France vs South Africa: TV channel, kick-off time and teams for Friday night in Paris

France take on South Africa at the Stade de France on Friday night in what could be the most important match of the Nations Championship’s November rounds.

France vs South Africa kicks off at 8.10pm UK time and is live on ITV. The Six Nations champions face the world’s top-ranked side, and AFP has suggested the result could decide the winners of both tables.

France vs South Africa: kick-off time and TV channel

Detail	Information
Date	Friday 13 November 2026
UK kick-off	8.10pm GMT
Local kick-off	9.10pm CET
Venue	Stade de France, Saint-Denis
UK TV	ITV1 and ITVX
Referee	Andrea Piardi (Italy)

Like every Nations Championship match, France vs South Africa is on free-to-air ITV in the UK, with ITVX streaming it online. STV and STV Player have carried France’s previous matches in Scotland.

Springboks team: Etzebeth left out

Rassie Erasmus has made one change to his starting XV from the 66-7 win over Italy, bringing in Wilco Louw at tighthead prop. Eben Etzebeth is left out of the matchday 23 altogether despite rejoining the squad, as we reported in our Springboks team news.

South Africa: Willemse; Arendse, Kriel, De Allende, Hooker; Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Van den Berg; Nche, Marx, Louw, De Jager, Nortje, Kolisi (capt), PS du Toit, Wiese.

Replacements: Wessels, Steenekamp, T du Toit, Mostert, Hanekom, De Villiers, Reinach, Libbok.

France team news: the fly-half problem

Fabien Galthié’s biggest problem is at number 10. Romain Ntamack will miss the rest of the Nations Championship with a shoulder injury picked up in the 54-17 win over Fiji, and Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine Hastoy and Thomas Ramos are also injured.

Scrum-half Maxime Lucu moved to fly-half against Fiji, and Galthié has named Pau youngster Axel Desperes as another option. Antoine Dupont started against Fiji and is expected to continue at scrum-half.

[France team to be added when Galthié names his side.]

Why France vs South Africa matters

France arrive as Six Nations champions, and South Africa as world number one. Both started November with big wins, France by 54-17 against Fiji and South Africa by 66-7 in Italy.

The Nations Championship finals at Twickenham pair the teams that finish in the same position in each hemisphere’s table, so this result shapes who plays whom on finals weekend. Our finals weekend guide explains how it works. The Springboks also won the last meeting between the two sides.

The rest of round five follows on Saturday and Sunday, including Wales vs New Zealand, England vs Japan and Ireland vs Fiji.

France vs South Africa: FAQs

What time is France vs South Africa? 8.10pm UK time (9.10pm in Paris) on Friday 13 November.

What channel is France vs South Africa on? ITV1 and ITVX in the UK.

Is Eben Etzebeth playing for South Africa? No. He has been left out of the matchday 23.

Is Romain Ntamack playing for France? No. He suffered a shoulder injury against Fiji and will miss the rest of the Nations Championship.