PARIS (AP) — France’s star backs were supposed to lead the tournament favorite past defending champion South Africa and into the Rugby World Cup semifinals.
They flopped as South Africa won 29-28 in a cliffhanger on Sunday.
Right winger Damian Penaud was on a career-best seven-match try-scoring run and topped the tournament with six tries.
Fullback Thomas Ramos was the leading point-scorer and had hardly missed a kick.
Talismanic captain Antoine Dupont came back from a tournament-threatening injury to line up alongside the silky Matthieu Jalibert.
All enjoyed good starts but as the tension ramped up in a packed Stade de France, they became increasingly smothered by the Springboks’ scrambling defense.
“When you look at the match, I think there was plenty of room for improvement,” Jalibert said. “South Africa should also be congratulated for resisting our attacks and scoring when they had the chance. We made a lot of
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