France vs South Africa: Dupont inspires 21-19 win as Erasmus rues defeat

France beat South Africa 21-19 at the Stade de France on Friday, holding off a second-half comeback after leading 21-7 at the break. Antoine Dupont inspired the hosts’ first victory over the Springboks at the venue since 2005, leaving Rassie Erasmus fearing for his side’s Nations Championship final hopes.

The world champions never led in Paris. Les Bleus had lost nine of their previous 10 meetings with the Springboks, including the one-point World Cup quarter-final in 2023. This one went the other way, largely because of Dupont.

France vs South Africa: Dupont pulls the strings in a No 10 shirt

France were short of fly-halves. Romain Ntamack was injured against Fiji last week, and Matthieu Jalibert, Thomas Ramos and Antoine Hastoy were also out. Fabien Galthié handed Dupont his first Test start at No 10. Dupont wore No 10 but moved between the two half-back roles alongside Maxime Lucu.

France scored twice while Lood de Jager was in the sin bin for a high tackle. Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang finished a 15-phase move for the opening try, and Théo Attissogbe pounced when a pass bounced off Kalvin Gourgues to make it 14-0.

South Africa hit back through a lineout maul, but France replied straight away. Peato Mauvaka, a late replacement for the injured Julien Marchand, broke from a ruck, and Dupont’s grubber sent Louis Bielle-Biarrey over for his 30th try in 29 Tests. Lucu added six points from the tee.

Springboks fight back but fall short

Jan-Hendrik Wessels scored that maul try, having only been drafted into the starting front row about an hour before kick-off. Erasmus had benched his first-choice front row of Ox Nché, Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw, then sent all three on in the 35th minute with his side 21-7 down.

The second half was scrappy, and France did not score a point. Jasper Wiese’s yellow card for a dangerous clear-out was upgraded to a 20-minute red by the bunker review. France also had three players sin-binned across the night: Lucu, Grandidier-Nkanang and prop Régis Montagne.

Replacement scrum-half Cobus Reinach powered over, and Marx scored from another maul. Manie Libbok then had a conversion to level the scores with eight minutes left, but he pulled it wide.

For me, the Springboks lost this in the first 35 minutes. Their scrum and maul did plenty of damage after the break, but by then France had already built their lead.

What Erasmus said

Erasmus did not hide. “I think we basically killed our dreams for the Nations Championship tonight with this performance and not getting the win and the four tries,” he told reporters.

“We didn’t play well, so don’t find a lot of excuses. I don’t think there’s much more to blame than ourselves.”

He was also frustrated with his side’s discipline. “I guess the frustration is that the discipline cost us,” he said.

Dupont praised the way his side held on. “It shows the mentality of the team that never gave in, even if we had it hard on our line,” he said.

What it means for the Nations Championship

South Africa stay top of the Southern Hemisphere table on 21 points, but New Zealand are one point behind with a game in hand. The All Blacks play Wales in Cardiff today, and a bonus-point win would put them in charge. The Springboks finish the group stage away to Ireland next weekend.

France stay top of the Northern Hemisphere table. They host Argentina at the Stade de France on Saturday 21 November, with an 8.10pm UK kick-off, and are well placed for the final at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, on 29 November. If South Africa get there too, a rematch would be quite a way to end the year.

Our France vs South Africa preview has the team sheets from before the late front-row change, and Wales vs New Zealand has today’s kick-off details. For more from this autumn, see our international rugby page.