14 November 2026
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has pointed to poor discipline and hesitant tactical execution as the primary reasons for South Africa’s 21–19 defeat against France at the Stade de France on Friday night. Despite a strong second-half comeback, the world champions fell short by two points after playing 30 minutes of the Nations Championship encounter with 14 men.
Speaking after the match, Erasmus refused to blame match officials or the short six-day turnaround from their previous fixture against Italy. Instead, he accepted full responsibility on behalf of the coaching staff for the team's lack of precision in key moments.
South Africa conceded a first-half yellow card to lock Lood de Jager for a high tackle before number eight Jasper Wiese was issued a 20-minute red card early in the second half for a dangerous ruck clear-out. While France also received multiple yellow cards, Erasmus acknowledged that the Springboks' sanctions directly affected the scoreboard.
“Obviously playing with 14 men is tough; they also received two yellow cards, with the one at the scrum being more technical,” Erasmus said. “Those cards hurt us; it cost us in a big way. I don’t think any of those cards conceded were intentional, but I agree that it should have been cards; we can’t moan about that.”
Erasmus also expressed concern for the French players involved in the collisions, noting that neither left the field for Head Injury Assessments.
“I don’t think anyone flew in to try and (intentionally) hurt a fellow player. They didn’t go off for HIAs, so I hope they are okay and those hits didn’t cause too much harm to those players,” he added.
While praising his squad's physical commitment, Erasmus questioned why the team appeared hesitant when attacking opportunities presented themselves. He ruled out fatigue from a compressed preparation week as a valid excuse, noting that France faced an even shorter recovery window.
“It was almost like we were a bit tentative tonight, and when something like that happens, it normally comes down to the coaching staff,” Erasmus explained. “I don’t think the players went out there and tackled their hearts out and being physical and when the opportunity comes decided to be a bit hesitant. That is something I have to figure out and work through all night as to why that happened.”
“If you look at the week, we only had two training sessions and a six-day turnaround, and it was the same for France; they even played later last Saturday, so they even had a shorter turnaround. I don’t think we have anyone to blame but ourselves.”
France scored three first-half tries to build a 21–7 lead at the break, including a fortunate bounce off centre Kalvin Gourgues’s head that set up winger Théo Attissogbé. Just before halftime, Springbok winger Kurt-Lee Arendse had a try ruled out by the TMO for offside.
“I mean, the one try France scored was a ball bouncing off a player’s head. I actually felt we defended really well,” Erasmus said. “France kept the ball in hand, and (Antoine) Dupont alongside (Maxime) Lucu and basically their whole team was good tonight. I really thought we tackled with guts and we kept them out. The disallowed try of Kurt-Lee (Arendse) before halftime would’ve been game on.”
South Africa kept France scoreless after the 30th minute and crossed for two second-half tries through Cobus Reinach and Malcolm Marx, before a late missed conversion sealed the two-point margin. Erasmus highlighted the squad's resilience as the main takeaway ahead of next week's fixture against Ireland in Dublin.
“I think the penalty count was six to four (in favour of France) at halftime before Jasper was given the (20-minute) red card and then we were under the pump,” Erasmus said. “It’s hard to look for positives in a defeat; it’s not nice, but if I have to take a positive out of this match, it would be the effort, grind and pride the players showed. After the 30th minute, France didn’t score again, and we did, even if we were down to 14 players for most of the game.”
“I guess the frustration is how our discipline cost us, and to lose by two points…to lose by any margin is terrible, but in conclusion, our discipline cost us.”