South Africa 20 France 15
Five penalties from flyhalf Butch James and a first-half try from flanker Corne Krige helped South Africa beat France 20-15 in the second test in Durban today to draw the series 1-1.
France won the first test 32-23 in Johannesburg last Saturday and the result prevented the French winning their third series in South Africa.
All the French points came from the boot of flyhalf Gerald Merceron who put over four penalties and a drop goal.
Much of a disappointing match was taken up with petty squabbles. English referee Chris White showed the yellow card three times.
South Africa struggled with their handling errors while France kept the opposition at bay with fierce tackling.
The opening quarter ended with the Springboks 6-3 ahead after two penalties by James to the one by Merceron.
In the 14th minute, South African lock Mark Andrews earned a yellow card for diving into a melee of players after being warned for his role in an off-the-ball tussle.
South Africa limited the damage in Andrews's absence to three points in the form of Merceron's second penalty.
But shortly after his return the flyhalf put France 9-6 ahead when James was lucky to escape uncarded for tackling right wing David Bory without the ball.
The Springboks snatched back the lead at 11-9 with 13 minutes left in the half when Krige was on hand in the backline to score the only try of the match after South Africa managed to keep possession through several phases.
Merceron made it 12-11 to France with his fourth penalty from 38 metres eight minutes from the end of first half regulation time after a South African infringement at a ruck.
Another illegal tackle saw centre De Wet Barry sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes. France then stretched their advantage to four points when Merceron grabbed a drop goal from 30 metres. James' third penalty from close range reduced the gap to a single point at halftime at 15-14 to the French.
Three minutes into the second half, James hit the left-hand upright with a penalty from 35 metres and the ball stayed out.
He missed again three minutes later when his attempt from 23 metres sailed right of the posts, and he was off target to the left from 30 metres a minute after that.
Seven minutes later, French flanker Olivier Magne was shown the yellow card for interferring with Springbok scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen as he attempted to take a tap penalty. Twenty-three minutes of ragged rugby followed as neither team managed to mount a significant challenge.
James ended the stalemate with 10 minutes left on the clock when he kicked his fourth penalty from 25 metres to put South Africa 17-15 up.
Merceron missed with a 30-metre attempted drop goal two minutes later, and with seven minutes to go he missed a penalty from 40 metres.
James then kicked his fifth penalty just before the whistle to seal France's fate.