Some wins count double in terms of the message they send. And amid the blizzard of weekend Test matches it was Saturday night\u2019s result in Paris that will resonate the longest in both hemispheres. Not only the outcome, either, but the manner of it. To say South Africa exploded a few cosy theories would be the understatement of the rugby year.<\/p>\n
So much for the idea, for example, that France would avenge the injustice of their World Cup quarter-final defeat to the Springboks<\/a>. That entering the final quarter with a narrow lead and an extra man would translate into inevitable glory. That even without their talisman Antoine Dupont they still had more than enough tranquiliser darts to keep the big beasts safely at bay.<\/p>\n Instead it was a case of counting their poulets prematurely. Having been 17-13 down, the 14-man Boks ended up scoring 19 unanswered points<\/a>, reinforcing their status as a side who increasingly save their best for the most challenging scenarios. If beating New Zealand 43-10<\/a> in Wellington in September was a statement, here was conclusive proof the world\u2019s No 1 side are developing an even thicker skin.<\/p>\n If anything, Rassie Erasmus\u2019s champion Bok forwards are starting to make everyone else look laissez-faire by comparison. Scotland and England both had their moments over the weekend but possessed nothing like the same earthmovers that effectively reduced France to landfill in the last half-hour. Some promising young French forwards are coming through but, by the end, Saturday night was hommes contre gar\u00e7ons.<\/p>\n What was perhaps even more striking was the mental strength underpinning it all. Without Lood de Jager \u2013 shown a 38th-minute straight red for a shoulder to the head of Thomas Ramos \u2013 the Boks could easily have lost their composure. Instead they simply circled the wagons and set about dragging the deflated boys in blue to what the former French international hooker Benjamin Kayser called \u201cthe hurt locker.\u201d<\/p>\n Damian Penaud goes over for a try against South Africa. France showed flashes of excellence before fading. Photograph: Nathan Barange\/DPPI\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Afterwards, having been borne aloft around the Stade de France on the gigantic shoulders of Eben Etzebeth and RG Snyman to celebrate his 100th cap, the Springbok captain, Siya Kolisi, once again stressed how many of his squad have been required to overcome off-field adversity and how he hoped his team would similarly continue to inspire others.<\/p>\n The ever-sage David Flatman also made an astute point on TNT Sport, suggesting Erasmus\u2019s record increasingly makes him the rugby coaching equivalent of Sir Alex Ferguson. If South Africa do go on to win a third successive World Cup there will be no doubt whatsoever. Even if they fall short, the smart way in which Erasmus has refreshed a potentially ageing squad has been an object lesson to all.<\/p>\n Look no further than his 23-year-old fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu who skipped over for the late try that properly blew open the French windows. Or Grant Williams, another half-back with lightning acceleration and an even sharper eye for a gap. Of course it helps to play behind a gargantuan pack, with Andr\u00e9 Esterhuizen riding shotgun, but the ongoing metamorphosis of the Boks from scowling heavyweights into a side who can also float like butterflies and sting like bees is hugely impressive.<\/p>\n Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu showed South Africa\u2019s future is in safe hands. Photograph: David Rogers\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Which is not to say France were totally outclassed, despite their limp finish. Damian Penaud\u2019s second try in the right corner was a good illustration. The power up front that tied in the Bok forwards, the glorious long pass from Ramos and Penaud\u2019s finishing dive into into the advertising hoardings all displayed the hallmarks of a team with significant talent, even in the absence of Dupont.<\/p>\n But even that ultimately proved insufficient, which really is a sobering thought for everybody else. There is no way, for instance, that Scotland could have gone 17-0 down to South Africa and come galloping back in the way they did against the All Blacks at Murrayfield<\/a>. And for all England\u2019s last-quarter improvement, there remains a distance to travel before Steve Borthwick\u2019s squad can be confident of standing up to Erasmus\u2019s green-clad giants with everything on the line.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week’s action reviewed<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Beating an improving Fiji proved tricky enough on Saturday although the upcoming showdown against the All Blacks will be the fixture that properly defines their autumn. New Zealand are definitely still beatable, particularly without Jordie Barrett in their midfield, but when it comes to taking their chances they remain a cut above almost all the home unions.<\/p>\n Scotland were particularly guilty of failing to hammer home the final nails and question marks still hang over England\u2019s ideal backline blend. It is all very well finishing games strongly \u2013 and infinitely better than losing them late on \u2013 but their admirable nine-match unbeaten run this year has so far featured only one win over top-drawer opposition, a one-point home victory over France in February.<\/p>\n Hence the significance of this coming Saturday. Reading between the lines it would appear George Ford, Tom Roebuck (if fully fit) and either Freddie Steward or Elliot Daly will all return to the starting lineup, with Tommy Freeman possibly reverting to centre. Up front, likewise, Tom Curry, Sam Underhill and Maro Itoje should all be back from the start, most probably with Ben Earl at eight<\/p>\n But everything is relative, in sport as in life. Between now and the 2027 World Cup the rest now have to try to rein in a team who, in terms of rising to the biggest occasions, increasingly rank alongside the best ever to take a rugby field. And, judging by their 14-man masterclass in Paris, the Boks are far from done yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some wins count double in terms of the message they send. And amid the blizzard of weekend Test…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-274988","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}