mens
nations-championship
The first word France Captain Antoine Dupont’s mouth after the breathless 21-19 victory South Africa at the Stade de France was a succinct tribute. “Tired,” he told TF1 when asked how he felt after the test.
The France captain was awarded Man of the Match for his efforts in the number 10 shirt in Paris, after sharing 80 minutes of rugby with his colleague Maxime Lucu in a game that will be etched in the minds of rugby fans for years to come.
The classic Test match of all time was played under 80,000 chants in Paris, with the Springboks reducing a half-time deficit of 21-7 to 21-19 in the 71st minute, only for both teams to miss crucial shots on goal before the clock hit red.
France received three yellow cards and South Africa one yellow and one red card in 20 minutes, which contributed to the constantly changing dynamics in the Test. Dupont’s first thoughts expressed pride in how his team had come through the tough games.
“You know when you play those guys, they’re really intense for 80 minutes,” he said of South Africa. “It was very, very difficult today with the yellow cards. It was really intense, and we kept the intensity the whole game, and that’s a big thing for us today.”
The 29-year-old was thrust into the number 10 jersey following injuries to four of France’s top playmakers, but ended up playing his usual attacking full-back role for much of the game as team-mate Luca deputized as the first receiver. In defence, Dupont occupied the full-back field, signaling that France had opted for a hybrid system to make the most of the strength of their full-backs.
“We tried to adapt,” he explained. “We only had a week, one day of training, so we tried with Max (Lucu) to have the best possible combination in attack or defense, which I sometimes tried to change. It wasn’t easy, but when we do our job, the whole team, it works.”
France had not beaten South Africa in Paris for 21 years and had won just once in the last 10 meetings between the leading nations before Friday night. At the same venue where another all-time classic between the two rivals took place in 2023 Rugby World Cup quarterfinals, Dupont thanked his fans for voting for the occasion.
“Obviously, when you beat the number one team in the world – they’ve been number one for the last eight years, and it wasn’t for nothing. The crowd was with us today; we felt it from La Marseilles at the start of the game, we felt them throughout the game, and it really helped us throughout the game.”
Meanwhile, Springboks assistant coach Felix Jones said it was a “fine-margin” match, pointing to an offside try in the final minute of the first half and his side’s inability to capitalize on their scrum dominance late in the second half as costly blows for his men.
“We knew it was going to be tight until the end and the intensity was as high as the previous two or three meetings. Well done to France, they deserved it that night,” he said.
“I think some really good margins. We had a try disallowed for being a foot or two offside and then that period inside the 22 with multiple scrums where we felt we had a lot of dominance and couldn’t get over the line because we were forced to play away from one or two of those scrums.
“Then, on the other hand, France scored some brilliant tries – maybe a bit of luck with one player coming off his head. So very good margins.”
With the defeat, South Africa’s place at the top of the Southern Hemisphere pool in the Nations Championship it is no longer safe, with New Zealand still unbeaten ahead of their final Tests against Wales and England. Jones says the team will have to wait and see how far the bonus point loss takes them on Friday, with the date of Ireland next week before the inaugural finals weekend.
“We have to see what happens. In a sense it is out of our hands if New Zealand win the remaining games. All we can do is control what we can and we know we have a very tough opponent in Ireland so we will have to regroup quickly and get back into the game.”