ve made for a tense period.  

He was confident and concrete on defence as well, again starting strong with a good tackle on Sione Talitui that set the tone for his night’s work in this department. Were the Boks a bit flat with him back in the saddle? Sure. But it was as solid a 50-minute performance as he and the Bok coaches could’ve hoped for. 

Andre Esterhuizen

There’s a unique beauty in a centre running hard and straight and Esterhuizen did it excellently. He was a freight train that forced the Tongans to gang up to bring him to a halt, by which time he had racked up plenty of metres over the gain line and opened up space out wide.  

One such surging run created a try-scoring opportunity just before halftime, while another saw him sit down William Havili shortly after the break. “The Agent of Chaos” beat an unmatched five defenders in all, made a match-high 54 metres and nearly scored what would’ve been a deserved try near the death. 

He had a few good touches as well and used his size and explosiveness to clean out like a back-rower to boot.