49-18 AND a Bonus Point

Deon Fourie, hooker

On the fourth try and win:

“Our goal was a bit bigger for points difference, so we didn’t reach that objective, but we’ll see what happens next week with the big game between Scotland and Ireland.”

On his line-out throwing:

“I was way more relaxed than the last two games. Romania gave me a bit of confidence, and especially Ireland with that last throw.

“I know Marvin Orie from the Stormers, we played two years together so our synchronisation worked well.

“I think I just lost one line-out tonight, so that definitely gives me confidence.”

On where the game ranked in terms of the most physical he has played in:

“The games in South Africa against the Bulls; that is always physical as well. Probably not the big hits that I felt today a few times that you saw. Credit to them, they came out firing.”

On what he wants to improve on:

“I haven’t played 80 minutes in a long time, so probably do a bit more fitness. I was quite tired on 65 minutes, I didn’t see how I was going to finish this off with 15 minutes to go.”

On whether it’s tough switching from hooker to flanker during a game:

“There’s not much difference between hooker and flanker, apart from the scrumming and line-outs. After that it’s open play, and at the moment how the game’s evolved, you can see how Malcolm Marx plays, he’s almost like a flanker as well.”

Manie Libbok, replacement fly-half

On a confidence-boosting kicking performance:

“It’s something I worked on really hard in the past week or so. I’m just happy that it came off nicely today. Handre [Pollard] also kicked very well.”

On whether he practised alongside Pollard this week:

“In everything we work together. Handre is a world-class fly-half and player. I’ve learned a lot from him, he helped me a lot in terms of the game itself. For me it’s nice to work with him and learn from the best.”

On what was going wrong with his goal-kicking in previous games:

“I fell off my kicks, that’s why I pulled most of the kicks, I worked on that and I’m just happy that it came off.”

On whether he sped up his kicking routine:

“I kicked the same, I didn’t change anything in terms of speeding up my process.”

Handre Pollard, fly-half

“It was definitely physical. It was definitely tough for us but we got to give it to the Tongans. They definitely brought it to us, it’s fantastic. We actually needed this I think, to prep our heads and minds.”

“It’s out of our hands. We have got to prep for whoever we play and if we don’t play that is how the game goes. We played the game tonight out there and we tried our best. We have just got to wait and see what happens next.”

On the performance:
“I enjoyed it very much, it was so much fun. Just on a personal note it was nice to play again and I enjoyed myself out there.”

On coming into the squad:

“It has been a crazy rollercoaster. There have been extreme lows, of course, early on and extreme highs to get recalled so really just great to be back in the environment with the boys. Hopefully contribute as much as I can in whatever role that may be, I am just here to help the team succeed and I am excited.”

“We joked in the week about it, my first week is probably going to be in the corner and it was! You follow your normal routine, you do your thing. Like Manie [Libbok] kicked extremely well when he came on. I think it’s a great thing as a kicking unit. there have been a lot of heat on us for that but after today we can take this forward with a lot of confidence.”

Jacques Nienaber, head coach

On South Africa fly-half Handre Pollard:

“Handre, the important part is he had 30 minutes at Premiership Cup level, which is a little bit below international [level], tonight he got 50 minutes against a proper Tonga side that has got better as the tournament has gone on. They are a team who will just improve the more they play tier-one nations.

“They have some top players that have played for New Zealand, Australia. Some of them play for the Crusaders, Toulouse, so they know what rugby is about.

“He got a proper test match against that. He got through 50 minutes.

“I think he will just get better. I think he was solid. You look at his ball carries – that was decisive and good. His defence, I thought his level changed well and he put some proper shoulder hits in. I thought his off-the-ball work was good and his kicking game in general was good. The fundamentals [for which] we wanted him to tick the boxes, I think he ticked tonight.”

On wing Makazole Mapimpi:

“He unfortunately had a blow-out fracture of his cheekbone, so he’ll probably go for specialist scans tomorrow morning to determine the severity of it.”

On break before quarter-final:

“The positive is it is pretty much similar to what we experienced in 2019 when we also finished our pool quite early.

“I think we had a 12-13 day preparation break before we went into our quarter-final against Japan. It is something we have done before as a group. It worked out well for us back then so we’ll give them two-three days off and then start preparing.

“Until we know what the outcome is of the pool and who we will face, the France New Zealand pool will only be determined on Friday night so we will only actually know, depending on how [Pool B] finish, we will have a good idea of who we will play. I think in the first week now, give the guys some time off to get away from the game, to have a little bit of a mental break and then start focusing on what we can do better. So internally focusing on us on things we must improve if we want to stay in this competition until the end.”

On conceding three tries:

“Tonga, with the brilliance they have, can create something out of nothing. That is the beauty of it, because they have quality players – a lot of them have played and represented New Zealand, Australia before. They understand what top international rugby is all about. Tonight you might not give them a sniff and then somebody does something magical.

“Sometimes when you concede tries you have not necessarily done something wrong – they have just done something that was incredibly brilliant. Sometimes you just have to sit back and applaud it. Sometimes it is just good attack.

“You can’t cover everything on a rugby field. If there was a try conceded because of a lack of attitude and work rate or a system error, that is something we can improve on.”

Siya Kolisi, captain and back-row

On his 50th cap as a captain:

“The only thing I can think about is the physicality. They were tough, the coach prepared us well for that. They don’t stop. You think at a certain minute they are going to stop but the next guys who come on, it is the same physicality.

“I applaud our boys for sticking to the job and plan. We wanted to keep it tight, take another step forward and I think we did that well. The best thing about it is we got the bonus-point and we took as many points as we could today.”

Deon Fourie, Mastercard Player of the Match

On playing hooker, when his is normally a back-row:

“No, it was a good game. We expected a tough game. I’ve played hooker earlier in my career so it wasn’t too bad. It went well today and I’m glad. I trained there for the last two years with the Boks and our motto is: we train how we play. That paid dividends today.”

On moving into the back row when Marco van Staden came on:

“I must say it’s quite tough moving from hooker to flanker. The body is old but I did a good job.”

Siya Kolisi, captain

On exchanging tops with Tonga captain Ben Tameifuna:

“It was a really beautiful moment, they’re a great team, really hard to play against, they put everything on the line. We knew it was going to be a tough game. We’re still grateful for our supporters and families who came out to support us today, hopefully we’ve done enough to qualify for the next round.”

On South Africa’s performance:

“We knew they weren’t just going to lay down and give it to us. We made a couple of mistakes but we fought to the end – really proud of the guys’ effort.”

On his 50th test as captain:

“It doesn’t matter what milestone there is, I’m always proud to be out there with this special group and hopefully we can go all the way.”

Jacques Nienaber, head coach

On the bonus-point win:

“We’ll have to wait. The other pool gets sorted out on Friday night and our pool gets sorted out on Saturday so it’s a waiting game.”

On South Africa’s creative coaching:

“Our hookers got some decent game time in a proper test match against some good opposition so it’s one step closer to getting minutes under their belts.”

On fly-half Handre Pollard’s comeback performance:

“Brilliant to get 50 minutes into his legs, get exposed to international rugby – it’s a big stepping stone for him and we can build from there.”

Adam Coleman, lock

On the physical battle:

“Tonga try to play the same type of game as South Africa does. It’s very physical, it’s in both teams’ DNA. It was a very physical test match. There will be some sore bodies tomorrow. We’ll rest up and go again next week but good luck to South Africa for the rest of the tournament.”

On how Tonga can become even more competitive:

“We do need more tier-one games. Tonight was pretty close. I don’t think the scoreboard did us justice. They had a few tries that were quick-tap when we switched off. That’s 14 points there.”

On what he would say to other players, like himself, who could be eligible to play for Tonga:

“With this new rule, you don’t have international players sitting on the sidelines. You want the best playing on the world stage in the World Cup. I’d really recommend it if you have that opportunity to represent your heritage. My old man played for Tonga, my uncles and my cousins, there’s a big blood line there. 

“There are cultural aspects to it off the field that I’m learning. It’s quite cool to re-engage with my Tongan side.”

On his family being there to watch him play:

“My missus was here with my three kids and her friend and my mum. It was special having them here. All my family back home no doubt were watching. Every moment I wear the red jersey I’m proud…and [it comes with] a lot of family pressure – the Tongan feedback is always a bit harsh (laughs).”

On who could be the next star for Tonga:

“Semisi Paea. He has literally come from nowhere. I think he was working in the forest chopping down trees last year and he’s just started for the ‘Ikale Tahi. What a 12 months he has had. Fini [Inisi] and Anzelo [Tuitavuki], both wings, they are just natural talent. 

“So many Tongans have natural talent, it’s just how we can tap into it and get more tier-one games, knowing what it is like – the pace, the physicality. Like today, we gave away one penalty, they mauled and they went wide and scored within two or three phases. World-class teams will punish you.”

On his favourite Rugby World Cup moment:

“My debut last week for the ‘Ikale Tahi, but it was also after the game walking round the field with my three kids. It hit different. It was like a full-circle moment. My old man played for Tonga and now my kids were on the pitch with me. It was a different feeling from the 2019 World Cup [when he played for Australia].”

Malakai Fekitoa, centre

On being heavily strapped:

“I’m getting old now. I’ve been playing professionally for the last 12 years so I’ve had a few injuries, just trying to stay on top of it.”

On pulling on the red of Tonga:

“It’s special. Obviously we would have liked to have had a different campaign but we’ve played the best two teams in the world. I felt we’ve improved a lot in the last few games, representing our people.”

On the atmosphere:

“It was pretty cool, weird in a way because probably there were more green jerseys than red, but funnily enough, they cheered for us, which kept us going. You don’t score many against the Boks so let’s celebrate that.”

On what experience he’s brought to Tonga from the All Blacks and Munster:

“I’ve been around the game and I’ve led with how I prepare and how I train. The mindset as well, working hard and keeping the consistency in my performance and training. Hopefully some of the younger boys will watch that and it will help their game, and we’ve put a foundation in that will help the team – how we prepare and how we go against the big teams. I feel we are heading in the right direction.”

On Fiji:

“They are playing really well, they look like they are going to qualify for the quarter-finals so hopefully they kick on from there. You can see the Fijian boys are gelling, playing really unbelievable rugby so I hope they keep going in the play-offs.”

Salesi Piutau, full-back

On his feelings on the game:

“Proud would be the word to describe that game. The result and score didn’t go our way. We looked at each other in the changing room after the game and [knew] we gave it everything we could. That’s all we can ask for from the boys.

“Hopefully we did do our country, our village and our families proud.”

On the respect between South Africa and Tonga:

“The game tonight was played in good spirit. There was great respect after that game and it was great to just get in the circle with the boys and be able to share a few words and to even say a prayer. It was pretty awesome.

“Talking to some of the South African boys in the sheds, there’s a few bodies banged up – in our shed as well. We both anticipated that physicality in this game, it lived up to it and both teams enjoyed it.”

On how difficult the pool has been:

“Sometimes you think it would be nice to be in a pool where you have more of a chance, but at the same time you get to play number one, number two and number five [in the world]. The experience we’ll take away as a team to build for the future, there will be a lot of positives.”

On the difference between Ireland, Scotland and South Africa games:

“The boys were saying the most physical game was tonight. I think you could see that.

“All the teams are pretty tough in their own way. Ireland were pretty clinical with set-piece tries and Scotland, they opened up the game towards the end.”

Toutai Kefu, head coach

On scoring three tries against South Africa, their first time conceding three tries at Rugby World Cup 2023:

“I didn’t know that. That’s nice, that’s good. I would rather the result (was) better.

“We were always going to judge ourselves on our performance today and I thought the boys had a real dig. We mentioned to the group before the game (to) put a performance out there that, when you come off the field, you’re absolutely proud of, your family are proud of, your village is proud of – regardless of the score – and I think they did that.”

On their improvements at the tournament:

“We’re tracking in the right way, which means we’ll have our best game next week, and then the tour’s over. It happens every campaign. We go on three-, four-week campaigns. The last game’s always our best game because we’ve had more time together and we’ve played some opposition.”

On not having enough time together as a team:

“We’ve got the talent now, the eligibility rules opened that door for us. We need time to really blend. I’ve got players coming from 20-plus programmes. I think Ireland, 90 per cent of their players come from one programme. New Zealand, they come from five or six programmes.

“A third of my group play in France, a third play in the UK, the other third play in New Zealand – although a couple in Japan. 

“It just makes sense that it’s going to take longer for us to get on the same page. You look at today, there were three or four turnovers that led to their tries.

“They’re tier-two mistakes. Spending more time together will fix that up, I believe. Getting more regular competition will fix that up.”

Ben Tameifuna, captain

On matching the Springboks’ physicality:

“The Springboks are known for their physicality, so we had to fire up and meet fire with fire because if we didn’t the score could have been bigger. I’m still proud of the boys, they always dug deep and held them out for long passages. There definitely is going to be a few sore bodies tomorrow, I’ll tell you that.”

On what made the difference:

“They’ve been to those kinds of places in games where it goes to those pressure moments. We haven’t been exposed enough to those pressure moments and we’ve never been pushed to those kinds of limits. It’s a good experience for our boys and hopefully next week we can build on what we put out there today.”

Toutai Kefu, head coach

On playing the world champions:

“That is what rugby is all about. You want to play against the best. That’s what makes the good players get out of bed so it was a fantastic experience for everyone today.”

On the performance of the Tonga backs:

“Our backs are our strength and the forwards have been going really well as well. We are getting better and better. I really believe next week will be our best performance.”

Ben Tameifuna, captain

On the performance:

“It was a hard battle out there. This team, we don’t have a lot, but the boys turn up at this tough tournament and to put a performance like that shows where we are all heading.

“South Africa are the best in the world and it’s always tough to cross their line and we managed to do that a few times tonight.”

On the physical battle of the forwards:

“In these kind of games, especially with the South Africans, you have to meet fire with fire and the boys did that tonight. If we did it for longer phases we might have got a result. I’m proud of the boys.

“The crowd have been bloody awesome. I’d like to thank everyone. We just need to recover well and look forward to next week.”