« I believe the referee did a good job in the France – South Africa match, his communication was excellent. »

Comment vous sentez-vous après ce match ?

We are so happy to have won. The preparation we had this week and the plan we implemented were the right ones. We knew that our opponents were strong and would try to break through as much as possible, so discipline was crucial. We only won by one point, but we still won.

Did the experience make a difference?

La façon dont nous nous sommes préparés cette semaine, aucune expérience passée n’aurait vraiment aidé. On savait juste ce qui nous attendait, on devait simplement contrer les Sud-Africains.

Votre banc a eu un apport important…

Everyone has a part to play, whether you start on the field or on the bench. Everyone is in agreement on this. And everything worked out.

Résistez-vous lors de ces dix dernières minutes en infériorité numérique en début de deuxième période ? Est-ce un facteur déterminant dans le déroulement du match ?

Losing a guy like that (Eben Etzebeth) makes things tougher. We came together, gave everything for each other. Then, as I said, it came down to details. The scoreboard shows it. But our preparation was truly excellent.

Que pensez-vous de la façon dont Ben O’Keefe a arbitré le match, selon Antoine Dupont qui a avoué ne pas tout comprendre des décisions prises ?

I believe that there are always two perspectives, inevitably. I believe that the referee did a good job. Their way of communication was good. Everyone is human. There was a lot of pressure tonight, especially in front of 80,000 supporters. There are 31 of us on the field and it’s complicated to not make any mistakes in the end.

A lire aussi : VIDEO. La froide colère d’Antoine Dupont : « Je ne suis pas sûr que l’arbitrage ait été au niveau de l’enjeu »

Le match était vraiment incroyable, malgré tout…

Absolutely. Winning against the French, in the quarter-finals, in France… We knew it wouldn’t be easy.

Avez-vous spécifiquement travaillé le jeu au pied ?

We have implemented strategies to make the opposing team struggle. The staff has done an incredible job identifying potential weaknesses and, most importantly, avoiding excessive exposure. It is a success.