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Autumn Nations Series

Ex-France star's brutal verdict on Galthie compared to 'genius' Erasmus

Josh Raisey

173 days ago

France's head coach Fabien Galthie looks on ahead of the Autumn Nations Series international rugby union test match between France and South Africa at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris' suburb, on November 8, 2025. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)

Former France centre Denis Charvet has held nothing back when comparing Fabien Galthie to his South African counterpart Rassie Erasmus, saying “Erasmus plays chess, Galthié played checkers.”

The comments have come off the back of France’s 32-17 defeat to the world champions at the Stade de France on Saturday in their first meeting since their World Cup quarter-final two years ago.

The match was billed as arguably the contest of the Quilter Nations Series, and appeared to be delivering on that promise in the first half. However, Les Bleus went out with a whimper in the second 40, appearing tired and tactically bankrupt as the visitors piled on the points despite being down to 14 players following Lood de Jager’s red card shortly before half time.

It is that second-half performance that has left Charvet no choice but to assess the performance of his compatriots as a humiliation.

From swapping his loosehead props Boan Venter and Gerhard Steenekamp after 30 minutes, taking off his captain Siya Kolisi at half time in his 100th appearance, or bringing on Andre Esterhuizen in the back-row for the final 30 minutes, Erasmus was not afraid to make some huge calls in Paris, and they all paid off, with Charvet branding him a “genius”.

Points Flow Chart

South Africa win +15

Time in lead

Mins in lead

76%

% Of Game In Lead

21%

Possession Last 10 min

91%

Points Last 10 min

“The way the match unfolded makes it seem like we put up a good fight,” Charvet said on RMC’s Super Moscato Show. “But when you analyse it in cold blood, you realise the thrashing we got. They humiliated us, crushed us.

“In the first half, one thing that struck me was the collisions. Every time we were pushed back, we were blown apart by tackles that were destructive. So you can’t say you dominated a team when they kept pushing you back and you couldn’t make any difference with the ball in hand.

“When you’re a player and you come off a match like that, you’re exhausted and you don’t have the clarity to recognise (you’ve been thrashed). I think they’re going to review the match on video and it’s going to be… A thrashing and a drubbing? I think that’s what Fabien Galthié is going to say.

“Erasmus plays chess, Galthié played checkers. Erasmus is always one step ahead, it’s incredible. What Erasmus does needs to be talked about, we need to focus on this man. For me, he’s a genius. He brings solutions to a group and a team in a way that few managers have been able to do.”

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Comments

19 Comments

AP 170 days ago

Erasmus is a great coach with a great player pool. His real test would be to coach France, Fiji, Ireland England etc. Does any other rugby nation possess the player depth of South Africa right now? Even France with the most financially successful domestic league can't produce the players it seems.

CR 171 days ago

I think France probably overestimated themselves a fair bit. The whole Ben O Keefe fake propaganda train was in full swing. They thought they were going to roll up and smash the Boks. Their arrogance was unprecedented. Saying that I hope they realise that they lost to one of the greatest teams of all time and that they can still beat teams like NZ etc. France is still a quality team, they can still be a factor at the 2027 RWC.

CM 173 days ago

There is lots of emotion coming from both camps, people need to remember this was France’s first test of their season. They’ve not yet had the time that South Africa have, to iron out kinks in their game. I’ve never put huge stock in either the June internationals or Autumn internationals for these reasons, but ay, ignorance is bliss aint it?

Richard 173 days ago

It wasn’t France's first game, they traveled to New Zealand and lost the series. That was France losing to the All Blacks.

SB 173 days ago

The physicality around the rucks from South Africa was brilliant.

France had their chances in the first part of the second half to kill the game but inaccuracies cost them. Then the last 20 minutes it was domination.

Rassie obviously coached a great game but in regards to Galthie, a coach is also only as good as the players who he has available to him.

With the amount of injuries and lack of preparation time with it being the first game in November compared to the Springboks who have been together for many months this year, it was always going to be tough.

Hellhound 172 days ago

It was a game that was penned in for a long time. France had their chance to prepare for this game and they did not. They could've taken their best to NZ, but they did not. A week before the Boks game, they throw together a very good team, and expect to win. They hap ample and plenty of time to prepare, but as usual the French does not take anything serious. That is why their only trophy ever will be the 6 Nations trophy. They just aren't good enough mentally or physically to match up to the Boks. This French team would end 3rd or 4th of they should play the 6N now.

DP 173 days ago

This is precisely what I saw that first half:

Every time we were pushed back, we were blown apart by tackles that were destructive. So you can’t say you dominated a team when they kept pushing you back and you couldn’t make any difference with the ball in hand.

Boks may have been behind at half time but they looked very comfortable out there.

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