International: France turn on the power to beat world champions South Africa 20-13

France 20 (11)
South Africa 13 (13)

France confirmed their emerging stature within world rugby as they turned on the power to beat South Africa 20-13 in Toulouse.

The victory was France's fourth in a row at home to the Springboks (since 1997), and it also built on June's 27-22 win in New Zealand as 'Les Bleus' once more proved they can mix it with the very best.

It was another heroic performance by their powerful pack, with Biarritz prop Fabien Barcella enjoying a bombastic match ahead of the superb back row triumvirate of Thierry Dusautoir, Louis Picamoles and Imanol Harinordoquy.

Coach Marc Lièvremont can rightfully sit back and smile at the progress his squad is making, with this latest victory never in doubt once the hosts took charge of the second half.

An early Julien Dupuy penalty put them ahead after just five minutes, but South Africa overcame a nervous-looking start to battle back to 6-3 thanks to a penalty and drop-goal from fly-half Morne Steyn.

A Zane Kirchner grubber kick then heaped further pressure on France as flying wing Bryan Habana almost embarrassed Vincent Clerc in the corner. William Servat then overcooked his throw from the resultant lineout, enabling Springbok skipper John Smith an unopposed catch and drive from just five metres out. Steyn added the conversion to make it 11-3 after half an hour, but France responded with élan, forcing an error straight from the re-start that eventually led to Clerc touching down in the right corner.

Barcella's bullish run was integral to the move, as was that of Servat - now playing like a man possessed after his poor throw. There was also some nifty handling from centre pairing Maxime Mermoz and David Yann, before Clerc did the rest with his usual panache to register try number 21 (in 37 games) for 'Les Bleus'.

Dupuy missed the conversion, and hit a post with a subsequent penalty, but the force was very much with the home team now as they were urged on by the patriotic Toulouse crowd. With half-time fast approaching English referee Wayne Barnes then sent Steyn to the sin-bin for a trip on Clerc, leaving Dupuy to narrow the interval gap to 11-13.

It was a similar story after the break with the French continuing to monopolize possession as they tore into the Springbok forwards. Time and again they either won ball in the contact or earned themselves crucial penalties as the world champions cracked under the mounting pressure.

Two further Dupuy penalties had lifted them 17-11 clear by the time South Africa suffered a second yellow card, this time for number eight Ryan Kankowski as the Tri-Nations champions scrambled to prevent another French score. Replacement scrum-half Morgan Parra somehow missed the ensuing penalty - put off perhaps by the ball tumbling off its tee in the stiff breeze - but he made no mistake with one six minutes from time as 'Les Bleus' completed a thoroughly deserved victory.

That last kick came just two minutes after a crunching flying hit from Sébastien Chabal on Steyn, and there was even time for local favourite Maxime Médard to come on for the closing stages as the buoyant crowd launched into a rousing rendition of "Tou-lous-ain, Tou-lous-ain".

"Everyone said you can't play the Boks at their own game, in the same physical way, but we did," reflected jubilant France coach Lièvremont. "We won the contest and had the extra physical edge to win the game. It's very satisfying," he added.

The win confirmed France as Europe's strongest current team and Lièvremont admitted that his previous period of selectorial experimentation was now paying dividends. "Things are starting to take shape, this match would have pleased our glorious ancestors. It is a satisfaction that we were able to control the game, in terms of our kicking and handling. We could even have had two or three more tries if we'd finished off our chances," he reflected.

South African counterpart Peter de Villiers expressed annoyance at poor rendition of his country's anthem before the game started, but admitted that his players had been outmuscled on the pitch.

"You can't play the game without the ball. We allowed them on to the ball a lot. They won the contest on the floor and in the contact situations we lost too many balls. They were the better side," he conceded.