South Africa 10 France 20

The Springboks of South Africa lost 20-10 to France in an error-ridden Test at the Stade de France in Paris.

France led 9-3 at half-time, but former French captain Raphaël Ibañez scored a crucial try in the 75th minute that gave France a 10-point lead with just five minutes remaining in the game.

Les Blues scored just one try in the game, but they relied on the boot of debutant flyhalf François Gelez, who was promoted to the starting fifteen on Friday when Montferrand's Gérald Merceron pulled out of the Test with a hamstring injury.

Gelez kicked four penalties, and Pau centre Damien Traille also came to the party when he kicked a monster 50-metre penalty in the 60th minute of the match to put France back in the lead after South Africa had snuck into the lead after the break with a try from veteran left-wing Pieter Rossouw.

Centres Trevor Halstead and André Snyman did some good work in the build-up to Rossouw's try, which came in the 48th minute, but France weathered the storm before launching their comeback in the final quarter of the match.

It was Rossouw's 20th Test try -- his sixth against France and first since the 1999 World Cup quarter-final against England -- and it gave the Boks some hope after their shocking first-half performance.

The Boks were lucky to be just six points down at the break after committing a series of knock-ons, conceding numerous penalties at scrum-time and over-complication in the backline.  While both teams were guilty of kicking good ball away in the first half, South Africa's woes were compounded with some sloppy handling in crucial situations.

On one occasion in the first half, Western Province winger Breyton Paulse merely had to dot down the ball after a (rare) clever Joost van der Westhuizen grubber turned the French defence behind their own goalline.  Paulse was under pressure from the French defenders, but his pace had taken him past the would-be defenders, only for his hands to let him down.

The Springbok line-out was the only positive feature of the Boks' performance, but that also went awry when John Smit replaced Lukas van Biljon in the last quarter of the game.

Substitutions are normally made to inject fresh legs and an extra dimension to a game, but hooker is such a crucial position that sometimes a substitution does not always have to be made.

Springbok coach Harry Viljoen replaced his entire front row during the match, but it would have made more sense to introduce the talents of loose forward Joe van Niekerk, who could have given the Boks more attacking options when they needed it, a bit earlier.

As it turns out Van Niekerk finally got on to the field with five minutes remaining, but Ibañez had already scored his try by then and it was basically game, set and match.

This win was France's first over the Boks in France since 1992 when France won 29-16 in Paris over Naas Botha's raw and inexperienced side, who were on their first tour since re-joining the international rugby fraternity in August of 1992.

Interestingly, seven players in the French starting fifteen were making their debuts, but one would not have thought so as Gelez, Traille, fullback Clement Poitrenaud, wing Aurélien Rougerie, centre Tony Marsh, No.8 Francis Ntamack, brother of wing-cum-centre Emile, and lock Thibault Privat all put in assured performances on debut.

Man of the match:  Greenhorn French flyhalf François Gelez enjoyed a magnificent debut in the blue French jersey.  His place-kicking was superb (he missed just two shots at goal), but his kicking out of hand and passing game were superb too.  The French front row of Pieter de Villiers, Raphaël Ibañez and Jean-Jacques Crenca were also brilliant and if Harry Viljoen wants to see players getting "go-forward", he can watch the video of the French front-rankers from this Test.

Villain of the match:  The Springboks' performance in the first half.  Whilst their performance in the entire 80 minutes left much to be desired, their showing in the opening stanza was the worst of the day.

Moment of the match:  Ibañez's try in the 75th minute.  Not only was it France's only try of the night, but it stretched their five-point lead to 10 at a time when the Boks could just not afford it.

The Teams:

South Africa:  1 Ollie Le Roux, 2 Lukas Van Biljon, 3 Cobus Visagie, 4 Victor Matfield, 5 Mark Andrews, 6 A.J. Venter, 7 Andre Vos, 8 Bobby Skinstad (c), 9 Joost Van Der Westhuizen, 10 Braam Van Straaten, 11 Breyton Paulse, 12 Trevor Halstead, 13 Andre Snyman, 14 Pieter Rossouw, 15 Conrad Jantjes
Reserves:  John Smit, Willie Meyer, Percy Montgomery, Toks Van Der Linde, Joe Van Niekerk, Andre Venter
Unused:  Neil De Kock

France:  1 Jean-Jacques Crenca, 2 Raphael Ibanez, 3 Pieter De Villiers, 4 David Auradou, 5 Thibault Privat, 6 Olivier Magne, 7 Patrick Tabacco, 8 Francis Ntamack, 9 Fabien Galthie (c), 10 Francois Gelez, 11 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Tony Marsh, 13 Damien Traille, 14 David Bory, 15 Clement Poitreneaud
Reserves:  Serge Betsen Tchoua, Nicolas Jeanjean, Frederic Michalak, Lionel Nallet
Unused:  Yannick Bru, Christophe Dominici, Jean-Baptiste Poux

Attendance:  80000
Referee:  Lewis a.

Points Scorers:

South Africa
Tries:  Rossouw P.W.G. 1
Conv:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 1
Pen K.:  Van Straaten A.J.J. 1

France
Tries:  Ibanez R. 1
Pen K.:  Gelez F. 4, Traille D. 1