Rugby World Cup 2011
Victor: Discipline saw us home
2011-09-30 13:59
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Victor Matfield (File)
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Auckland - South Africa were relieved to have scraped past determined Samoa to keep their Rugby World Cup defence alive with a backs-to-the-wall 13-5 victory at North Harbour on Friday.
Springbok player ratings v Samoa
GALLERY: Springboks v Samoa
The Springbok world champions remained unbeaten after four games and came through the Pool of Death, qualifying for next weekend's quarter-finals with 18 log points and scoring 166 points and conceding just 24.
South Africa may face Tri-Nations champions Australia in the quarter-finals.
Springbok lineout general Victor Matfield, who was captain for the night, praised his team's discipline in the face of the passionate Samoans.
The Samoans played a man down for the last 10 minutes after fullback Paul Williams was sent off for striking Springbok flank Heinrich Brussow 10 minutes from the end.
There were other flashpoints with Welsh referee Nigel Owens hard pressed to keep a lid on it.
"We want to focus on the ball in games and show we are disciplined. I'm proud of the boys not to get too involved in all that crap," Matfield said.
"They had nothing to lose and we knew we wanted to go on, so I was very happy with our discipline that we didn't get involved.
"We stayed out of it and that's the positive we can take out of it.
"We are very hard of our discipline and I'm proud that the boys kept their heads."
Coach Peter de Villiers said his team was prepared for the Samoan challenge given their circumstance coming into the deciding game of Pool D.
"We knew that would be up for it, two months ago they beat Australia, the Tri-Nations champions, and they gave Wales a good game here," De Villiers said.
"We always knew they would be physical and confrontational so for us this game as been brilliant. The boys made the right decisions on the field."
"The mood in the changeroom is good, guys knew that they had to put their bodies on the line for our country.
"I know that our medical staff will work around the clock again."
Winger Bryan Habana, who scored his 40th Test try, came off early in the second half with what appeared an injured left knee, while Danie Rossouw and replacement Francois Hougaard went to the blood bin.
"With the amount of injuries we have, it was a tough game. But we are going into the playoffs and that is the most important thing," hooker Bismarck du Plessis said.
"We are always scared playing against Samoa. They are a great side. Playing a match like this though is definitely the sort of game we want before we go through to the quarter-finals."