FRA
No.Name
15Maxime Medard, FB
14Teddy Thomas, W
13Mathieu Bastareaud, C
T
12Geoffrey Doumayrou, C
11Damian Penaud, W
10Camille Lopez, FH
9Baptiste Serin, SH
2
3
1Jefferson Poirot, P
2Guilhem Guirado, H
T
3Cedate Gomes Sa, P
4Sebastien Vahaamahina, L
5Yoann Maestri, L
6Wenceslas Lauret, FL
7Arthur Iturria, FL
8Louis Picamoles, N8
Replacements
16Camille Chat, R
17Dany Priso, R
18Rabah Slimani, R
19Paul Gabrillagues, R
20Mathieu Babillot, R
21Antoine Dupont, R
22Anthony Belleau, R
23Gael Fickou, R

*Players currently on the pitch are shown in bold

Game Info

Venue: Stade de France
8:05 PM, November 10, 2018
All CommentaryKey Events

Match Commentary

86'That's all she wrote from Paris, where South Africa may or may not consider themselves fortunate to reclaim winning form. We'll see you next week for the next find of the November Tests.
85'South Africa have stolen a victory they barely deserved, but their dramatic victory is a result of never EVER giving up.
84'Mbongeni Mbonami steals it at the death for South Africa, touching down untouched after a key lineout inside the French 5m line.
83'Willie le Roux's pass to his winger is forward so we are back for a SAF scrum.
82'South Africa deep in France territory under penalty advantage, and Aphiwe Dyantyi touches down.
82'Elton Jantjies has South Africa on the French 5m line.
81'+426-27 Try - Bongi Mbonambi , South Africa
81'+626-29 End of second half
81'+626-29 Conversion - Handre Pollard , South Africa
80'South Africa awarded a penalty in midfield that they can kick to the corner.
77'Tremendous defence from France to force an error from RG Snyman and then find touch deep inside Boks territory. Cheslin Kolbe looks to effect a quick entry inside the Boks' 5m line but it comes to nothing except more pressure on the defence.
77'Substitute on - Paul Gabrillagues , France
77'Player substituted - Sebastien Vahaamahina , France
76'Player substituted - Maxime Medard , France
76'Substitute on - Camille Lopez , France
75'France back deep inside South Africa territory, and the home crowd is beginning to think victory might be their's.
73'Substitute on - Bongi Mbonambi , South Africa
73'Player substituted - Malcolm Marx , South Africa
72'Quick tap-and-go there from Faf de Klerk, but the pass from Willie Le Roux is a way behind Cheslin Kolbe. We can only imagine the thoughts of our own John Goliath as he ponders the lack of game time for less experienced players while front-line stars make errors in basic execution.
70'Springboks looking to play more expansively, but they appear to be doing so with panic even though they're just four points behind on the scoreboard.
67'Magnificent work from Cheslin Kolbe, who stepped inside his defender on the right wing, but he could not get the ball down under pressure from the magnificent French cover defence.
67'Player substituted - Camille Lopez , France
67'Substitute on - Anthony Belleau , France
67'Player substituted - Baptiste Serin , France
67'Substitute on - Antoine Dupont , France
67'Player substituted - Siya Kolisi , South Africa
67'Substitute on - Francois Louw , South Africa
67'26-22 Penalty goal - Baptiste Serin , France
67'Substitute on - Elton Jantjies , South Africa
67'Player substituted - Damian de Allende , South Africa
66'
65'Nigel Owens decides penalty kick only. Announces late but not cynical. "Just a mistiming."
65'Huge boos from the home crowd after Camille Lopez stays down after being hit late by Faf de Klerk.
65'Player substituted - Guilhem Guirado , France
65'Substitute on - Camille Chat , France
64'Gael Fickou going for goal from more than 50 metres, from the right touchline, but he never threatens with his improbable attempt.
63'Jesse Kriel elected to kick behind there after a big bust from Malcolm Marx, but France clear the danger and one wishes -- as might Chester Williams -- that the Springboks were more willing to trust their skills.
63'Player substituted - Steven Kitshoff , South Africa
63'Substitute on - Thomas du Toit , South Africa
61'Nigel Owens has penalised France again, prompting a chorus of boos as he decides the home defence was illegal -- the home defence continuing after the fact.
61'Player substituted - Louis Picamoles , France
61'Substitute on - Mathieu Babillot , France
61'23-22 Penalty goal - Handre Pollard , South Africa
60'Apologies for the delay in commentary due to technical issues. Mathieu Bastareaud scored his first try against South Africa after the Boks failed to field an up-and-under from Camille Lopez. Excellent kick from Lopez, but the Boks must be disappointed wit their inability to defend. South Africa responded almost immediately through through Sibusiso Nkosi and then Handre Pollard reduced the deficit further through a penalty kick from Handre Pollard.
60'Player substituted - Cedate Gomes Sa , France
60'Substitute on - Rabah Slimani , France
60'Player substituted - Frans Malherbe , South Africa
60'Substitute on - Vincent Koch , South Africa
60'Substitute on - Dany Priso , France
60'Player substituted - Jefferson Poirot , France
57'Substitute on - Cheslin Kolbe , South Africa
57'Player substituted - Sbu Nkosi , South Africa
53'Substitute on - Gael Fickou , France
53'Player substituted - Geoffrey Doumayrou , France
53'23-19 Penalty goal - Handre Pollard , South Africa
50'Substitute on - RG Snyman , South Africa
50'Player substituted - Warren Whiteley , South Africa
45'23-16 Conversion - Handre Pollard , South Africa
44'23-14 Try - Sbu Nkosi , South Africa
43'23-9 Conversion - Baptiste Serin , France
42'21-9 Try - Mathieu Bastareaud , France
41'Camille Lopez gets us under way again, and South Africa struggle to clear their lines -- kicking out on the full after passing back inside the 22.
41'Substitute on - Geoffrey Doumayrou , France
41'Player substituted - Gael Fickou , France
41'+316-9 End of first half
40'Springboks missed 18 tackles in the first 45. France missed 0. Therein lies the difference.
40'
40'France dominating possession and territory, but the attack is turned over. South Africa look to counter from behind their line but the created opportunity falls short inside French territory.
40'16-9 Start of second half
39'This has been a game of few chances but France deserve their lead on the scoreboard. The teams have cancelled each other out, but France have dominated both possession and territory enough to be value for their 16-9 advantage.
39'16-9 Conversion - Baptiste Serin , France
37'Guilhem Guirado scores after making the most of defensive uncertainty from a lineout.
37'14-9 Try - Guilhem Guirado , France
36'Player substituted - Geoffrey Doumayrou , France
36'Substitute on - Gael Fickou , France
35'Hande Pollard spills the pill under minimal pressure but the Boks cleat their lines. France in the ascendancy.
34'Camille Lopez executes brilliantly under pressure to land a drop goal to level the scores.
34'9-9 Drop goal - Camille Lopez , France
31'Good period of pressure for France without threatening a linebreak, Camille Lopez kicks being but Aphiwe Dyanthi somehow defuses the threat.
29'The game to the point is notable for nothing so much as the kicking game of scrum-halves Faf de Klerk and Baptiste Serin. Neither kicking game to the point is essentially game-changing.
29'6-9 Penalty goal - Handre Pollard , South Africa
28'Malcolm Marx wins a penalty for South Africa with strong work over the ball at the breakdown.
26'Mathieu Bastareaud involved often as France look to bend the South African defensive line, but the centre is struggling to make an impression.
24'The teams trade kicks before Faf de Klerk finds a good touch in French territory, but South Africa penalised almost immediately for a technical offence.
22'6-6 Penalty goal - Handre Pollard , South Africa
20'South Africa going for goal after Jefferson Poirot penalised for collapsing the first scrummage of the game.
20'
17'Damian Penaud just fails to touch down a grubber kick from Teddy Thomas, but his other winger would have been advised putting the ball through hands as Penaud had a lot of space to attack behind the defensive line.
15'France back deep inside Boks territory after Siya Kolisi penalised for an offence at the breakdown.
14'Basically a solid enough start from both sides as they feel out the opposition.
13'6-3 Penalty goal - Handre Pollard , South Africa
12'6-0 Penalty goal - Baptiste Serin , France
11'France making the running through the boot of Baptiste Serin but South Africa awarded a penalty almost immediately from the kick off.
7'France looking confident with ball in hand in the opening stanza, willing to go wide from broken play. They get another penalty also after the Boks are pinged. Damian Penaud looking good and powerful on the left wing.
7'3-0 Penalty goal - Baptiste Serin , France
5'France kicking for goal after Handre Pollard caught offside in the defensive line.
4'Excellent counterattack from France, for whom Camille Lopez's crosskick just evades Damian Penaud in space on the left wing.
2'Solid structured start in the opening minutes from South Africa.
1'We're under way through Handre Pollard, who kicks deep. Camile Lopez kicks back to touch on the 10m line.
1'Particularly passionate rendition of La Marseillaise. And we're about ready.
1'The teams have run out into the atmospheric cauldron that is Stade de France, and we have the anthems.
1'
1'
1'Hello and welcome to our Live Text Commentary of the Test between France and South Africa at Stade de France.

France are making their first appearance since they were swept 3-0 by the All Blacks in New Zealand, but they were much better than the comfortable margin suggested as the hosts certainly benefitted from some contentious decisions -- particularly in the first two fixtures.

Louis Picamoles is making his first Test start in almost a year for France, having made a fine start to the season for Montpellier in the Top 14. Centre Damian Penaud will make his first Test appearance on the wing, while Camille Lopez returns from injury to partner Baptiste Serin in the halves.

The Springboks headed to Paris having lost two in a row -- against New Zealand and England -- but knowing the could have (should have) won both. They certainly had possession, territory and chances enough in both fixtures to win them twice over but they paid the price for poor execution and decision-making.

The Boks are missing Eben Etzebeth this week, after he failed to recover from a foot injury sustained at Twickenham, but his replacement, Franco Mostert, has been one of the tourists' best this season. Willie le Roux and Faf de Klerk are also reinstated to the starting line-up, which is arguably the Boks' best available.

Read our pre-match preview and our World Rugby Power Ranking of the best Test spines this November.

Complete your pre-match briefing with this exclusive interview with Springboks legend Chester Williams, who told our Cape Town-based John Goliath that South Africa must be "brave" and a lot more clinical against the big teams such as France if they want to win the Rugby World Cup next year.
1'0-0 Start of first half