PARIS :South Africa showed all their world champions resilience, storming back from 14-6 down and the first-half sending-off of lock Lood de Jager to crush France 32-17 in a bruising Autumn international on Saturday.
Down a man for the entire second half, the Springboks absorbed early pressure before overwhelming Les Bleus through sheer physicality and composure, silencing a raucous Stade de France crowd expecting revenge for France’s World Cup heartbreak.
Two years after their agonising 29-28 World Cup quarter-final loss to the Springboks on home soil, Les Bleus looked eager to make amends even without their injured captain Antoine Dupont.
But France, now on a four-match losing streak, cracked under pressure as their discipline disintegrated despite the Springboks being reduced to 14 men on the stroke of halftime.
"The credit goes to the whole team," South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus told a press conference. "Some say they're getting old. They're getting wiser, calmer."
His France counterpart Fabien Galthie rued his team's missed opportunities.
"Around the 60th minute we had three clear chances where we should have scored, then we conceded a series of penalties, and we were forced to defend our line until the yellow card and the try," he said.
France looked irresistible early on as winger Damian Penaud scored twice to become his country’s all-time leading try scorer with 40, surpassing Serge Blanco’s long-standing record.
RECKLESS INFRINGEMENTS
A succession of reckless infringements and a costly yellow card, however, handed the initiative to the Springboks who punished every mistake in ruthless fashion.
South Africa fought back with tries from Cobus Reinach, Andre Esterhuizen, Grant Williams and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who
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