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Cape Town - Former Springbok coach Nick Mallett heaped praise on scrumhalf Faf de Klerk following South Africa’s series-clinching win over Ireland in Port Elizabeth at the weekend.
The Boks won a tight encounter 19-13 to claim a 2-1 series win.
Wing JP Pietersen was named the official man-of-the-match, but Mallett felt the honour should have been bestowed upon De Klerk.
“With respect to the people who chose JP Pietersen as man-of-the-match, I thought Faf de Klerk was absolutely superb today,” Mallett said in the SuperSport studio afterwards.
“He saved two certain tries and we can never call him small again because he managed to jump six foot to intercept a pass.
“Had that ball gone to the Irish player he would have certainly scored. And then right at the end of the game, Faf made the most ferocious tackle on an Irish player by coming off his man and hitting him back to allow us to turn the ball over and finish the game.
“He had one poor kick, where the forwards were caught offside, and that was about the only mistake he made in the game.”
