France hold off South Africa 21-19 in Paris to top the Nations Championship table
France beat South Africa 21-19 at the Stade de France in Paris, ending a run of five straight defeats to the Springboks, as South Africa's team are known. The score looked comfortable for France for long periods. It did not stay that way.
France led 21-7 at half-time. Their tries came from Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, Theo Attissogbe and Louis Bielle-Biarrey, and Lucu kicked three conversions. A conversion is the kick taken after a try, worth two extra points if it goes over.
The second half changed shape early. South Africa number eight Jasper Wiese was shown a red card for a tucked-shoulder charge, a dangerous type of contact in which a player drives into an opponent with his arm tucked in. A red card of this kind means a player is off the field for 20 minutes, so his side played a man short for that period. BBC Sport reported the sending-off.
South Africa fought back. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Cobus Reinach and Malcolm Marx scored their tries, and Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicked two conversions. The closest moment came after Marx's try. Converting it would have tied the match at 21-21, but Manie Libbok missed the kick, and France held on.
Antoine Dupont, the France captain, was named player of the match. Dupont's side have now beaten South Africa after a long wait, and the win moves them to the top of the Nations Championship standings. The Nations Championship is the international competition in which teams collect points across a set of matches, and France are now six points clear at the top after this result.
That gap matters because the top of the table will decide who meets in the final. The Nations Championship final is scheduled for Allianz Stadium on 29 November. France will go into it with a points cushion, but there are still matches to play, and nothing is settled until the table is final.
For South Africa, the result stings. They scored three tries, as France did, and they were still behind at the end. Losing a player for 20 minutes early in the second half made a close finish harder to win, and the missed conversion left them one score short.
For France, it is a result that answers a question that had been building. They had not beaten South Africa in five meetings before this match, and they did it with a final score that had to be defended. Their captain was the one who stood out.
