If it had been up to Mike Tindall, a former English rugby player, the Springboks would not have played in the World Rugby Cup semi-final against England at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday.
Tindall, the husband of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest granddaughter, Zara Phillips, has his mouth full about the Springboks’ recent win against the French on his rugby podcast, The Good, the Bad and the Rugbywashed out.
Tindall presents the podcast with James Haskell, a former teammate, and Alex Payne, a television presenter.
The 45-year-old admitted in the latest episode that he cheered passionately for France to defeat South Africa on Sunday, and although the Springboks beat France 29-28 to qualify for the semi-final, according to him, happiness was “on South Africa’s side”.
“I was more emotional about that game than the England game. I just wanted France to get where they deserve to be. They deserved to win that game; they were by far the better team,” he told his co-hosts.
Tindall previously played outside center for Bath and Gloucester and made 75 appearances for the Roses between 2000 and 2011. He was also part of the England team that won the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
“If you go back to 2019, I said: ‘It would be a shame if South Africa won the World Cup’, and they won it. If you look at everything carefully, France should have won this game.”
South Africans on X, formerly known as Twitter, quickly got hot under the collar and shared their own analyzes with Tindall.
“Sorry friend, entitlement ends when the whistle blows, then it’s the strongest and smartest on the field that wins. Sometimes it’s England and sometimes it’s SA,” one Charmaine Gray wrote on X.
RNews reported earlier that the French were also not too pleased with referee Ben O’Keeffe’s handling of Sunday’s match.
“I don’t want to be a bitter person who complains about the referee just because I lost the power-play, but there is a lot of disappointment and frustration, and we can’t wait to work through the match footage,” Antoine Dupont, captain of the French team, said after South Africa’s victory.
- The Springboks and England will face each other in the World Rugby Cup 2023 semi-final on Saturday evening at 21:00.
Additional resources: Sports letter, Express.
