Springboks' boost ahead of tough French exam: They haven't lost there in almost 10 years

Following an agonising loss to Ireland last week, the Springboks' next assignment on their end-of-year tour won't allow much respite as they face a burgeoning, exciting French side in Marseille on Saturday.

Next year's hosts of the Rugby World Cup have turned into a formidable combination over the past few years and will fancy their chances of toppling the defending champions, who are dogged by question marks over their goal-kicking and lack of ruthlessness on attack. 

Yet, if history does indeed count for anything in the Boks' minds, they'll find some comfort in the fact that they've won all three of their last Tests in France stretching back almost a decade, two of them in years where they were far more vulnerable and perhaps even underpowered than now.

News24 Sport takes a look at those tussles.

FRANCE 10-19 SPRINBOKS, 2013 - PARIS

While this scoreline looked fairly comfortable, this was a flat way for Heyneke Meyer's charges to end a stellar season.

Indeed, they would only lose twice in 13 starts - both times against an All Black team in their prime under Steve Hansen - and ended the year as the most prolific attacking team at Test level.

That incisiveness looked set to continue when JP Pietersen took just over a minute to open the scoring from a charge-down.

South Africa then took their foot of the pedal a bit as a feisty French combination tried to hang on on a Stade de France pitch that arguably wasn't fit for an occasion of the magnitude.

Jaque Fourie had a try chalked off after a TMO review for a knock-on, but the supreme goal-kicking form of Morne Steyn meant the Boks were never in real trouble.

They could've taken advantage of a French yellow card, only to have that undermined by Francois Louw's own silly sanctioning