South Africa overpower France once more and deepen post-World Cup scars

Picture the scene. It’s an autumnal Monday in Paris, the morning after a national nightmare at the Stade de France. The copies of the daily sports newspaper, L’Equipe, stacked on newsstands at Métro stations and laid out across the tables at cafés, all bearing the same apocalyptic front page: ‘A Pleurer’. To cry. Collective disbelief that France, the host nation, had been knocked out of their own tournament by the slimmest of margins, a 28-29 defeat against South Africa.

France‘s head coach, Fabien Galthie, reflected weeks later: “Having spoken to the leaders, who I have caught up with over the phone after the tournament, I think this scar will stay with us for life.”

The fact that the first half of that quarter-final is widely viewed as one of the greatest halves we have ever seen was little solace for a disconsolate French squad, but it truly was extraordinary. Maybe it actually was the greatest. You had the world’s best player Antoine Dupont, hindered by a fractured cheekbone from the pool game against Namibia and donning an unfamiliar scrum cap, catching South Africa cold with a quick tapped penalty to create a try for Paeto Mauvaka, the France hooker tearing around the pitch. 

The moment after that try proved to be seismic; Cheslin Kolbe bursting off his line to charge down Thomas Ramos’ conversion from the touchline. Two points missed, in a game ultimately settled by one. 

No knockout match in Rugby World Cup history had seen a first half with six tries scored until that night in Paris. We have not even mentioned yet the flex by Damian Willemse, calling for a scrum after marking a kick inside his own 22. It was an intoxicating 40 minutes, a gift from the rugby universe to balance out those drab 6-3 kickfests we had suffered through in the past. And they then had to play the second half.

Back to the outcome, post-match there was an understandable bitterness, with Dupont questioning whether referee Ben O’Keefe “was up to the challenge”. Dupont’s ire seemed to focus on two incidents in particular: a clearout by Pieter-Steph du Toit to the head of Jonathan Danty, and a potential deliberate knock-on by Eben Etzebeth, going for an interception with France metres from the try line. 

Tally up all of those grievances, the pain of that night, and no wonder the talking point all week has been about France having their revenge. Danty, missing on Saturday through injury, was asked about Du Toit in an interview at the end of last year. “Having a drink with Pieter-Steph du Toit in 10 years? No way.”

The smart play by France might be to keep a lid on those emotions, not to over-react, remain calm and focused on the job at hand with valuable ranking points ahead of the imminent Rugby World Cup 2027 draw available (being ranked in the top six when the draw is made should mean a more favourable pool). But where is the fun in that for the rest of us? Maxime Lucu, speaking recently, got the memo. “For us, the French people, it’s really stuck with us. It was our World Cup and they came and stole it off us. It was such a great game.”

France faced South Africa in that quarter-final with a half-fit Dupont and no Romain Ntamack, his elite half-back partner for club and country. For this Saturday they had Ntamack but no Dupont, still on the road to recovery from his ruptured ACL back in the Six Nations.

Picking out this opportunity for French vengeance as the game of the autumn was an easy exercise. You have two giants of the game with the two largest packs of forwards, with France’s 22-stone lock Emmanuel Meafou making his counterpart Eben Etzebeth seem svelte. Add to that anguish by dropping in some spice, with Galthie shutting down media access to France’s training sessions over fears that the Springboks would spy on France’s preparations, given the South Africa Under-20 side was also training at Marcoussis ahead of a game against their French counterparts, and the build-up was extremely enjoyable. 

And that was all before the teams were named, with France mimicking England’s tactic from the previous week against Australia by starting their reserve props and saving their better scrummagers for later on in the second half. The prospect of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, the young Springbok fly-half with the world at his feet, playing in the most intense atmosphere of his career to date. South Africa being without arguably the best prop in the world in Ox Nche.

A fixture littered with intriguing subplots, before even taking into account what a ferocious cauldron the Stade de France can be when the crowd believe in this French side. “Like a pressure cooker,” as the veteran scrum-half Cobus Reinach put it this week. “The emotion is going to be there, and the French with emotion are dangerous.” 

Two years ago, in the same stadium, South Africa displayed a masterclass in composure, improbably winning three knockout games in a row by a single point to claim their second consecutive World Cup. So, losing their second-row Lood de Jager to a first-half red card – a rare straight red card no less, not the new 20-minute version, for a hit on Thomas Ramos – and the prospect of finding a way to win in the Parisian furnace while a player down? No problem. Seven of the starting backline on Saturday night were back from the one-point win over France two years ago. The odd man out, Feinberg-Mngomezulu, fittingly scored the final try to finish things off.

A Damian Penaud double in the first half for a 14-6 lead had given France hope, but you need more than that against the Springboks. South Africa now hold the most extraordinary psychological advantage over France; nine wins out of the last 10. No fine margins this time, however. Just a second-half hammering. This defeat may actually hurt less, because ultimately France realised as the game wore on that they could not live in the second half with the power of South Africa's pack or the pace of their backs. No balm here for 2023.

Only more tears.

Photo by Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images