PARIS (The Thursday Times) — France ne Jume ki raat Nations Championship mein aalmi champion South Africa ko 21-19 se shikast de di. Yeh 21 baras mein Stade de France mein Springboks ke khilaf France ki pehli fatah hai, jo us ne teen yellow cards aur ek aise doosre half ke bawajood hasil ki jis mein woh ek point bhi na bana saka.
Antoine Dupont, jinhen pehli baar kisi Test match mein fly-half ke taur par namzad kiya gaya tha, ziyada tar match apni mamool ki scrum-half position par khele, jabke Maxime Lucu ne first receiver ke taur par gend sambhali. Is tabdeeli ki badaulat khiladiyon ki kami ka shikar French team ne tezi se 14-0 ki bartari hasil ki aur half-time tak score 21-7 tha.
South Africa naye muqable mein naqabil-e-shikast aur wazeh favourite ke taur par Saint-Denis aaya tha, lekin poore match mein ek baar bhi bartari hasil na kar saka. Us ka aakhri mauqa aakhri minton mein aaya, jab mutabadil fly-half Manie Libbok Malcolm Marx ki rolling-maul try ke baad woh conversion kick zaya kar baithe jo score barabar kar deti.
Dupont ne kaha: “Yeh hamare liye bohat bara match tha.” Unhon ne mazeed kaha ke team ko is combination ko tay karne ke liye sirf ek training session mila tha.
Chehre se takra kar aane wali gend
Match ka rukh us waqt badla jab South Africa ke lock Lood de Jager ko ooncha tackle karne par sin-bin bhej diya gaya. France ne fauran faida uthaya aur wing Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang ne 16 phases ke baad kone mein dive laga kar try ki.
Doosri try tohfe mein mili. Yoram Moefana ka pass centre Kalvin Gourgues ke chehre se takraya aur try line ke paar chala gaya, jahan full-back Théo Attissogbe sab se pehle pohnche. South Africa ke coach Rassie Erasmus ne kaha: “Mujhe nahin maloom ke aisi gend ke liye difa kaise tayyar kiya jaye jo kisi khiladi ke chehre se takra kar uchhal jaye.”
Hooker Jan-Hendrik Wessels ne lineout drive se ek try wapas ki, lekin Dupont ne jawab mein grubber kick lagayi jis ka peechha karte hue Louis Bielle-Biarrey ne bayen kone mein try kar di.
Erasmus ne kick-off se pehle hi sab ko hairan kar diya tha, jab unhon ne apni pehli pasand ki front row yani Ox Nché, Malcolm Marx, aur Wilco Louw ko bench par bitha diya. Unhon ne teenon ko 35wen minute mein maidan mein utara. Waqfe se zara pehle South Africa ke wing Kurt-Lee Arendse ki ek try offside qarar de kar mustarad kar di gayi.
Chaudah khiladi aur ek zaya kick
France ne doosra half ek khiladi kam ke sath shuru kiya kyunke Lucu ko ooncha tackle karne par yellow card dikhaya gaya tha. Is ke baad South Africa ke No. 8 Jasper Wiese ko khatarnak clear-out par yellow card mila, jise baad mein 20 minute ke red card mein badal diya gaya. Grandidier-Nkanang aur mutabadil prop Régis Montagne ko bhi sin-bin bheja gaya.
Springboks scrum par hawi rahe, jahan France ne nau penalties dein, aur Cobus Reinach ne maul ke zariye try kar ke farq 21-14 kar diya. Pieter-Steph du Toit ko line ke upar rok liya gaya, jabke aam taur par khel ke sab se qabil-e-aitmaad kickers mein shumar hone wale Lucu ek aasan penalty se chook gaye jo France ko 10 points ki bartari dila deti.
Is ke baad Marx ne ek aur maul se try ki, lekin Libbok ki kick wide chali gayi. Aakhri minute mein Bielle-Biarrey ne South Africa ka aakhri hamla roka, Dupont ne dheeli gend par qabza kiya, aur Lucu ne use kick laga kar maidan se bahar bhej diya.
Erasmus ne kaha: “Hum sirf khel mein hi peechhe nahin rahe, balke soch mein bhi maat kha gaye.”
France pehle hi apne chhate intikhab ke tighthead prop aur panchwen intikhab ke fly-half tak mehdood ho chuka tha, aur warm-up ke dauran us ke behtareen scrum hooker Julien Marchand zakhmi ho gaye. Un ki jagah Peato Mauvaka ne apna 50wan Test khela.
Naye muqable ka final do hafte baad Twickenham mein hoga. Six Nations champion France shimali nisf kurre ki numaindagi karta dikhai deta hai, jabke agar naqabil-e-shikast New Zealand ne Hafte ko Wales ko hara diya to South Africa junoobi teamon ki darja bandi mein sar-e-fehrist maqam kho dega.
