South Africa boss Jacques Nienaber has explained his decision to bring off Manie Libbok so early in the first half of their Rugby World Cup semifinal victory over England.
England dominated for the vast majority of the contest, with Owen Farrell proving accurate with his kicking as he claimed the entire share of the points as they took a healthy lead into the second half.
But South Africa managed to get themselves back into the contest with RG Snyman scoring a try as they headed into the final 10 minutes in Saint-Denis.
Pollard's late kick was enough to snatch victory from England's hands, despite having led for 78 minutes of the game, as Nienaber celebrated with his players at the final whistle.
"We did it with Bongi [Mbonambi] in 2018. We took him off after 30 minutes. He was just, for that specific day, he was just not on fire. But he started the next week again. The same with the guy like Willie [le Roux], we took him off early, because things didn't go his way."
The Springboks broke English hearts late on with a late penalty from Handre Polland clinching a 16-15 victory and with it, their place in Sunday's final against New Zealand, but it was not all plain sailing for Nienaber on a tense night at the Stade de France.
England dominated for the vast majority of the contest, with Owen Farrell proving accurate with his kicking as he claimed the entire share of the points as they took a healthy lead into the second half.
But South Africa managed to get themselves back into the contest with RG Snyman scoring a try as they headed into the final 10 minutes in Saint-Denis.
Pollard's late kick was enough to snatch victory from England's hands, despite having led for 78 minutes of the game, as Nienaber celebrated with his players at the final whistle.
"The beauty of this group is we are open and honest, and because we have the right players, the players accept it," Nienaber said in his post-match press conference. "Sometimes things aren't going your way.
"We did it with Bongi [Mbonambi] in 2018. We took him off after 30 minutes. He was just, for that specific day, he was just not on fire. But he started the next week again. The same with the guy like Willie [le Roux], we took him off early, because things didn't go his way."
