THE Nations Championship clash between Six Nations titleholders France and world champions South Africa in Paris on Friday night was a humdinger, and the 21-19 French victory put them in pole position to be the northern hemisphere finalists.
The victory, which ended a run of five losses to South Africa, was notable for an imperious display by Antoine Dupont. His revolving 9-10 partnership with fellow scrum-half Maxime Lucu steered their injury-hit side to victory despite a second-half scrum and maul pummelling by the Springbok pack.
It puts South Africa’s bid to play in the in...