The 1968 South Africa rugby union tour of France was a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

tour of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

by the South Africa national team in October and November 1968. The tour was South Africa's first sole tour of

, having previously played France on joint-

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an (

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) tours. South Africa's tours of Europe over the previous decades (

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, 1912–13, 1931–32, 1951–52, 1960–61,

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

) were extremely successful, holding a win ratio of 88.16%, played across 150 matches. South Africa won the two-match tour-series 2–0, with both matches being within a five-point margin (20–28 on aggregate). Overall South Africa won five of the six matches on tour.

Background

All of France's three previous victories over South Africa were on South African soil. South Africa's previous match against France on French soil finished 0–0 at the

Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir The Stade Yves-du-Manoir (officially Stade olympique Yves-du-Manoir, also known as the Stade olympique de Colombes, or simply Colombes to the locals) is a rugby, track and association football stadium in Colombes, near Paris, France, Paris, Fran ...

in the

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

suburb of

Colombes Colombes () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. In 2019, Colombes was the 53rd largest city in France. Name The name Colombes comes from Latin ''columna'' (Old French ''colombe'') ...

. The tour and two-match series held great significance in that, before the match, France was the only team that South Africa had a negative win ratio against (40%). Every other team, including the British Lions, who had only

recently ''Recently'' may refer to: * ''Recently'' (album), by Joan Baez * ''Recently'' (EP), by Dave Matthews Band {{Disambig ...

toured South Africa months prior, kept South Africa to a neutral win ratio (

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) or a positive one. Furthermore, although one team (France) kept South Africa to a negative win ratio, no team had a positive win ratio against South Africa, the highest being New Zealand with a win ratio of 42.31%.

Fixtures

Matches

First match

The first match on the Springbok tour was against a combined team from the South-eastern coastal region of France, with the majority of the team playing with

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

in the

French Championship The French rugby league championship (french: Le Championnat de France de Rugby à XIII) has been the major rugby league tournament for semi-professional and professional clubs in France since the sport was introduced to the country in the 1930s. ...

. South Africa won the match in convincing fashion, scoring six tries to one drop goal.

Second match

Third match

First test

The fourth match, and first test, of the Springbok tour was against France, played in the south-western city of

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

. The story of the match was the missed kicks from South African errors. One try scored by France to three penalty goals kicked via South Africa's Piet Visagie gave the visitors a 3–9 lead at half-time. However, by full-time, although scoring two late tries to bring themselves back into the match (9–12), France had failed to kick seven penalty goals, three conversions, and a drop goal. A total of thirty points. The final score finished France 9, South Africa 12.

Fourth match

Second test

The sixth match, and final test, of the Springbok tour saw the South Africans play France again, in the

commune of

. Trailing 6–3 at half-time, the South Africans fought back early in the second half, scoring three tries to one. South Africa won by five points, and took the series 2–0.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1968 South Africa tour South Africa national rugby union team tours of Europe France–South Africa sports relations Rugby union tours of France