The Boks went down to France in a game that could have gone either way, and was decided by very fine margins.
Dejected Springbok lock Franco Mostert and his fellow teammates after their Nations Championship loss against France at the Stade de France in Paris on Friday night. Picture: David Winter/Gallo Images
Springbok assistant coach Felix Jones claimed that it was fine margins that decided an exhilarating contest as France upstaged the Boks, earning a nailbiting 21-19 Nations Championship win at the Stade de France in Paris on Friday night.
It was just France’s second win over the Boks in their last 11 meetings, and their first triumph at their country’s main stadium since 2005, after the South Africans had won their last five encounters at the ground, including a one-point win in the World Cup quarterfinals in 2023.
It was thus an emotional night for the hosts and they will be grateful to have ended up on the winning side, in a game of two halves that could have gone either way right up until the final whistle.
All France
In the first half it was all France, with an action packed running game seeing all three of their outside backs, wings Loius Bielle-Biarrey and Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, and fullback Theo Attissogbe, crossing the whitewash for tries.
The Boks responded through a maul try by hooker Jan-Hendrik Wessels, while wing Kurt-Lee Arendse saw one chalked off after he drifted just offside during a lineout move, which left them trailing 21-7 at the break.
But the Boks’ power game, led by their dominant scrum, kicked up a notch in the second half, leading to a strong second 40 from the visitors, with replacement scrumhalf Cobus Reinach dotting down from close range and replacement hooker Malcolm Marx being mauled over, only for replacement flyhalf Manie Libbok to miss the crucial conversion that proved costly in the end.
Both teams also suffered from poor discipline, with Bok lock Lood de Jager and France scrumhalf Maxime Lucu yellow carded for head contact in tackles in the first half.
Early in the second half Bok eighthman Jasper Wiese received his marching orders, with a 20-minute red card for a very poor cleanout at a ruck, while Grandidier-Nkanang was sent to the bin for a deliberate knock on, and replacement prop Regis Montagne as well after repeated scrum infringements.
Fine margins
“I think there were some really fine margins. We had a try disallowed [by Arendse] for probably being a foot or two offside. And then that period inside the 22m, we had multiple scrums where felt we had a lot of dominance but couldn’t get over the line,” explained Jones after the match.
“We were forced to play away from one or two of those scrums. And then on the flip side France scored some brilliant tries. They had a bit of fortune with one coming off a player’s head, so there were very fine margins.”
Jones admitted that the Bok weren’t overawed by the occasion, and that they had expected the physicality and fight shown by the French, and the incredible cauldron of noise in the Stade de France.
“We expected that. We knew it was going to be tight all the way through, and the intensity was sky high. It was just like the previous two or three meetings, so well done to France, they deserved it on the night,” said Jones.
The Boks’ chances of featuring in the main game of the Nations Championship on the Finals Weekend will be decided this weekend, with them facing Ireland and the New Zealand facing England.
But after Wales’ upset win against the All Blacks in Cardiff on Saturday, New Zealand are no longer the big favourites. It will all come down to the round six matches.
“It’s a little bit out of our hands in a certain respect, if New Zealand win their remaining games. All we can do is control what we can, and we know we have a very tough opponent in Ireland (next up). So we will have to regroup quickly and get back on it,” explained Jones.
