France made to work hard
France made a winning start to their Rugby World Cup campaign, but were sloppy in beating South Africa 40-5 in the first match of a triple-header yesterday.
The world’s fourth-ranked team scored three tries in the first 20 minutes at Eden Park, but took 50 more minutes after that to add to their tally against the 11thranked team they beat heavily as recently as last November.
South Africa took the field with just two players who had featured in a World Cup before – Tayla Kinsey and captain Nolusindiso Bool.
France made a perfect start when halfback Laure Sansus scored after just two minutes and raced out to a 19-0 lead after just 18 minutes thanks to Gabrielle Vernier and Emilie Boulard.
But they were stymied from there for the rest of the first half, even though they spent 10 minutes playing against 14 women after South African flanker Sizophila Solontsi was sent to the sin bin for making head-on-head contact.
The Springboks started the second half strongly, putting France under sustained pressure and ultimately scoring through wing Nomawethu Mabenge in the 50th minute.
France began to probe at the South African line but made numerous mistakes and three late tries added some gloss to the scoreline.
The big moment
Midway through the second half, it seemed as though a curse had been placed on France with regard to scoring tries. They still had a 14-point advantage, so the result wasn’t really in doubt, but Sansus’ second try, from a quick tap in the 67th minute, put the result beyond doubt.
MVP
Sansus was the leading try-scorer
in the Six Nations earlier this year with six. She added another double here and was a constant threat from halfback.
Match rating: 5/10
France got the expected win, but South Africa putting them under the pump to start the second half made this a better watch than it might have been.
The big picture
France know they will have to improve against tournament favourites England in Whangārei on Saturday. South Africa, meanwhile, have a must-win match against Fiji next Sunday at Waitākere Stadium in Auckland.