South Africa face France in Paris on Friday night in a Nations Championship clash widely seen as a dress rehearsal for the tournament's final. The Springboks, who have won all four of their matches so far, sit top of the Southern Hemisphere pool, while France lead the Northern Hemisphere table after three successive wins.
Kick-off Time and How to Watch
The match takes place on Friday November 13, 2026 at the Stade de France in Paris, with an 8:10pm GMT kick-off (9:10pm in France, 10:10pm in South Africa). In the UK, the game will be shown live and free-to-air on ITV, with coverage beginning at 7:15pm GMT on ITV1. It can also be streamed live online via the ITVX website and app, free with registration. The match is being televised live on SuperSport in South Africa and TF1 in France.
Team News and Lineups
France coach Fabien Galthie has named Antoine Dupont at fly-half for the first time in international rugby, a role he has previously played at club level for Toulouse. This comes amid a fly-half crisis, with Romain Ntamack injured against Fiji, and Matthieu Jalibert, Thomas Ramos and Antoine Hastoy all unavailable. Maxime Lucu starts at scrum-half, with the rest of the backline unchanged. In the forward pack, Julien Marchand replaces Maxime Lamothe at hooker, Gregory Alldritt is at number eight, Francois Cros moves to blindside flanker and Cameron Woki to openside. Mickael Guillard and Florian Verhaeghe are at lock.
South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus makes just one change to the side that beat Italy, with Wilco Louw replacing Thomas du Toit at tighthead prop. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu starts at fly-half, with Morne van den Berg at scrum-half. Captain Siya Kolisi is in the back row with Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jasper Wiese. The only other change to the matchday 23 is on the bench, where Cobus Reinach replaces Grant Williams.
Head-to-Head History
South Africa have won nine of their last 10 meetings with France dating back to 2010, including a 29-28 World Cup quarter-final victory in 2023. They met only once since then, when the Springboks won 32-17 at the Stade de France last November. France's only win over South Africa since 2009 came in the autumn of 2022, a 30-26 victory in Marseille. Overall, France have 12 wins, South Africa 29, with 6 draws.
Prediction and Odds
The prediction is for South Africa to win by 14 points, with the Springboks expected to deliver another statement performance. Match odds are France 5/2, South Africa 1/3, and a draw at 22/1, via UK betting sites and subject to change.
