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Brilliant: France skipper Thierry Dusautoir
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- Min-by-min: How France won
- Photos
- SA anthem fury
France lived up to their reputation as the giant-killers of world rugby with a deserved 20-13 win over South Africa in Toulouse on Friday.
Beaten at scrum-time and at the breakdown, matched in the line-outs and in the battle of the boot, the Springboks were a step behind their hosts from the word go.
Before the game, the French promised that they would match the Boks for physicality and they did just that. A pumped-up French pack put on an absolutely ferocious display - constantly denying the world champions any opportunity to gain any sort of momentum.
The French would have been bitterly disappointed when they trailed 13-11 at the break after having enjoyed the better of the first half. South Africa's luck would change in the second half however as two yellow cards and blustery wind contributed to a scoreless second period for the tourists.
A number of eyebrows were raised in France when the Boks arrived just 48 hours prior to kick-off. Whether their late arrival played a part in their error-riddled performance is a matter of debate, but what is clear is that, on a slippery surface, South Africa made far more errors they we had become used to during the Tri-Nations.
But let's take nothing away from the Tricolors, who stepped up to the plate and produced and near faultless display. Despite the Springboks' credentials, this was no fluke as Marc Lièvremont's side lived up to the expectations created by their victory in New Zealand in June.
Julien Dupuy's early penalty gave France the lead as the hosts kept the world champions under constant pressure. Three times in the first fifteen minutes South Africa were robbed of the ball at the ruck and the team in blue were doing a good job of keeping possession.
But you only need to give John Smit's team half a chance and they will put points on the board. First Morné Steyn levelled the scores with a yet another fabulous kick before he put his side ahead with a neat drop.
When Smit latched onto a wayward line-out throw from local hooker William Servat to barge over from short range, South Africa took an ten-point lead with the conversion from Steyn.
Two mistakes had cost France dearly, but it took less than a minute for Les Bleus to reply.
When the Boks fluffed the restart the French midfield turned on the gas. With the Bok defence stretched to the limit, Yann David found a gap, a brilliant tap-on from Francois Trinh-Duc gave Vincent Clerc the half-second he needed to sneak into the corner.
Things started to come apart at the seems for South Africa when Steyn was shown yellow on the stroke of half time and Dupuy narrowed the gap to two points.
Soon after the teams swapped sides Dupuy put France ahead when the Bok scrum was destroyed under their own posts. The wind was at France's back, both literally and figuratively.
South African never realistically looked like scoring in the second period and when Ryan Kankowski, who had a disappointing game in general, was shown a yellow for killing the ball near his own try line, the writing was on the wall.
Replacement scrum-half Morgan Parra missed the penalty but was on target a few minutes later to secure to win for the hosts.
Man of the match: France skipper Thierry Dusautoir was awesome. A terror at the breakdown, the Toulouse flank led his team with all the gusto that one could ask for.
Moment of the match: With France trailing on the half-hour mark, one might have had the feeling it wasn't going to be Les Blues' night, but
Vincent Clerc's try seemed to give the hosts the belief that they could win.
Villain of the match:Whoever that rasta was who murdered the South African anthem. Please, please never let him get close to a microphone ever again.
The Scorers
For France:
Try: Clerc
Pens: Dupuy 4, Parra
For South Africa:
Try:Smit
Con:Steyn
Pen:Steyn
Drop:Steyn
Yellow cards: Steyn ( SA - 40th min - foul play); Kankowski (SA - 68th min - professional foul)
France: 15 Damien Traille, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Yann David, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Julien Dupuy, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Imanol Harinordoquy, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Romain Millo-Chluski, 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Fabien Barcella.
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Sylvain Marconnet, 18 Sébastien Chabal, 19 Julien Bonnaire, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 David Marty, 22 Maxime Médard.
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Adi Jacobs, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Ryan Kankowski, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Andries Bekker, 20 Danie Rossouw, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Wynand Olivier.
Venue: Stadium de Toulouse
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland), James Jones (Wales)
Television match officials: Graham Hughes (England)
Assessor: Steve Hilditch (Ireland)
By Ross Hastie
Comments
BWJC says...
bit pointless all these arguements about 'oh we won this 2 years ago, we're the current champions of whatever' - you're talking about a match that happened last week and the fact is the French won it
End of the day, there are only 4 teams capable of winning the world cup, Australia, SAfrica, England and France. New Zealand will continue to choke it especially on home soil, I really hope they come up against France there!
Posted 13:33 16th November 2009
Maxime says...
i'm french and the south africa anthem is so beautiful usually... this time was terrible....very sorry about that
i'll add that i think france deserved to win this time. and no worries, you're still the world champion. but french people are just happy if we beat new zealand, south africa, australia and england (i think england is the worst). so friday was an awesome day for the french. and like you said we just beat the south africa and the new zealand only one time this year.
at last, we always are somewhere that nobody expects us to be, we can create and suprise.and when we play well (to rarely for me) we can be the best but we need to be scared for that (french people were so scared against this team). and i love that, and that's why we are scary. like the new zealand during the world championships lol.
Posted 20:38 15th November 2009
homergriffin says...
beninuk - that's beyond the point, can't argue Ireland are second rate team with the overwhelming evidence against that fact.
Posted 14:30 15th November 2009
catchyname says...
@beninuk -
trinats made a fair and unbiased comment, simply speaking realistically.
Rugby is still a growing game in nations like france, ireland and agrentina, while tri nations and england sides have well established teams for decades, and i can see one the three mentioned teams winning the nxt rwc.
SA have achieved a lot the last yr or two, but they didnt play like champions, they were bullied, beaten and embarrassed in every aspect of the game, and after the autumn tests, will go back down to the southern hemisphere not as world champions, but with their tails between their legs, leaving you to wonder which is really the second rate country vs country competition.
Posted 16:30 14th November 2009
beninuk says...
@ homergriffin - how many world cups does Ireland have? Or how many World Cup finals have Ireland appeared in?
Trinats is biased, but at least they have won something other than the world's second rate country vs country competition.
Posted 14:12 14th November 2009
homergriffin says...
ruditheman, clear you possess a total lack of knowledge on the game outside SA in claiming Ireland are a 'poor team'.
Let me inform you on a few of the stats of recent years. Ireland are the current grand slam winning champions, current Churchill Cup champions, possess the current European Cup holders Leinster, possess the current Celtic League champions Munster. Continuing the trend of provincial level rugby Ireland as a rugby nation have won the European Cup 3 out of the last 4 years.
South Africa lost the in Ireland the last two times in recent years they played in Ireland. SA can't beat a club team, Leicester, let alone a 'poor team' like Ireland in recent years. Some advice, think before you decide to write anything down, you won't sound so clueless next time.
Posted 13:09 14th November 2009
nikid40 says...
John Smit maybe the captain but i'm pretty sure he is also coaching the team, PDV is just a publicity stunt. Last year they played PDV's vision of fast rugby and came last in the Tri-nations. This year, it's back to a Jake White like style and i think the Boks might just be playing like the senior players feel they should be and ignoring PDV.
The Boks are a quality team but they really missed Jean de Villiers, Spies, Smith and Steyn. Their replacements did not fire (think Jacobs and Kankowski) and it really effected their continuity. All credit to France, they came out brutal (bloodbins to Matfield and Botha in the first 10 min) and sustained the intensity.
France had an up and down year but this is the start of a new international season for them. Looking good for the six nations and developing well for RWC2011.
Posted 11:40 14th November 2009
Trinats says...
Congrats to the French team that showed up to play rugby, you cost me a small fortune though.
Sa you will have your work cut out against Ireland and Italy, France only finished third in the 6 nations.
I have had to listen to my Brother-in-law whinge all day in (typical bok fashion) about the reasons why you lost, the ref, the team changes, the weather, the number of blades of grass on the field !!!! . Get over it you lost because you were beaten by a better team on the day.
I am also sick of the "world Champs" coming up this year. Last year and the year before there wasn't a mention of it, because you finished BOTTOM of the tri-nations, but because you won a couple of games this year against developing teams you're world champs again. Your media is as bad as the english soccer media. Here's a news flash....you're not number 1 in the rankings, and by Dec you could be number 4 !!!!
Posted 11:14 14th November 2009
ingwe says...
Question 1 Has South Africa ever been beaten in a test match by a better team or has it always been the ref's fault
Question 2 Has there ever been such a good rugby team with such a bad coach, PdV the clock is ticking
Posted 09:11 14th November 2009
Beninuk says...
WillieJohn - that line that the Springboks are the dirtiest is getting boring now. All sides have incidents of dirty play even yours.
What Southern Hemisphere team has beaten:
All Blacks x3
Australia x2
A combined team x2 (Lions)
All in the same year - the French beat the All Blacks once and everyone talks about it for ages.
Consistancy makes good teams,not a couple of wins a year.
Posted 08:28 14th November 2009
WillieJohn says...
The Boks display was a mixture of poor errors and cheap shots. They are surely the dirtiest team in word rugby.
Posted 07:18 14th November 2009
Torr says...
Man for man, the French had more grunt. Kankowski had a shocker with all the knock ons, Adi Jacobs, as hard as he tried, is just too small in a physical game. PDV, the front row is chopping!!!!!!!! It's not the ref!! 1,2 & 3 are specialist positions, it's not rocket science. Since when is a SA scrum satisfied with "holding our own" in the scrums, we have to dominate set pieces. It's coaching 101.
Posted 07:01 14th November 2009
Solitude says...
Strangely enough, most of our South Africans predicted that we are going to lose this game.
Well played France!
I have a feeling that South Africa has reached its peak and is now going to come back to earth. The thing is I never really though that we were that great. We had good tactics that worked, but we offer nothing else real. Now that the rest of the world has studied our tactics we are sitting ducks.
I am annoyed that our team plays so dirty. Two yellow cards and just general foul play. Our team will be so much better if we get rid of that! We will gain a lot more respect too if we can play a clean game.
Congrats France! You were the better team on the day.
Posted 06:23 14th November 2009
Greencor says...
catchyname says? what a lot of rubish. Do you want to make a name for yourself?
You must be Irish or something like that.... About the Boks. They're still the best in the world, but you could see that they were tired and overplayed. Did France played the All Blacks three times this year, British Lions three times, Australia three times? By the way the three best outfits in the world. Finished off the Curry cup. I think The France brutes was into the ground halfway through this ordeal, so please give the blokes some slack. What is it to loose in France on a Friday night agains a pack of Bulldogs, who can not actualy play the game, because if they could they would have win further. Well done lads, You were good and brave and I am proud to be a South African..
Posted 05:55 14th November 2009
Stellenbosched says...
The French played very well and deserved to win. I repeat, this Bok side has had perhaps the best year ever in Springbok history and they are tired. ABenzed, go back to watching soccer, because your comments show you know nothing about rugby. The results of 100 years show just how dominant NZ and the Boks have consistently been against NH sides. Catchyname, you should apply for a top position at the IRB. They seem to favour third rate Europeans with your world view.
Posted 05:42 14th November 2009
LeinsterDude says...
Neef, the last time Ireland played the Boks was in November 2006 in Dublin, and the score that day was Ireland 32-15 South Africa. O'Gara was indeed playing, however I doubt there was one incident that anyone could point to that would be regarded as foul play from either side that day. It was good game of rugby played with intensity by both sides.
I guess you're thinking of the game back in 2004 when the Boks were on a Grand Slam tour as 3n's champions and Ireland won 17-12. In that game O'Gara scored a try because of a defensive lapse by the Boks on their own line. Ireland played to the whistle, that's not cheating, so maybe you should just accept that's how it goes sometimes and get over it? As I recollect nobody forced the Boks to butcher the few scoring chances that came their way that day, nor did any Irish players actions make them drop passes or make poor decisions during play. Ireland were slighty better on the day, as the Boks were twice earlier that year at home in June.
Maybe that's how it will go again in a few weeks time, maybe not. We'll see how it goes. This Boks team have achieved a hell of a lot, nothing can ever change that. But the future is not yet written.
Enjoy the rugby! And catchyname? There's no need for silly namecalling.
Posted 04:23 14th November 2009
catchyname says...
i stand by my comment,SA have discipline problems, on several occasions though out this game boks players used dirty tactics, late tackles, foot trips and what not, because they couldnt live with the french.
I think habana will be cited for his brave act of kicking the frenchman on the ground, and miss the game vs ireland. SA have yet to win a game in the NH as champs, losing two out of two already, and its looking good for them.
Posted 04:11 14th November 2009
isabelle713 says...
Allez Les Bleus, L'm so excited for the future of the team Lievremont is building and about time they started to show their potential. Can't wait for the next two tests.
Posted 03:06 14th November 2009
Neef says...
Hey catchyname, go away.
At least we don't have to cheat for our wins like the last time the Boks played Ireland.
Congrats to France. In my prediction of the game I said that Kankowski was too lightweight, Kirchner may be safe, but lacks vision and presence, Adi Jacobs was just nowhere and his so-so tackling only proved his favoring of his shoulder. Poor Jacques had his hands full gaurding two channels.
AS to Ireland: I predict PDV will yet again have to admit his faves aren't up to scratch and this time the team choice will reflect that.
Well done again to France. To all the northern hemisphere crybabies: we are physical, but we play within the rules and we can take it as always. Never does a SA side complain about rough play.
But we do remember Ireland's cheating and that O'Gara try that gifted themn a win last time. And they wil not do it again.
Posted 00:24 14th November 2009
Wallaroo says...
catchyaname you must be either Irish or plain stupid.
Posted 00:12 14th November 2009