France clinch nail-biting win against Springboks: Five takeaways

Referee Andrea Piardi dished out four yellows and a 20-minute red card, but failed to reward scrum dominance at a crucial stage. France held on for a scintillating 21-19 win against the Springboks in their fifth-round Nations Championship match in Paris on Friday night. Despite a 20-minute red card, the Springboks fought back from 21-7 down at half-time. But they will rue a missed Manie Libbok conversion and unrewarded scrum dominance at a crucial point. Here are five takeaways. Springboks fight back, scrums unrewarded As they did last year, the Springboks had to play catch-up early on. They conceded two tries while Lood de Jager was off the field (dangerous tackle), leaving them two scores behind until the 71st minute. Fans would have felt aggrieved after several Springbok scrums in front of the French try line went unrewarded in the final quarter. Referee Andrea Piardi repeatedly awarded the Springboks penalties when France collapsed the scrum, while warning the French. France were eventually let off the hook when they collapsed a scrum; the Springboks were told to use the ball and Pieter-Steph du Toit was held up over the line. Piardi only later showed France prop Regis Montagne a yellow card for repeated infringements, too little, too late. France received three yellow cards for poor discipline during the game. Jasper Wiese’s 20-minute red card Springbok eighthman Jasper Wiese deservedly received a 20-minute red card for a dangerous cleanout on France’s Kalvin Gourges after 43 minutes. With Wiese tucking his shoulder, there was little to no mitigation in the disciplinary decision. The Boks did not suffer a numerical disadvantage for the full 20 minutes, as France’s Theo Attissogbe was also sent to the sin bin. But it meant inside centre Damian de Allende had to pack down at flank in the scrums, while flanker Paul de Villiers moved to No 8. Dupont and Lucu switch In the wake of an injury crisis at No 10, Fabien Galthie surprised many by selecting captain Antoine Dupont at flyhalf after he had played there only for his club, Toulouse, and that was two years ago. Dupont would link with scrumhalf Maxime Lucu, and it was expected they would interchange as the game went on. But Dupont predominantly played scrumhalf, generally orchestrating proceedings – including a kick-through for Louis Bielle-Biarrey’s try – while Lucu acted as second receiver and did most of the kicking on the night. Déjà vu for Lood de Jager When the Springboks played France at the same venue last November, they were dealt a blow when Lood de Jager was handed a red card for a no-arms tackle in the second half. They went on to clinch a 32-17 win. This time, De Jager received a yellow card for a high tackle on Lucu, which had enough mitigation to remain yellow, in the first half. France scored their first two tries through Aaron Grandidier Nkanang and Theo Attissogbe while he was off. Rassie switches out the front row Shortly before the game, head coach Rassie Erasmus decided to switch out the front rows, with Gerhard Steenekamp, Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Thomas du Toit starting, and Ox Nché, Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw moving to the bench. The tactic may or may not have affected the game, as the first set of front-rowers enjoyed the same scrum dominance as their replacements did after the 35-minute substitutions. There was never a time France had the better in the set-piece.