The Springboks' brief stay in Europe is not yet a tour from hell, but a torrid fortnight is in store. Scotland and, most worryingly, England await, after Saturday's record defeat here in a display of spectacular ineptitude provoked the coach Rudolf Straeuli into stinging criticism of his players.
"This was one of the worst performances ever by a Springbok side. Expectations are high, and it's not acceptable. Look at the statistics on turnovers and winning first-phase ball, I don't think we got a line-out in the first half-hour . . . it's unacceptable if you pick a pack to dominate and they don't. If it hadn't been for one or two handling mistakes, France would have given us an even bigger hiding."
To add to his worries, Straeuli will have to manage without his young centre Jean de Villiers, who tore cruciate ligaments within 10 minutes of kick-off, and reports are awaited on neck injuries to the props Willie Meyer and Lawrence Sephaka.
There is supposed to be a new look to Straeuli's team but, though there were flashes of inspiration, they produced one basic error after another.
South Africa ceded 13 penalties to France's two, and were duly punished by François Gelez, who landed five penalty goals out of six. The lock Bakkies Botha was sent to the sin-bin, and eventually they were reduced to cheap shots such as Greef's shoulder barge on Thomas Castaignède with 25 minutes remaining.
France rarely got into top gear in bettering their previous record against the Boks, the 29-16 victory in 1992 at the Parc des Princes. "Average" was the verdict of the captain Fabien Galthié, who provided their best moment five minutes after the break when he put up a pinpoint cross-field chip to provide the wing Cédric Heymans with a run-in for France's first try.
Critically, however, Bernard Laporte's previously untested three-quarter line came through the test without the injured Tony Marsh. Castaignède, playing in the centre, provided a typical moment of inspiration on his return to international competition, a cheeky drop-goal produced from nothing on the half-hour.
Laporte has strength in depth behind an experienced pack, and an iconic captain in Galthié. Gelez, winning his fourth cap, looked a more than adequate replacement for Gérald Merceron, but the star of the evening was the debutant wing Vincent Clerc, 21 years old and with all of three months of Division One rugby to his name. The Toulouse player's burst of speed and perfectly timed pass to Galthié set up the Heymans try, and he scored France's second on 80 minutes, outpacing his opposite number Brent Russell to tap down Xavier Garbajosa's kick ahead with a yard to spare.
"A mythical place for French rugby" is Laporte's verdict on this great concrete bowl, where the Olympique Marseille ultras brandish banners bearing the letters MTP, for Marseille tout puissant , "all powerful". The slogan could also refer to France's rugby players, unbeaten here against the southern hemisphere's best sides in successive years.
France: Brusque; Clerc, Castaignède (Garbajosa, 71), Traille, Heymans; Gelez, Galthié (capt); Crenca, Ibanez (Rué, 80), P de Villiers (Marconnet, 68), Pelous, Brouzet (Privat, 80), Betsen, Magne, Harinordoquy (Chabal, 80). Tries: Heymans, Clerc. Con: Gelez. Pens: Gelez 5. Drop-goal: Castaignède.
South Africa : Greef (James, 80); Paulse, J de Villiers (Joubert, 8), Jacobs, Russell; Pretorius, De Kock; Sephaka (Van Biljoen, 50), Dalton, Meyer (Roux, h-t), Botha (Wannenburg, 57), Labuschagne, Krige (capt), AJ Venter (Wentzel, 67), Van Niekerk. Try: Van Niekerk. Con: Pretorius. Pen: Pretorius. Sin-bin: Botha, 35.
Attendance: 57,203.
Referee: A Rolland (Ireland).
