It was Matfield's day
Sat, 28 Aug 2010 23:28
Golden moment: Victor Matfield after his 100th Test. (c) Gallo
Lock Victor Matfield got the perfect 100-cap present as South Africa ended a losing streak by defeating Australia 44-31 Saturday in a Tri-Nations Test thriller.
The Springboks twice clawed back from 14-point deficits in a seven-try opening half and after trailing 24-28 at half-time took control to claim a first win of the southern hemisphere championship season.
But the Green and Gold had to wait until the 79th minute before being certain of success as right wing JP Pietersen dashed over for the fifth Bok try after a break from man-of-the-match and scrum-half Francois Hougaard.
"It has been an unbelievable career and now playing my 100th Test here in front of my own people at Loftus is still unbelievable," said Matfield, widely regarded as the best line-out jumper in the world.
But he warned against complacency.
"We have achieved nothing yet as we still want to win the Nelson Mandela Cup and a lot of hard work lies ahead this week," he said in reference to next week's Test against Australia in Bloemfontein.
Springbok captain and hooker Smit also highlighted that the Green and Gold are a far cry from a team capable of retaining the World Cup in New Zealand next year.
But Smit was pleased Matfield had a more pleasant 100th match than he did against the All Blacks last Saturday, with his missed tackle leading to the last-minute winning try.
"This week the message was not to do it for Victor, but to do it for each other and to be able to celebrate a victory afterwards," said Smit.
"I don't think we would have scripted the beginning as we wanted to be a lot more accurate and took 10 to 15 minutes to get things going."
Smit said the team's experience that helped them bounce back after going 0-14 (in the first four minutes) and then 7-21 behind in the first 10 minutes.
Smit said there was no panic behind the posts when things went wrong early on and they continued to believe in themselves.
"It's complicated when you start like that," Smit said.
"There's a couple of ways you can see it. You can see it like a handicap and not concern yourself with it, knowing there are 60-70 minutes ahead to get back into the game," Smit said at the post match press conference.
"We know we made one or two mistakes that gifted them tries, but we also knew we have the whole game ahead of us. There was no inexperience or panic in the team and thankfully a few guys have seen this before and come back from it."
Smit paid homage to his vice-captain, who received a rousing welcome at his home ground, but said both he and Matfield were relieved the milestones were over.
"It's a huge testimony to the type of guy Victor is – he didn't make a big thing about it and the only time we would have known it is an occasion was when we saw the 100 on his jersey. We didn't say we wanted to do it for Victor, but rather that we do it for each other, so that Victor could have a celebration," Smit said.
"Victor and I are relieved that it is done and dusted and now it is time to start on the next chapter. But we do that one day at a time and we know how much we need to improve and how much work there is for us to be ready for next year. It's not all about this Tri-Nations, it is about being ready for next year's seven week process."