France beat Boks 20-13

The guys are tired... simple as that!

End of season tours are suicidal when you are playing against quality sides, and esp. teams who are on the ascendency. When you are putting everything on the line in a 50-week season, with a 2 week break before training for Super 14 starts, you KNOW that eventually, you are going to be outplayed. They should quit while ahead, IRT momentum and confidence levels. All the good work and achievement from this season goes down the drain when you go out on a losing streak.

We also need to change the way we play. We cannot continuously rely on our opposition to create scoring chances for us. Brian Habana can only intercept so many passes in a season.

Bah!

I also forgot to say... 'Well played France!'

As a Frenchman who was watching the game with half a dozen friends (in France) I want to point out that we were horrified as well by the way the SA anthem was sung. We felt that it was disrespectful and not in line with the image we want to give of France to foreign guests.
However let us not mix the anthem and the game itself. I do not believe that a professional side like the Boks lost the game because of this. Peter de Villiers should rather complain about Morne Stein's yellow card, which many feel was a bit harsh.

The S African Anthem was sung by someone either inebriated or who had to much of the "Holy Weed"!!! Maybe it was just a form of French gamesmanship.... I recall the last time we played in France the S African Anthem music was played at much slower pace than it should have been.

France deserved their win. As champions we should have risen above the minor heckles that distracted us. Why is it that our guys are always so much more tired than the Aussie and the All Blacks?

Some of the handling mistakes are under 9 stuff! If you constantly keep on loosing possesion how on earth do you expect to score? France outplayed them at all facets of the game - even in the lineouts.

Well, its just as well. Nobody should be expected to keep such a winning run without conceding any loss. Boks are still the champions and the best thing we have going on here in South Africa..
Thandanani Umlaw

as a south african, you'd have to be a damn communist not to be a fan of the springboks. it feels good to know we're the best at something.

on the other hand, supporting bafana bafana is really hard work!

National Anthem my foot. South Africa were outclassed. If such an irrelevant factor such as a national anthem can destabilise professionals then they're in serious need of more than the pitiful post-match religious thingie we're exposed to (huddled in a circle like religious freaks), as if national anthems and God can impact upon the performance of players. Allowing God and nationalism - both primeval and highly personal - to enter into sport makes the whole exercise dubious.

It's not about the natinal anthem or anything like that which should mitigate the fact the fact that the French, for a number of reasons, outplayed the Boks (or maybe the Boks outplayed themselves?) and were the rightful victors on the day; however, Mr Phillips and co should recognise that the disgraceful and hugely disrespectful manner in which the anthem was sung (a symbol of unity and reconciliation that far transcends a cold and physical display of male bravado on a French playground)and the message it sends out is a crude disregard for not only those on field but also to all those supporters of SA.

This coupled with an incredibly sub-standard media coverage of the game (it seemed at times, for instance, that more attention was spent on the French players' legs and rolling of eyes than on the actual game) has left a sour taste in my mouth. They actually outweigh the Aussies when it comes to biased coverage (which is saying a lot).

It actually is about nationalism, Mr Phill, which is about fair coverage and fair recognition given to both sides when it comes to supporting a game (as Frans Pienaar stated as being representative of 42 million (and now more) South Africans): this in feeling pride and respect, which is anything but "pitiful" and irrelevant.

If you cannot handle the pride that goes with that, then don't watch the game and choose something less "dubious" to watch (like Mastermind on BBC knowledge).

now that we all know that the south african embassy was responsible for the choice of the "singer" I hope people who blamed it on the french will have the decency to apologize

@Gaston

Quite true. The embassy was responsible for the nomination of the singer. Instead of apologies, the Boks should rather acknowledge that the were solidly beaten by a superior side. By the way, when are we going to have players playing against each other and only the best selected for the team?

The French were better on the day, more fired up and outplayed the Boks, no excuses, it could have gone the other way, but the French at home are a fortress type team and Toulouse is their rugby heartland, a potenet mix. Well done to the French. As for the anthem, how bizarre?