Former France hooker Benjamin Kayser has admitted his country “got spanked in Scotland” on the way to their last Six Nations title, and said only wins over the Springboks and All Blacks prove France are real World Cup contenders.
Kayser was speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Rugby after France beat South Africa 21-19 at the Stade de France on Friday.
Host Alex Payne had asked why the celebrations in Paris felt like France had won a World Cup.
‘Spanked in Scotland’
Payne said he saw France as the best side in the northern hemisphere and was not surprised they won. Kayser admitted his bias as a Frenchman, but had no doubt where France stand in Europe.
“Are they the best Northern Hemisphere team? Absolutely. And they have been for a while,” he said.
The titles, he said, were not the point.
“But unfortunately we don’t have a lot to prove for it,” Kayser said. “Yes, we’ve got the back-to-back Six Nations, okay, but last year was not necessarily the most ultra-dominant win that we’ve ever had. You know, we got spanked in Scotland and we just sneaked it against England.”
For Kayser, the only measure that matters is a southern hemisphere giant.
“If we really can be World Cup title contenders, not just getting to a semi and doing something, creating history, we know we need to just add that little edge to it,” he said.
“And that little edge is plain and simply the only time you can really prove your worth is playing against New Zealand and South Africa.
“The only way that you really show how good you are is by beating the All Blacks … And at the moment, bluntly, it’s the South Africans mostly. Double world champions. Nobody can beat them.”
‘Did we overpump them?’
France’s home World Cup in 2023 ended with a 29-28 quarter-final defeat by the Springboks at the same ground. Kayser asked whether the country had been “a little bit too confident” in the build-up.
“Did we not maybe overpump them a tiny bit?” he said, before adding: “But actually you fell short and you look like maybe we overpumped it. We are lacking of experience. We’re not dominant enough. We just need to upskill ourselves to really genuinely be contenders.”
Friday’s win, he said, was that step. France scored three first-half tries through Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, Théo Attissogbe and Louis Bielle-Biarrey to lead 21-7, then held on as the Springboks won the second half 12-0. Antoine Dupont was named player of the match.
‘Not paying it back’
Kayser was just as blunt about France’s recent summer tours. Asked whether the new Nations Championship had caught on, he said it had already fixed one thing.
“What it really saved, to be honest, is not the November slot. It saved the June tour, that, yeah, we were throwing, you know, B, C sides, and we didn’t really care about the outcome,” he said.
He said the southern hemisphere nations had always sent full-strength teams north in November, and that France had to return the favour.
“It was only fair that we would sort of pay back that, not kindness, but you know what I mean,” he said.
Moments later he added: “If France send their C team and, you know, Dupont wasn’t there … we’re not paying it back.”
Only the side that tops each hemisphere table reaches the final at Twickenham on 29 November. The next Rugby World Cup is in Australia in 2027.
READ MORE: France Player Ratings vs South Africa: A 9.5 For Antoine Dupont
Watch Benjamin Kayser on The Good, The Bad & The Rugby:
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