France beat South Africa 21-19 at the Stade de France on Friday 13 November in round 5 of the Nations Championship. Antoine Dupont, making his first Test start at fly-half, ran the game as Les Bleus built a 21-7 half-time lead. The Springboks lost Jasper Wiese to a red card in the 43rd minute, won the second half 12-0 with 14 men, and finished two points short.
It was France’s first win over South Africa in Paris since 2005. Andrea Piardi (Italy) refereed in front of a crowd of 73,000.
Three tries in 17 minutes
South Africa gave France the start. Lock Lood de Jager was sin-binned in the 12th minute, and two minutes later wing Aaron Grandidier Nkanang went over for the first try. Scrum-half Maxime Lucu converted.
Full-back Theo Attissogbe scored France’s second try in the 23rd minute, and Lucu’s conversion made it 14-0. Hooker Jan-Hendrik Wessels hit back for the Springboks in the 29th minute, with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu converting. Two minutes later, Dupont put a kick in behind and Louis Bielle-Biarrey finished the move. Lucu’s third conversion made it 21-7.
South Africa changed their entire front row after 35 minutes, bringing on Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw. Lucu was then yellow-carded in the 39th minute, so France started the second half a man down.
The red card, and a comeback that nearly came off
Four minutes after the restart, Wiese was sent off. Even so, the second half belonged to the visitors.
Grandidier Nkanang was sin-binned in the 49th minute. A minute later, replacement scrum-half Cobus Reinach scored with his first involvement, and Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s conversion made it 21-14.
France didn’t add a point after the break. Centre Kalvin Gourgues missed a penalty shot that would have given them a three-score cushion, and Dupont had to save a try on his own line in the 65th minute, holding up Pieter-Steph du Toit in the in-goal area.
Replacement prop Regis Montagne was then sin-binned in the 68th minute. Three minutes later, Marx crashed over to make it 21-19. No conversion followed, and France defended the last nine minutes to close it out.
Why it ended 21-19
South Africa had more of almost everything. They had 55% of the ball, made 598 metres to France’s 309, carried 150 times to 112 and offloaded 14 times to six. They won every scrum and every lineout.
France won it with defence and the start. They made 173 tackles, with flanker François Cros making 17 of them, and they scored all 21 points before half-time while South Africa were giving away the cards. The Springboks’ 11 penalties and two cards cost them more than France’s 14 penalties and three yellows cost the home side.
Scoring timeline
| Min | Event | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | Lood de Jager (SA) yellow card | 0-0 |
| 14 | Try: Aaron Grandidier Nkanang (FRA) | 5-0 |
| 15 | Con: Maxime Lucu | 7-0 |
| 23 | Try: Theo Attissogbe (FRA), Con: Lucu | 14-0 |
| 29 | Try: Jan-Hendrik Wessels (SA), Con: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu | 14-7 |
| 31 | Try: Louis Bielle-Biarrey (FRA), Con: Lucu | 21-7 |
| 39 | Maxime Lucu (FRA) yellow card | 21-7 |
| 43 | Jasper Wiese (SA) red card | 21-7 |
| 49 | Aaron Grandidier Nkanang (FRA) yellow card | 21-7 |
| 50 | Try: Cobus Reinach (SA), Con: Feinberg-Mngomezulu | 21-14 |
| 68 | Regis Montagne (FRA) yellow card | 21-14 |
| 71 | Try: Malcolm Marx (SA) | 21-19 |
Match stats
| Stat | France | South Africa |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 45% | 55% |
| Metres made | 309 | 598 |
| Carries | 112 | 150 |
| Passes | 104 | 139 |
| Kicks from hand | 30 | 26 |
| Line breaks | 7 | 8 |
| Offloads | 6 | 14 |
| Defenders beaten | 19 | 33 |
| Tackles | 173 | 141 |
| Missed tackles | 33 | 19 |
| Turnovers won | 6 | 7 |
| Turnovers conceded | 16 | 16 |
| Penalties conceded | 14 | 11 |
| Scrum success | 85.7% | 100% |
| Lineout success | 66.7% | 100% |
| Cards | 3 yellow | 1 yellow, 1 red |
Standout numbers
| Category | France | South Africa |
|---|---|---|
| Most tackles | François Cros, 17 | Damian de Allende, 15 |
| Most metres | Aaron Grandidier Nkanang, 63 | Damian Willemse, 83 |
| Most carries | Grégory Alldritt, 11 | Pieter-Steph du Toit, 18 |
| Most defenders beaten | Mickael Guillard, 6 | Ethan Hooker, 4 |
| Most lineouts won | Florian Verhaeghe, 6 | Ruan Nortje, 5 |
| Most kicks from hand | Antoine Dupont, 21 | Morne van den Berg, 9 |
Discipline: where the penalties came from
France conceded 14 penalties and South Africa 11. The PDF doesn’t split them by type, so scrum penalties can’t be counted separately, but the spread by player shows where France’s problems were. Nine of France’s 14 came from props: Regis Montagne 4, Jean-Baptiste Gros 2, Sipili Falatea 2 and Rodrigue Neti 1. France’s scrum success rate was 85.7%, against South Africa’s 100%.
| Team | Penalties conceded by player |
|---|---|
| France (14) | Montagne 4, Gros 2, Falatea 2, Grandidier Nkanang 1, Lucu 1, Mauvaka 1, Verhaeghe 1, Cros 1, Neti 1 |
| South Africa (11) | Arendse 2, De Allende 2, Hooker 1, Wessels 1, De Jager 1, Nortje 1, Wiese 1, Marx 1, Louw 1 |
Attack in numbers
South Africa gained 4.0 metres per carry and France 2.8. Jesse Kriel was the most efficient carrier on the pitch, at 10.1 metres per carry from eight runs. For France, Louis Bielle-Biarrey averaged 7.3 from seven.
| Attack | France | South Africa |
|---|---|---|
| Line breaks | Dupont 2, Grandidier Nkanang 2, Gourgues 1, Bielle-Biarrey 1, Verhaeghe 1 | Hooker 2, Arendse 1, Kriel 1, Feinberg-Mngomezulu 1, Nortje 1, Kolisi 1, PS du Toit 1 |
| Offloads | Mauvaka 2, Moefana 1, Dupont 1, Verhaeghe 1, Woki 1 | Willemse 2, Kriel 2, Nortje 2, De Allende 1, Feinberg-Mngomezulu 1, Van den Berg 1, De Jager 1, PS du Toit 1, Marx 1, Hanekom 1, De Villiers 1 |
| Most passes | Dupont 60, Lucu 13, Moefana 6 | Van den Berg 42, Reinach 40, Feinberg-Mngomezulu 11 |
| Best metres per carry (4+ carries) | Bielle-Biarrey 7.3, Grandidier Nkanang 6.3, Gourgues 5.1 | Kriel 10.1, Kolisi 8.5, Arendse 7.6 |
Dupont made 60 of France’s 104 passes, which is 58% of the team total.
Defence and breakdown
France made 173 tackles and missed 33, a success rate of 84%. South Africa made 141 and missed 19, a rate of 88%.
| Defence | France | South Africa |
|---|---|---|
| Top tacklers | Cros 17, Moefana 15, Verhaeghe 11, Bielle-Biarrey 10, Gros 10, Capilla 10 | De Allende 15, Feinberg-Mngomezulu 12, Hooker 12, Nortje 11, PS du Toit 11 |
| Turnovers won (6 / 7) | Moefana 2, Bielle-Biarrey 1, Alldritt 1, Montagne 1, Capilla 1 | Van den Berg 2, T du Toit 2, Hooker 1, Wessels 1, PS du Toit 1 |
Set piece and kicking
| Set piece and kicking | France | South Africa |
|---|---|---|
| Scrum success | 85.7% | 100% |
| Lineout success | 66.7% | 100% |
| Lineouts won by player | Verhaeghe 6, Capilla 2, Gros 1, Cros 1, Dupont 1 | Nortje 5, Mostert 4, De Jager 3, Arendse 1, Van den Berg 1 |
| Kicks from hand | Dupont 21, Lucu 5, Attissogbe 1, Bielle-Biarrey 1, Gourgues 1 | Van den Berg 9, Feinberg-Mngomezulu 7, Willemse 4, Reinach 4, Arendse 1 |
| Goal kicking | Lucu 3 from 3 conversions; no penalty goals | Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2 conversions; no penalty goals |
France player stats
| Player | Min | Pts | Carries | Metres | Passes | Offloads | Line breaks | Tackles | Turnovers won | Lineouts won | Pens conceded | Cards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theo Attissogbe | 80 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Aaron Grandidier Nkanang | 69 | 5 | 10 | 63 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Yellow |
| Kalvin Gourgues | 57 | 0 | 7 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Yoram Moefana | 80 | 0 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Louis Bielle-Biarrey | 80 | 5 | 7 | 51 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Antoine Dupont | 80 | 0 | 8 | 33 | 60 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Maxime Lucu | 72 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Yellow |
| Jean-Baptiste Gros | 50 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Peato Mauvaka | 50 | 0 | 6 | 26 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Sipili Falatea | 59 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Florian Verhaeghe | 57 | 0 | 7 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 1 | |
| Mickael Guillard | 50 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| François Cros | 80 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Cameron Woki | 71 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Grégory Alldritt | 50 | 0 | 11 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Maxime Lamothe | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rodrigue Neti | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Regis Montagne | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | Yellow |
| Charles Ollivon | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tom Staniforth | 30 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Esteban Capilla | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| Emilien Gailleton | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Axel Desperes didn’t come on.
South Africa player stats
| Player | Min | Pts | Carries | Metres | Passes | Offloads | Line breaks | Tackles | Turnovers won | Lineouts won | Pens conceded | Cards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damian Willemse | 80 | 0 | 15 | 83 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kurt-Lee Arendse | 80 | 0 | 5 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jesse Kriel | 80 | 0 | 8 | 81 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Damian de Allende | 80 | 0 | 15 | 36 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Ethan Hooker | 76 | 0 | 7 | 47 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu | 71 | 4 | 9 | 32 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Morne van den Berg | 50 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 42 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Gerhard Steenekamp | 35 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jan-Hendrik Wessels | 35 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Thomas du Toit | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lood de Jager | 46 | 0 | 5 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 1 | Yellow |
| Ruan Nortje | 80 | 0 | 11 | 40 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 1 | |
| Siya Kolisi | 57 | 0 | 6 | 51 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Pieter-Steph du Toit | 80 | 0 | 18 | 59 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jasper Wiese | 44 | 0 | 8 | 29 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Red |
| Malcolm Marx | 45 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Ox Nche | 45 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Wilco Louw | 45 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Franco Mostert | 23 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| Cameron Hanekom | 15 | 0 | 7 | 35 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Paul de Villiers | 23 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cobus Reinach | 30 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Manie Libbok | 13 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The teams
France: Theo Attissogbe; Aaron Grandidier Nkanang, Kalvin Gourgues, Yoram Moefana, Louis Bielle-Biarrey; Antoine Dupont, Maxime Lucu; Jean-Baptiste Gros, Peato Mauvaka, Sipili Falatea, Florian Verhaeghe, Mickael Guillard, François Cros, Cameron Woki, Grégory Alldritt.
Replacements: Maxime Lamothe, Rodrigue Neti, Regis Montagne, Charles Ollivon, Tom Staniforth, Esteban Capilla, Axel Desperes (not used), Emilien Gailleton.
South Africa: Damian Willemse; Kurt-Lee Arendse, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Ethan Hooker; Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Morne van den Berg; Gerhard Steenekamp, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Thomas du Toit, Lood de Jager, Ruan Nortje, Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jasper Wiese.
Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Ox Nche, Wilco Louw, Franco Mostert, Cameron Hanekom, Paul de Villiers, Cobus Reinach, Manie Libbok.
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy) · Attendance: 73,000
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