There’s something chilling in playing well and getting spanked. It’s a cold reminder that hierarchies exist in sport. That some ceilings aren’t made of glass and can’t be broken through. Not yet.
South Africa got that reminder against a superb French team in Northampton. The scoreline that reads 57-10 suggests the Springboks were below par. That they fumbled and bumbled their way across 80 minutes and got the hiding they deserved.
This was not the case. Not entirely, and not before a late French blitz swelled the score once South Africa seemingly lost their will to fight.
Top 50 Women’s Rugby Players – montage
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Top 50 Women’s Rugby Players – montage
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In fact, in patches, when they had a chance to show their stuff in the first half, the women in green raised their game. Aseze Hele was once again a rampaging force from the base of the pack.
Nadine Roos was lively as a starting scrum-half and scored arguably the best try of the lot in the final moments. Byrhandre Dolf, an instantly recognisable figure in the backfield with her scrum-cap and whirring, side-stepping feet, was a threat from broken play.
If they played like this against a lesser team they would have padded their stats with metres made, tackles broken and defenders beaten. The problem was they played an inspired France who provided a lesson – if one was needed – that the Springboks, for all their rapid improvements, still have a long way to go before they can take their place at the top table.
Match Summary 
It’s important to note that Swys de Bruin made 10 changes to the team that beat Italy last week. He could afford to experiment as a place in the quarter finals was secure. And, let’s be honest, even if every one of his first-choice players took the field, the result would likely have been the same. Perhaps the numbers of the board would have been different, but a date with New Zealand in the last eight was always the inevitable outcome from the match.
So de Bruin had a free swing as he went in search of answers. One was emphatic: Libbie Janse van Rensburg is unequivocally the most important player in this team.
The hard-running fly-half is most likely a better fit at centre, but given the narrow attack of the South Africans, one that requires go-forward around the fringe, a first receiver who can win the gainline is a non-negotiable. Mary Zulu had some neat touches against France, but she lacks the heft of Janse van Rensburg as well as the punch of her boot.
South Africa also require more cohesion on defence, especially when a team as skilful as France is able to stitch together a series of off-loads and popped passes off the shoulder. Every time they attacked they seemed destined to score. Not because the South Africans didn’t have a solid set against first-phase strike play – although one score from Alexandra Chambon from the back of a dominant scrum was noteworthy – but because they had little answer to the continuity in front of them.
South Africa played like a team with a Plan A and a Plan A only. Short carries. Short passes. Hard runs. Big hits. Link-up around the fringe. In the opening exchanges, despite conceding a try on nine minutes when Emilie Boulard powered over in the corner, the Springboks held their own. A Dolf penalty on 15 minutes gave the score an accurate feel at 5-3.
But good teams adapt and the French started to shift the ball in contact. This forced the South Africans to scramble, which works on occasion, but the house almost always wins in this regard.
From there it was a procession. Once South Africa’s Plan A failed, once they struggled to move the ball beyond the 13 channel or bust holes around the fringe, once Chumisa Qawe’s high hit on Marine Menager on 25 minutes was upgraded to a red card, they lacked any threat with ball in hand.
It was only thanks to a jinking run from Roos in the dying seconds that South Africa left the Midlands with a try under their belt. Unlike the French who scored four before the half-time break and added another five after the restart.
All those French scores were either the consequence of two variables; either off a rumbling scrum that provided a perfect platform or through a swiftly taken tapped penalty that caught the Boks napping. The two exceptions – a quick line-out in the first half and a coast to coast break in the second – were exceptions that proved a concerning rule for the South Africans.
So, where to from here? The solace for de Bruin is that most of the fringe players have had their mettle tested and have come up short. This is not a disaster. Rather have some left field selections trialled when the stakes are lower.
Another is that what did function – the interplay (even if lateral), the zip from scrum-half, Dolf’s potency on the counter – will stand them in good stead. The Springboks are not as bad as the scoreboard suggests.
They are a team in transition, gathering pieces of an identity, learning to compete against the very best. What France offered was not humiliation but education. The lesson: rugby at the highest level is not just about effort or bravery, but variety, adaptability and precision.
The South Africans left Northampton with bruises, yes, but also with a clearer understanding of where they stand. They are a decent team. They are a growing team. And, crucially, they are a team that will not be defined by this defeat.
The French showed them the gulf. The real question is how quickly they can close it because the clock is ticking, and the world is watching.