They say revenge is dish best served cold. Caldo or Freddo, it was never really in danger of being served up at all on an operatic evening of rugby in Paris. The Springboks were just too good for Les Bleus, even with one man fewer on the field for more than half the game after Lood de Jager was sent off just before the interval.
The overture was as pitch-perfect as it gets for France. Spiky stimulus provided by perceived injustice at the 2023 World Cup quarter-final, a partisan home crowd baying for payback and the unexpected bonus of one man extra for the last 42 minutes of the match. What could possibly go wrong for the reigning Six Nations champions?
The Top 14 is routinely mentioned in dispatches as the most physical league in the world, and France supremo Fabien Galthie had picked the biggest set of forwards at his disposal. Aptly-named 133kg man-mountain Regis Montagne was selected at tight-head prop, with first 142kg Toulousain giant Emmanuel Meafou then 138kg Racing-man Romain Taofifenua anchoring the right side of the scrum behind him.
All three back-rowers would be considered as natural sixes or eights, or even hybrid second rows in an England training camp, and the smallest among them was bagnard stripling Paul Boudehent, at a mere 6ft 4ins and 107kg. All three together in in one unit? You can hear the guffaws as far away as Bagshot. Far, far too big to fit the number seven swarm favoured by England head coach Steve Borthwick.
In the event, there was never any period in the game where French physicality dominated their opponents. Not at scrum, not at maul, not at the breakdown or on the carry. The Springboks made 63 more total metres and 33 more post-contact metres than the home side, with 20% more dominant carries. Their scrum won more penalties and their lineout was 100% perfect, even after caller De Jager departed for good. The Bokke won more breakdown pilfers and the penalty count fell two to one in their favour.
In every physical aspect of the game where France felt they were strong, South Africa proved stronger. For French observers, the clock will inevitably rewind back to the end of the Six Nations and the controversial selection for the tour of New Zealand in July. Galthie had a gilt-edged chance to build on Six Nations success by beating the All Blacks in their own back yard, but the selection of an entire ‘B’ team wasted the opportunity.
The stars only align once in a rugby lifetime but there were only four players in common between the 23-man squad who started the third Test at Waikato Stadium on 19 July and the starting XV which pitched up in Paris to play the Boks. That made it impossible for Galthie and his coaches to pick up the threads where they left off, and all that Six Nations momentum is now spent.
The disconnects in French selection policy were amply highlighted by the cohesion and continuity of South Africa’s. Rassie Erasmus’ calls before and during the game were entirely without sentiment, but all fully justified by what had gone before in the Rugby Championship.
When De Jager departed the field for good, Rassie needed another lineout skipper, and Ruan Nortje had been specifically developed for purpose – even if it meant the sacrifice of the greatest captain in South African history.
“Our captain [Siya Kolisi] in his 100th game being taken off because we had to get Andre [Esterhuizen] on, who can play loose forward and centre depending on whether we have a scrum or a lineout, so a tough call for a captain to go off at half-time,” Erasmus said. “When we said it to him, he just took it on the chin and understood.”
Nortje slid in seamlessly, leading the Springbok lineout to 100% retention on own ball and pressuring the French to take the ball in places where it was less useful: where France won 12 of 15 throws at the front, the Bokke won 10 of 14 towards the mid-back of the line. That makes a huge difference to the success of your attacking schemes.
Another centrepin of South African World Cup success, centre Damian De Allende, was withdrawn only seven minutes after Kolisi.
“He had been playing really well, there was no reason to sub him but with Andre – he could play both in the scrums and in the backline,” Erasmus explained.
Esterhuizen’s double role was pivotal when South Africa hammered the final nail in the French coffin from a driving lineout. In lineout defence, he was sited at inside centre.
On attack, he was the ‘insert’ or ‘plus one’ in the receiver slot.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) November 10, 2025
Andre the Giant starts at receiver, the position usually reserved for the open-side flanker. The quick maul is designed for him to keep the ball as the main engine in the second layer of the drive, and the ball never makes it into Malcom Marx’s hands. It doesn’t need to, because the power of the hybrid replacement is quite sufficient.
Loose-head prop Boan Venter was a factor in one scrum penalty but he was replaced after only half an hour by injury returnee Gerhard Steenekamp, having only contributed one tackle and zero carries in his time on the field. The Bulls prop contributed six tackles and 13 cleanouts [highest on the team] in only 49 minutes.
“Even Boan [Venter] who had been subbed in minute 35 because he must still get used to Test match intensity, but I thought he did really well,” Erasmus said.
“The guys who started probably softened up the opposition a little bit, and the bench came on to finish it.”
The northerner squeezed two penalties out of his immediate opponent Dorian Aldegheri at scrum time and that was crucial to South Africa’s ability to relieve France’s grip on territory.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) November 10, 2025
Erasmus’ decisions are impartial and unsentimental. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed touch from that penalty and was promptly robbed of the ball on the very next sequence of play. SFM may be social media flavour of the month, and he even left the Stade de France wreathed in star du match laurels, but he was not what Rassie needed at the number 10 controls for the final 24 minutes.
“Manie [Libbok] came on and Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] moved to full-back – that worked well – so I thought everyone had a good impact, but that impact comes from the players understanding that it’s a 23-man effort. In our case it’s 34 guys on tour and I think the plans the coaches made at half time made it easier for the guys who came on.”
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) November 10, 2025
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) November 10, 2025
It did not take long for Libbok to stamp his authority on proceedings via the signature use of the cross-kick and the supreme quality of his passing off the left hand. The second instance cost Les Bleus a yellow card on Louis Bielle-Biarrey and arguably could have resulted in a penalty try to their opponents. It was left to Esterhuizen to do the business and convert from the next lineout.
The outcome of South Africa’s selectorial consistency and Rassie’s ruthless impartiality was a 19-0 scoreline in the final quarter, with a penalty count of 7-0 plus the sin-binning of Bielle-Biarrey in those critical final 20 minutes. When push came to shove, Springbok cohesion tightened under pressure while France’s fell apart. All the pieces of Rassie’s bench puzzle fell precisely into place in the 76th minute.
— William Bishop (@RPvids1994) November 10, 2025
Esterhuizen is once again starting as the ‘+1’ at an attacking lineout, and he works the decoy on Pieter-Steph du Toit at the tail, before turning to back-lift for Nortje in the middle as smoothly as any dedicated, dyed-in-the-wool forward. After a couple more phases rolling to the far sideline, Libbok and Feinberg-Mngomezulu are in perfect position to work the short side on the comeback phase, with Manie providing the bullets for Sacha to fire.
The contest between the two best teams in the world became one-sided. South Africa reaffirmed their grip on pole and for now at least, France must be content with the second row of the grid. For Erasmus and his coaching panel, it was a triumph for cohesion, and consistency of selection within an ever-growing group of Springbok prospects.
France meanwhile, paid the price for the disconnect between their selections at the Six Nations and for the tour of New Zealand. A series win in the shaky isles would surely have made that final quarter a lot more interesting. As it was, the final 20 minutes were a brutal welcome to the Rassie-realm in which cohesion is king, and all thoughts of revanche will have to wait for another day.
Cancel 2027… award the cup now😁😁😁
Another 14-man win today vs. a decent Italians side!😮
Could the Top 14 exist without support from the FFR? Could the club scene thrive without the attraction of the international game as ‘the ultimate’? These may be the questions French rugby has to answer…
Then completely threw it out the window in their 2 point win v Arg?
SA are the best side going atm. I wouldn’t award the WC to them yet tho.
I’m not where you are about SA. Post Wellington was v Arg. 2 point win. NZ also dominated in Wellington before things went to crap in the last 15.
And let’s face it, NZ ain’t playing well. Playing England will be a challenge. England “were” on the up I felt. Be a interesting game.
As P points out they weren’t really emrbacing the Tony-ball selection at Eden Park, but hoping to win by ‘old Bok’ methods dating back to 2019/23. Rassie rolled all his chips into the Tony-ball basket at Wellington.
They are a great side atm but not unbeatable by any stretch.
When the heat was on at Eden Park they kept on coming and coming, but NZ held them out and kept the 50 + streak in tact. I felt NZ showed a “real threat” that day and SA came up short.
Aus showed a real threat too. 30+ unanswered points. Do that in a knock-out match and its bye bye.
Yep they are class, but no's 2-9 in the world can produce quality games too.
This new knock-out round at the 27 WC will throw up some anomalies.
OtS, I’m not downplaying the Eden Park win, that was a great game from NZ and should be celebrated.
However, you also have to acknowledge SA changed their back line attack after that moment and kicked on at Wellington and got better thereafter.
The Eden Park loss was the catalyst to make changes, which made them better and they haven’t looked back since.
Of course they have contributed.
But given the circumstances (already listed) that are quite unique among the big nations with the Top 14 predominance, maneuvering is more limited for the coaching staff. Which doesn’t mean that there are no base to act in those circumstances.
There are currently discussions between the FFR and the LNR around the Summer games in the SH, as Galthié is pushing for having more premium players touring.
There are also voices around softening the Top14 a year and a half before the World Cup.
Still, I do not disagree with what’s happening. In a perfect world, the Top 14 is as successful as now AND the French national team has players who can play all 11 games, and even more.
But for now, having a PSDT not playing at all in club rugby and/or being well rested in the Japanese league isn’t possible, with a SA squad being together for almost 4/5 months per year, it’s a huge advantage in test rugby.
On the other hand, club rugby is more at risk.
Argy showed they can be matched, but when there is a real threat from NZ or France this season, they have stood up and destroyed it.
So you don’t believe France contributed to their own demise?
I must have missed the 4 week build up to the SA v France test. I never missed the 4 week world wide media obsession over the Eden Park test tho.
So Razor put zero emphasis on the Wellington test???? He didn’t even want to win.?????
Thats what it sounds like you believe Rassie thought about the Eden Park Test. You’re trying to ignore that test because SA got beaten in the biggest test of the year for them. One they targeted specifically to “beat NZ at Eden Park”
Yep if they had kept 15 on the field it might have been 50!
You need to be in top condition to have a chance to beat a well-oiled 2025 SA team, yes. How is that strange?
It’s as if France were the only ones responsible for losing, when Rassie’s team is a fantastic double RWC champion side.
Well-oiled, it wasn’t the case in Durban against Australia. Or against Italy on their first game of the season 42-24 at the start of July.
That may have been the most important test for NZ fans OtS . . . but I promise you Rassie would have circled FRA in Paris and said “this is our biggest game of the year”.
I think Wellington was their best performance of the year and Paris was probably their 2nd, which is why they saw off the 2nd and 3rd best teams in the world and by some margin.