South Africa reaction (du Toit, de Klerk, Kriel, Libbok, head coach Nienaber, captain Kolisi, Mbonambi)

MIXED ZONE

Faf de Klerk, scrum-half

On the atmosphere at the end:

"You could see what it means for both sides. I want to say thank-you to the South African fans who came out. It was obviously heartbreaking for the French fans, they have been amazing. Hopefully some of them might come and support us now.”

On playing England in the semi-final:

"We have played against England a lot. Obviously they have been struggling before the World Cup but they have definitely started to turn things around.

"It is going to be a very big, tough challenge, especially with a six-day turnaround. We just have to focus on recovery and make sure we are ready for that."

Manie Libbok, fly-half

On Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber being like chess players:

"Obviously the coaches put a lot of work in and give us good info and show us where the opportunities come up. The plan for us as players is to go out and execute and play what's in front of us - they say 'if the opportunity is there, you guys have to take it'. It all comes down to the work we put in during the week, the preparation."

On his memories of the 2019 final against this year's semi-final opponents England:

"I was still at the Bulls at the time so I was in Pretoria at my place. It was incredible to see what the boys did to win the World Cup - massive."

Jesse Kriel, centre

On getting revenge for the loss 11 months ago to France: 

"After November's loss against them we were disappointed and we wanted to make that right. So, it was nice to get an opportunity tonight to fix that."

On what was said under the posts after conceding a try in the first minutes: 

"Look, we simulate these things throughout the week and I think as South Africans we are a pretty resilient bunch and I think it's all things that we've experienced before in rugby games. And yeah, I thought we bounced back well. 

"Obviously, taking no credit away from the French. They are an unbelievable side and we knew they'd come out firing in front of a massive crowd. And yeah, I think the response was good." 

On being stitched up during the match: 

"Yah, I got a few, I don't know how many, it's quite a big cut. I don't know, I think just hitting a guy's hip or something, a bit of bone on bone. Luckily it's all good and it was just a cut. Luckily these things heal." 

On what comes next: 

"The most important thing is we got the result, we got what we came here for tonight. There is still a lot of rugby to be played in this tournament, another two big games and obviously not looking past next week and semi-finals. 

"It's just about getting back to the drawing board tomorrow and getting the bodies fresh and all eyes on Saturday."

Pieter-Steph du Toit, flanker:

On the atmosphere:

"It was an unbelievable honour and privilege for to play at the Stade de France in a game like that. The atmosphere was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever played in a stadium with that amount of noise."

On their prospects of winning another Rugby World Cup in France, after triumphing in 2007:

"We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. We will just take it game by game. We will travel to another hotel tomorrow and then start our analysis."

On facing England in the semi-final:

"They have a new coaching staff and a new system as well. We will have to start checking that stuff out, although I’m sure our staff are already doing that. It’s very exciting. It’s another opportunity to do ourselves and our country proud.

"They have won every game. A World Cup is different when you get to knockout matches and they have taken their opportunities. Hopefully we will do that against England as well. The ball can go either way. We just have to make sure we are better prepared and stick to our plan.

"It was nice to see all the South Africa supporters when we were doing our victory lap. We are so thankful for all of them who came out for us."

On why he had glitter all over him:

"Unfortunately that glitter was my son. A lot of the wives and families put glitter on their faces to support us. So when we hugged them afterwards, it was from that."

Mbongeni Mbonambi, hooker and Mastercard Player of the Match

On whether French fans might support South Africa now:

"We have 60 million South Africans who support us all the way and I think for now that will do but if the French want to support us, they're more than welcome. We've really enjoyed our time here and we're looking forward to the following week."

MEDIA CONFERENCE

Jacques Nienaber, head coach

On the magnitude of the test match:

"The French in France, you look at their consistency, they've been a proper team building with good individuals. We knew it would be a proper test match. All the other quarter-finals were won and lost in the last minutes of the game."

On the referee:

"I thought Ben was good on the day. You would say we won and that's why I'm saying that. We tried to take the referee out of the game - we scored four tries, and missed one or two, and one from the tee. We managed it well. I thought his communication on the day was excellent in terms of the decisions he made."

On South Africa's HIAs:

"It's a call by the medical team and sometimes the match doctor can call a HIA if they see a big collisions.

"Pieter-Steph du Toit's one, we spotted it from the side, so we requested it. It's important we look after the safety of our players and if you do spot something, then send a player for an HIA and get clarity on that, especially if we felt he had a big collision to the head. I think the French team would say the same thing."

On the one incident that shows the character of South Africa

"Cheslin's charge-down (of a Thomas Ramos goal kick), you don't see that often - somebody chasing a lost cause. We were opened up a couple of times but the scrambling, the effort the players put in was enormous."

On things they can improve:

"There's a lot of things where we got stuff wrong. The quick tap we've been working on for some time, we've not had an opportunity to use it. We worked on, but still there's a lot of things we weren't awesome at but that's probably the pressure of a knockout game. There's a lot stuff we need to fix."

On being overconfident with team selection:

"We have a short turnaround, only six days, so we will look at the squad. I know you guys look at the bench and it's a squad of 23 players we pick to get a result on the day. The gap between our players is not big. We're fortunate in that. When you're not selected, you just need to slot into a different sole. We know Duane won't let us down, we know Vermeulen won't let us down."

On best backline performance:

"We had limited set-piece opportunity, so credit to the French. We had transition attack, the backs were excellent in terms so that. Every game is different, but the possession the backs got to today, they used well, based on the foundation of the forwards."

Siya Kolisi, captain

On whether the game was won in the 10 minutes after half-time:
 
"Yeah, I think a lot of questions were asked of us as group by the French team. The character of the boys stood out. We had a clear plan what to do, especially in the breakdowns. We knew how hard they were going to be.

"They were tough to stop with 15 men, imagine how hard it was with 14. We had to fight for each other for that period and I am really proud of the character and discipline we showed.”
 
On the referee Ben O’Keefe:
 
"From our side, all we can do is play rugby. We can’t control the decisions the ref makes. We will have to look at the game but the communications with him and the calls he made were fair. I would never discredit the referee. Obviously Antoine [Dupont] has his own opinion.

"It was an amazing game, it was tough, physically it flowed. The way the two teams played outshines everything else. It was an amazing atmosphere. The French team have been building for four years so we knew it would take something special for us to win this game.

"For a leader like Antoine to come back and play like he did, we give credit to him and France and all the French people who made this World Cup so special. When we heard the anthems, we knew how loud it was going to be. The people of France can be proud of their team.

"It was a one-point game. Things like the charge-down from Cheslin [Kolbe], you don’t see that every day.  It was going to take something special for us to win. The French team and Antoine can hold their heads up high."

On how they stopped France scoring:
 
"We scrambled a lot, especially when we were short of numbers. We talk about chasing lost causes as a group, we don’t give up until they put the ball down over the try-line. We worked together as a team.

"If we hadn’t done that, we would be going home tomorrow. We never give up. You can lose as a team, but as long as you don’t give up. We knew it would take something special and it did.”
 
On what made the difference:
 
"I think it's in the week, the guys who didn’t play, the pictures they show us. It is tough for those guys when they are not picked but they are selfless. The bench when they came on, we made the substitutions early and they made a huge difference.

"That’s what this team is about. When you get taken off, we knew how much support they needed, so we were shouting from the bench.”
 
 ON-FIELD REACTION

Jacques Nienaber, head coach

On the narrowest of victories:

"Credit to the French first of all. We knew it was going to be this tight. I think everybody knew it was going to be a big battle. Two good teams and unfortunately, or fortunately for us, we were on the right side of things.

"There was one point that separated it. I think the margins were marginal but no, credit to our players, they stuck in it to the end."

On overcoming a yellow cards and injury issues:

"Yes, especially with the yellow card we had to come up with solutions but I must say that’s probably credit to the experience that we have in the squad. Stuff like that happens, they’ve been there before, they’ve been at a World Cup before and they’ve found solutions during the game.

"We knew it was going to be physical and with HIAs (Head Injury Assessments) it’s important to make sure your players are safe and so, yeah, luckily things worked out for us."

On the prospect of facing England in the semi-final:

"Massive. I think it’s going to be a nice challenge. In knockouts anything can happen, like tonight I followed the England game when we were on the bus here. Also they (England) had a healthy lead and then Fiji came back and then they also pushed it right to the end. I think knockouts are going to be small margins right to the end."

Siya Kolisi, flanker and captain

On how they came from behind to beat France: 

"I just thought we really wanted it. We knew how tough it was going to be. I must give credit to the guys that came off the bench, they made a huge difference. And the guys that didn't play, the pictures they showed us, so we were ready for this game. 

"And most importantly, the people back at home. Honestly, the support that we've received. You know, they can't afford to be here but the videos, the schools singing for us and the videos. That's who we play for. You know our families that are here right now. 

"We play for the nation, it's not about us on this field any more, it's about the people back home and that's what's driving us. Win or lose they will see this kind of fight that you saw out there today."

On giving credit to France: 

"It was a hard game. We knew how tough it was going to be with the French team at home and honestly, I just want to say well done to them for what they've achieved and how hard they've worked. And also to the supporters, the people of France, it's been an amazing tournament and they can be proud of this team."

On providing support from the sidelines having gone off early: 

"Obviously, somebody else was on the field, all I could do was bring the energy. With the amount of French people in the crowd, the boys need all the energy. We tried to stay as positive as we can, we keep them going."

Mbongeni Mbonambi, hooker and Mastercard Player of the Match

 On the one-point win against the hosts:

"All credit to the team, it was a whole team effort. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy playing the host team in their backyard, sold-out crowd singing their national anthem the whole time.  

"Credit to coach Jacques (Nienaber) about managing around the week. Credit to the team, it’s not a one-man effort.

"We’ve still got two more games to go, this is still nothing.

"We were just focused on what we had to do, we stayed on task.

"It was a great game of rugby."