JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Lock Eben Etzebeth scored a try that epitomised the revival of South Africa following their disastrous 2016 as the Springboks made a clean-sweep of their three-match home series with France with a 35-12 victory at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Etzebeth, captaining the side after the late withdrawal of number eight Warren Whiteley, completed an excellent set-piece move to go with scores from centre Jesse Kriel, hooker Malcolm Marx and scrumhalf Rudy Paige.
All of France’s points came via the boot of flyhalf Jules Plisson, who kicked four penalties as they struggled against the physicality of the home side in an error-strewn performance.
The victory is a first ever for the Boks over France in five tests at Ellis Park, and comes after they lost eight of their 12 tests last year in what was the worst season in the country’s history.
An early Jantjies penalty put the home side in front, and their energetic start was rewarded with the opening try inside seven minutes.
Centre Jan Serfontein supplied the pressure from a long kick into the French 22, and when the Boks were able to complete the turnover, Kriel slid in at the corner.
Plisson closed the gap with two penalties as Bok prop Tendai Mtawarira twice earned the ire of Australian referee Angus Gardner, before Jantjies struck again after France captain Guilhem Guirado was punished for entering the ruck from the side.
The teams traded penalties before halftime as the Boks went into the break with a 16-9 advantage in front of the best crowd of the series, 55,820.
The Boks turned down three easy points after winning a penalty early in the second period and opted for a set-piece in the corner for what turned out to be an excellent training-ground move that bamboozled the visitors.
Backline star Serfontein rose in the middle of the lineout and fed massive lock Etzebeth, who got a running start five metres from the line and crashed over for the score.
After that, both sides committed errors in attack, which affected the flow of the game, but just past the hour mark the Boks crossed for their third try.
A break from replacement lock Pieter-Steph du Toit took the home side into the French 22 and powerful hooker Marx eventually scored under the posts before Paige grabbed a first test try when he completed the scoring with five minutes remaining.
(Reporting By Nick Said,; Editing by Neville Dalton)
