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 De Beer diamond No English thorns sticking in Springboks' hide
Posted: Sunday October 24, 1999 08:08 PM
PARIS (CNN/SI) -- The Springboks silenced many of their critics when they put together a fine performance Sunday beating England 44-21 in Paris on Sunday. South African flyhalf Jannie de Beer was without a doubt the star of the show as he kicked a record five drop goals to score 34 of his teams points. The Springboks will face Australia in the semifinals next week at Twickenham, after the Wallabies beat host Wales 24-9 in Cardiff on Saturday. De Beer notched up a South African record of 34 points as tries by scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen and winger Pieter Rossouw took the Springboks towards a semifinal with Australia next Saturday. "I have not seen a better kicking display in my whole life than what I saw today," said former captain Francois Pienaar, who led South Africa to their triumph in 1995. "He was awesome. I've never seen anything like it and I don't think we will for a long, long time." South Africa coach Nick Mallett added: "We had a phenomenal performance from Jannie De Beer - he's a phenomenal drop goal kicker. "I said to him before the game 'go and have a bash' and obviously he stuck one or two over and he thought it was his day and he got five in the end." De Beer's five drop goals after the interval -- two more than the previous record -- were crucial after van der Westhuizen touched down in controversial circumstances just before the interval to give the Springboks a 16-12 halftime lead. The South African flyhalf was superb with the boot, striking three penalties and a conversion before the break and two penalties and a conversion in the second half to add to the drop goals. De Beer harked back to the drop goal that won the World Cup for South Africa in the final against New Zealand in 1995. "I'm just happy to be part of a winning team," the flyhalf said. "We had one or two ideas we thought we could use against England and today it came off. We are very happy to win. "We needed one in 1995 and we needed more this time. It was one of those days when you are not going to score many tries." Winger Rossouw added a try in the last minute but the game was well over by then. England replied with six penalties from Paul Grayson. Jonny Wilkinson came on to replace him in the second half and added another penalty. But the English rarely looked like scoring a try. Their backs rarely threatened the Springbok line and they failed to play multi-phase rugby because of poor handling. England coach Clive Woodward said his side was beaten "fair and square" and, while desperately disappointed, he had no complaints. South Africa led 16-12 lead at the interval after the controversy try van der Westhuizen try. After the South Africans pounced on a poor England kick to touch, center Pieter Muller slipped the ball to the Springbok scrumhalf who grounded it in the lefthand corner as he was tackled by England flanker Richard Hill. Television replays, however, showed the Springbok captain appeared to touch the corner flag before he grounded the ball. Most of the first half had been dominated by kicking. Grayson struck four superb penalties from five attempts, two from near the halfway line, to punish the Springboks for their mistakes before the interval. But de Beer also replied with three excellent first-half strikes in a tight game that saw few moments of open, attacking rugby. He also converted van der Westhuizen's try. Grayson and de Beer both kept the scoreboard ticking over early in the second half. But de Beer's five drop goals gave the Springboks a lead that England never looked capable of catching.
South Africa15-Percy Montgomery; 14-Deon Kayser (16-Stefan Terblanche 66-68), 13-Robbie Fleck, 12-Pieter Muller, 11-Pieter Rossouw; 10-Jannie de Beer, 9-Joost van der Westhuizen (captain); 8-Bobby Skinstad (19-Andre Vos 78), 7-Andre Venter, 6-Rassie Erasmus, 5-Mark Andrews (20-Albert van den Berg 68), 4-Krynauw Otto, 3-Cobus Visagie, 2-Naka Drotske, 1-Os du Randt (21-Ollie le Roux 63).
England15-Matt Perry; 14-Nick Beal (16-Austin Healey 56), 13-Will Greenwood, 12-Phil de Glanville (17-Mike Catt 72), 11-Dan Luger; 10-Paul Grayson (18-Jonny Wilkinson 56), 9-Matt Dawson (20-Martin Corry 74); 8-Lawrence Dallaglio, 7-Neil Back, 6-Richard Hill, 5-Martin Johnson (captain), 4-Danny Grewcock, 3-Phil Vickery, 2-Phil Greening, 1-Jason Leonard. Referee: Jim Fleming, Scotland.
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