Rassie: South Africa's Nations Championship hopes over after France loss
TWO INTO ONE: France's nominal out-half Antoine Dupont and scrum-half Maxime Lucu celebrate Les Bleus thrilling win over South Africa at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris'. Pic: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP via Getty Images
World champions South Africa's hopes of lifting the first Nations Championship trophy ended with their 21-19 defeat in France on Friday, coach Rassie Erasmus said.
"I think we basically killed our dreams for the Nations Championship tonight with this performance and not getting the win and the four tries," Erasmus said.
South Africa, who suffered their first defeat of the Nations Championship, remain top of the Southern Hemisphere table on 21 points, but New Zealand are one point behind with a game in hand.
The Springboks visit Dublin next Saturday to conclude the group phase, while the All Blacks play Wales on Saturday before facing England the following Saturday.
Erasmus lamented his side's lack of discipline, as they conceded 11 penalties, eight of them in their own half. Lood de Jager was shown a yellow card for a high tackle, while Jasper Wiese was sent off for 20 minutes after the bunker upgraded his yellow card for a head-high hit.
"It hurt us. That caused us in a big way. I don't think any of that was intentional, but I agree that it should have been cards," Erasmus said.
"I guess the frustration is that the discipline cost us."
France also received three yellow cards through scrumhalf Maxime Lucu, winger Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang and tighthead prop Regis Montagne.
Erasmus was far from satisfied with the performance. It was also South Africa's first defeat against Les Bleus at the Stade de France since 2005.
"We didn't play well, so don’t find a lot of excuses," Erasmus said. "I don't think there's much more to blame than ourselves."
The victory left France on top of the Northern Hemisphere standings on 21 points. South Africa, suffering their first defeat of the Nations Championship, remained top of the Southern Hemisphere table on 21 points but could come under pressure from New Zealand who face Wales on Saturdsay in Cardiff.
France’s win underlined their credentials as contenders for the 2027 World Cup, exactly a year before the final, after they had lost nine of their previous 10 meetings with the Springboks.
That run included a one-point quarter-final defeat on home soil at the 2023 World Cup and a 32-17 loss last year, when South Africa had a player sent off before halftime.
France’s preparations were again disrupted by injuries, with hooker Julien Marchand hurt in the warm-up and replaced by Peato Mauvaka.
Flyhalf Romain Ntamack had dislocated his shoulder in last week’s win over Fiji and, with Matthieu Jalibert, Thomas Ramos and Antoine Hastoy also sidelined, Galthie handed Dupont his first international start at flyhalf and selected Lucu at scrumhalf.
The shirt numbers proved deceptive, however, as Dupont operated predominantly in his customary scrumhalf role and Lucu filled in at flyhalf, as he had after replacing Ntamack against Fiji.
"It's an idea I put to them when we knew Ntamack wouldn’t be playing," Galthie explained Friday night.
"They had a discussion, we watched a few matches, and we had a 40-minute training session and a 10-minute team run to set it up. I think it worked really well. Both of them played an outstanding game."
South Africa had expected the pair to swap roles during the match, but Erasmus said the uncertainty made France harder to prepare for.
"They have, at one position, a lot of injuries, but having Lucu and Dupont maybe strengthened the team in a way," Erasmus told reporters.
"(Dupont) is a brilliant player and it's difficult to plan against, especially when we didn't know he was going to play 10 or 9."
The pair were influential throughout as France made the most of Lood de Jager’s 13th-minute yellow card for a high tackle on Lucu, scoring twice during his absence.
Dupont passed to Lucu in the move that ended with Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang scoring the opening try before the France captain’s left-footed 50-22 kick created the platform for Attissogbe’s effort.
Dupont then sent Bielle-Biarrey over with a grubber kick in the 32nd minute.
South Africa were forced to chase the game but Jan-Hendrik Wessels, drafted into the starting side when Erasmus reshuffled his front row about an hour before kick-off, scored from a lineout maul on the half-hour.
Errors and indiscipline disrupted the second half, with Wiese handed a 20-minute red card before Grandidier-Nkanang was sent to the sin bin six minutes later for a deliberate knock-on.
The winger’s yellow card came just as Lucu returned after being sin-binned for a high tackle shortly before halftime.
Reinach powered over a minute later and South Africa dominated much of the second half before Marx scored from another maul after France tighthead prop Regis Montagne was shown a yellow card.
Libbok had the chance to level the scores but sent the conversion wide with seven minutes remaining.
France then survived a final South African attack before the home crowd erupted at the final whistle.
The match marked the first time a sporting event had been staged at the Stade de France on November 13 since the 2015 Paris attacks, which began outside the stadium.
France face Argentina next week, while South Africa travel to Ireland, before the teams could meet again in the final.
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