“Infuriating!”, “to cry”, “the Kolbe gazelle” and “epic match”… The press review after France-South Africa

2023-10-16 10:19:02

Par Gilles Festor

Published 45 minutes ago, Updated 9 minutes ago

The Blues lost to South Africa on Sunday evening. DR

The French and international press looks back on the defeat of the French XV in the quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup, each time praising a match of extraordinary intensity.

France woke up with a hangover Monday morning before returning to work. On Sunday, the France team lost in the quarter-finals of the World Cup against South Africa by the narrowest of margins (29-28). A huge disappointment for an entire country, symbolized by this headline on the front page of L’Equipe: “To cry“. The sports daily nevertheless welcomes “one of the finest teams in France fell to a less talented but clinically realistic South Africa.» The newspaper underlines, on the French side, “a less decisive bench», but does not dwell on the controversies surrounding arbitration and the bitter reactions of the French on the subject.

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The Parisian had the same idea as Le Figaro by mentioning “The broken dream of the Blues“. According to him, the South African bench has “overturned the match » in a boiling Stade de France. “Popular enthusiasm was not enough», adds the daily which raises the question of the French staff and a future recomposition. “Fabien Galthié had all the means and all the powers. He did no better than his predecessors and worse than many, matching the Blues’ worst World Cup result in 1991, 2015 and 2019. Can he still be the man for the job when his contract has been extended to 2028?», pose The Parisian.

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The broken dream also for West France et La Dépêche du Midi. « In a very high intensity match, the Blues only missed a little bit of accuracy to create the feat», We can read on the front page of the latter. “Infuriating!“, storm The Dauphine which underlines the errors of Thomas Ramos or Matthieu Jalibert who “are expensive» to the Blues. Release honored his sense of formula with this title: «Rugby World Cup: France-South Africa, one point is the hole», before asking the question: “A field of ruins, a shipwreck, a tragedy. What exact term should we prioritize to describe the unfathomable disarray which fell shortly before 11 p.m., this Sunday, October 15, at the Stade de France when, at the end of a final charge, Wardi was killed snatching the ball from the hands of the sparkling Cheslin Kolbe who, tapping into touch, sent the dream of a French coronation to the ground in this 10th World Cup that a country had been hoping for so long now. 29-28.» The voice of the North is saddened to see a French XV “broken, broken, devastated».

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In South Africa, the tone is diametrically opposite. The Citizen hails Springboks’ “testing” victory by giving Chelsin Kolbe a score of 9. «A threat throughout the match thanks to his hard and fast running. He scored a magnificent try, while his charge on a Ramos conversion proved crucial.» The Times met en avant des Springboks «superhumans” and the “courage» of the selection in a hostile atmosphere: “The City of Love gave the Boks a cold reception on a cool autumn evening, but that didn’t matter as they warmed the hearts of their fans with a strong final.»

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In Great Britain, the site Sky Sports evokes a “titanic struggle» between the two nations but it is above all the «critiques» by Antoine Dupont on the arbitration which gets people talking, while noting a defeat «heartbreaking» for Fabien Galthié’s men. “Colossal Boks break French hearts in epic match», writes the BBC. «An extraordinary match», ignites The Guardian sad for French players “desperate», «exhausted» et «deprived of luck».

Read alsoFrance-South Africa: why Ramos’ transformation countered by Kolbe is debated

New Zealand highlights criticism of referee

Finally, in New Zealand, the country of rugby, we especially notice that Antoine Dupont «attacks Kiwi referee Ben O’Keeffe » in a quarter-finaldramatic“. But it is first and foremost Chelsin Kolbe’s supersonic race that New Zealand Herlad would like to highlight. The South African winger who blocked Thomas Ramos’ ball from a conversion in the first half could «represent South Africa» in the sprint in a year at the Paris Olympic Games, like the gazelle, the emblem of the African selection.