France vs South Africa LIVE rugby: Result and reaction as Les Bleus snatch thrilling win from remarkable Test
France 30-26 South Africa: Les Bleus snatched victory as both teams had a man sent off in an incredible Test match
France extended their impressive winning run to 12 games as they tamed South Africa 30-26 at the Stade Velodrome after a nail-biting contest.
Les Bleus had scrum-half Antoine Dupont sent off in the second half after the world champions were also reduced to 14 men following Pieter-Steph du Toit’s early exclusion.
But a strong finish, with a late try by forward Sipili Falatea and a last-gasp penalty by Thomas Ramos, earned Fabien Galthie’s side another win a week after they edged out Australia 30-29 in Paris.
South Africa were always close thanks to penalties by Cheslin Kolbe, as well as tries from Siya Kolisi and Kurt-Lee Arendse, but France were just a cut above, less than a year before they host the World Cup.
Relive all the action from France vs South Africa with our live blog below:
Wales 10-6 Argentina, 41 mins
Back underway for the second half in Cardiff. Can Wales convert this to a victory?
Nice carry by Rees-Zammit early in the second half before Cruz Mallia does well under a high ball during a kicking battle.
WATCH: Faletau goes over for the try
The only try of the first half came from Taulupe Faletau as he was driven over the whitewash
HALF-TIME! Wales 10-6 Argentina
Last play before half-time and Wales run a few phases in the tight before Anscombe boots it into the stands. The game in the balance but Wales deservedly lead through Faletau’s try.
Wales 10-6 Argentina, 38 mins
Tompkins spills the kick-off to give possession straight to Argentina but Gonzalez returns the favour and Williams clears up to halfway.
Good contest in the air between Boffelli and Ree-Zammit sees Argentina earn the lineout but an attempted quick lineout to the front is disrupted by Gareth Thomas. Good awareness from the prop and it wins his team a scrum, just inside their own half
PEN! WALES 10-6 Argentina, (Anscombe, 37 mins)
Easy enough for Anscombe and he slots the kick. Wales have dominated the last 10 minutes and deservedly lead.
Wales 7-6 Argentina, 36 mins
A rare mistake from Carreras as he boots the kick-off straight out of play to immediately cede possession back to Wales.
Huge carry by North sends two defenders backwards! Superb stuff. Argentina then pinged for taking out the man off the ball and Anscombe can extend the lead from the tee.
TRY! WALES 7-6 Argentina (Faletau, 31 mins)
And there it is! Wales over at last.
In the end it’s rather simple. Good execution of the basics to claim lineout ball, they set up the driving maul and it moves inexorably to the line where Taulupe Faletau flops down for the score.
Gareth Anscombe adds the conversion and Wales are ahead
Wales 0-6 Argentina, 30 mins
Good, strong running from Tompkins gets him over the gain-line and into the Pumas 22. North then sent flying backwards by some great shoot-up defence.
Another penalty for Wales as Argentina penalised for offside - third penalty against them. Wales consider going for the posts but it’s to the corner again instead.
Wales 0-6 Argentina, 27 mins
This is entertainingly frantic! Better lineout from Owens, finding Tipuric. The noise around the stadium rises as Wales get closer to the line as Rees-Zammit makes some yards before Thomas is inches short.
Owens then dives for the line but the ball comes loose and Argentina pick it up before running from in their own in-goal area! They actually have a 3-on-1 overlap but Carreras drops the pass. Back for an Argentina scrum on their own 5-metre line.
Bad news for Wales though as Dan Lydiate goes off holding his left wrist. Jac Morgan comes on into the back row.
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