France beat South Africa 21-19 as Dupont stars at No 10
Antoine Dupont wore the 10 shirt but mostly played scrum-half as France held off the Springboks in Paris to end a run of five defeats against them.
France ended a five-match losing run against South Africa with a 21-19 Nations Championship win at the Stade de France on Friday 13 November. Captain Antoine Dupont was named player of the match, according to BBC Sport, and the result was France's fourth win from five games.
Three tries before the break
France scored three first-half tries through Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang (15 minutes), Théo Attissogbe (24) and Louis Bielle-Biarrey (32). Maxime Lucu converted all three, and Sky Sports reports that the hosts led 21-7 at half-time.
Jan-Hendrik Wessels scored the visitors' first try from a maul. The Springboks thought they had a second on the stroke of half-time, but Kurt-Lee Arendse was judged to have strayed offside and the try was chalked off.
Cards and a tense finish
The match produced five cards. Early in the second half South Africa were shown a 20-minute red card, which BBC Sport counts as the third of the five. The sources differ on the details: BBC Sport names number eight Jasper Wiese and cites a dangerous shoulder charge, while Sky Sports refers to a back-row player and an illegal ruck clear-out.
Sky Sports says France had sin-bins for Lucu, Grandidier-Nkanang and Régis Montagne, the last of them for scrum penalties. The Guardian also reported an early sin-binning for Lood de Jager for a high tackle.
South Africa's scrum dominated after the break, and replacement scrum-half Cobus Reinach and hooker Malcolm Marx scored tries. Manie Libbok then missed the conversion of Marx's try, which would have levelled the scores. The Guardian says that came with seven minutes left.
With South Africa chasing a winner, Bielle-Biarrey made a big tackle to force the ball loose and Dupont gathered it to help seal the win.
Dupont at ten
BBC Sport reports that injuries to Matthieu Jalibert, Romain Ntamack and Antoine Hastoy left coach Fabien Galthié short of fly-halves, and Sky Sports adds Thomas Ramos to the list. That meant Dupont was named at No 10.
Earlier in the week Galthié had dismissed talk of mind games with South Africa counterpart Rassie Erasmus as comic-book stuff, according to the Guardian. Dupont wore 10 but played largely at scrum-half, with Lucu moving to first receiver.
What it means for the standings
BBC Sport says France are six points clear at the top of the northern hemisphere standings. Sky Sports reports England and Ireland are six points behind with two games to play, and BBC Sport says both are in direct competition with France for a place in the final.
France face Argentina next Saturday. BBC Sport says the inaugural final is at Allianz Stadium on Sunday 29 November, while Sky Sports refers to a final at Twickenham in two weeks. The sources differ on the venue and timing.
Can anyone stop France now in the Nations Championship race?
