PARIS (AP) — Nothing will quite beat Stephen Donald coming straight from fishing whitebait on the Waikato River to boot the title-winning penalty for New Zealand as its fourth-choice flyhalf in 2011.
Yet Handre Pollard’s from-out-of-nowhere emergence is proving to be another Rugby World Cup storyline for the ages.
Five weeks ago, the South Africa No. 10 was preparing to play a comeback game for Leicester in a ho-hum English cup competition. He’d been on the sidelines for four months with a calf injury, robbing him of a place in the Springboks squad for a World Cup he was ready to watch on television.
On Saturday night, he was booting a 78th-minute penalty from 49 meters through the Paris rain to earn his country a place in the ultimate World Cup final — the Boks vs. the All Blacks in rugby’s biggest rivalry.
“It was a big moment,” Pollard said after the 16-15 win over England in the semifinals, “but it is what you want as a player on this stage. To have moments like that as a flyhalf is what you live for.”
The moment came his way thanks to a couple of big calls from the Springboks coaching staff.
The first came back on Sept. 17, when they decided to replace Malcolm Marx — who had sustained a tournament-ending injury midway through the pool stage — not with another hooker in a like-for-like change but for Pollard.
He wasn’t match-sharp — the only rugby he’d had since May was 30 minutes for Leicester against Sale in the Premiership Rugby Cup — but he offered valuable experience as a World Cup winner from 2019 and a nice alternative to Manie Libbok, South Africa’s front-foot, first-choice flyhalf.
The second big call came after 31 minutes in the ugly but tense semifinal on Saturday. A brutal decision was made to replace Libbok, who was having what can only be described as a stinker, with Pollard. They couldn’t even wait until halftime. They needed a controlling No. 10, someone to give the Springboks some composure and rhythm.
Pollard, along with the “Bomb Squad” of forward replacements arriving early in the second half, did just that. Eventually.
He made some decisive interventions, not least with 12 minutes to go when he sent a spiraling touch-finder from halfway to inside 10 meters from England’s line. From that lineout, replacement lock RG Snyman drove over for a 69th-minute try that was converted, of course, by Pollard.
It was 15-13. South Africa just needed one shot at goal.
And imagine the dread inside England’s players when they conceded a penalty from a scrum in the 77th minute, just inside their own half.
“We’ve seen him do it a few times — I was ready for it,” England captain Owen Farrell said.
Pollard obliged, stepping up and bisecting the posts. It never looked like missing and he'd broken England hearts again, like he did in the final in Yokohama four years ago when booting 22 points.
“Jeez, the fight we showed, never giving up," Pollard said. “It’s what we stand for as a team and as a nation.”
Pollard epitomizes that.
Now, the big question is whether it has earned him a place in the team for the final.
Libbok failed to live up to the occasion against England. He knocked on under no pressure, sliced his clearances, sent up-and-unders nowhere.
Pollard thrived in it. He always seems to, especially from the kicking tee. Like last week when he steered the Boks to another one-point won, 29-28 over France in the quarterfinals.
Maybe, though, they keep Pollard as a safe pair of hands on the bench, someone they can turn to at any time to get the team out of trouble.
Either way, expect Pollard to have his say against the All Blacks.
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AP Rugby World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
