THE GLORY OF 95

ON THIS DAY: June 10

Ellis Park, Johannesburg

THIS match will be forever remembered for the amazing impact Chester Williams made on the left wing as a replacement for Pieter Hendriks, who had been suspended after the ill-famed “Battle of Boet Erasmus” match between the Springboks and Canada.

The South African forwards were exceptional in subduing the Pacific Island team but the opposition would not bow down to their hosts and were belligerent in their defence, which led to injuries for the Boks.

Springbok fullback Andre Joubert sustained a broken hand, and one of the great tales of the Boks’ eventual triumph involved him having to undertake treatment in a decompression chamber ahead of the semi-final.

Williams scored two tries in the first half and two more in the second to complete a brilliant comeback to the national team after he debuted for the Boks in 1993, and made a number of appearances in 1994, before missing out on World Cup selection due to injury.

POINTS SCORERS

SOUTH AFRICA Tries: Chester Williams (4), Mark Andrews, Chris Rossouw; Conversions: Gavin Johnson (3); Penalties: Johnson (2)

WESTERN SAMOA Tries: Toetu Nu’uali’itia, Shem Tatupu;

Conversions: Tupo Fa’amasino (2)

Kings Park, Durban

WHILE the final score-line looks comprehensive, this was the Thierry Lacroix Show for France.

In a typically rough-and-tumble, Five Nations type of clash, goalkickers Eric Elwood and Lacroix exchanged penalties throughout the first half as both teams were blown up at the breakdown by referee Ed Morrison, and the score was deadlocked at 12-12 at the break.

But the Tricolores had enough of the forward-bashing approach at the start of the second half, and in trademark fashion, they started to put together some rampaging phases of play that saw the likes of Olivier Roumat, Marc Cecillon, Philippe SaintAndré and Jean-Luc Sadourny burst through the Irish defence.

They were unable to cross the tryline, but Lacroix added three more penalties to put France 21-12 up, and that’s how it remained until the last 10 minutes, with Ireland’s pack in particular helping to keep the marauding French forwards at bay.

Lacroix arguably sealed the victory with his eighth penalty of the day to make it 24-12, and then France cut loose.

Cecillon surged through a couple of tackles before offloading to captain Saint-André to round off under the posts, which was followed by an intercept try by Emile Ntamack in injury time to finish off the Irish and set up a semi-final date with the Springboks..

POINTS-SCORERS

FRANCE Tries: Philippe Saint-André, Emile Ntamack; Conversion: Thierry Lacroix (1); Penalties: Lacroix (8)

IRELAND Penalties: Eric Elwood (4)