Blast from the past: Too little too late for Bafana despite beating France

1968 — The Springboks, 1-0 up in the four-match series, draw the second Test against the British and Irish Lions in Port Elizabeth 6-6, the match being decided by penalties.

1974 — Down 0-1 in the series against the British and Irish Lions, the Springbok selectors bring in seven debutantes for the second Test at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. It’s a disaster as the tourists run in five tries, two of them by flyer JJ Williams, to win 28-9. Among the new faces for SA is flyer Gerrie Germishuys, who, though being dropped for the next Test, would star against the Lions on their next tour to South Africa six years later.    

2010 — Bafana Bafana beat France 2-1 at the Free State stadium in Bloemfontein, but it’s not enough to prevent South Africa from becoming the first host nation to fail to advance to the knockout stages of a World Cup. With Uruguay beating Mexico 1-0 in the other Group A match, Bafana had needed to beat the French by four goals to get through. And for a while it seemed possible after they were 2-0 up through goals by Bongani Khumalo and Katlego Mphela, and France had been reduced to 10 men when Yoann Gourcuff was red-carded. Florent Malouda, assisted by Frank Ribery, pulled one for the visitors, who were in disarray after an internal implosion during which Nicholas Anelka was booted out the team. After the match, French coach Raymond Domenech refused to shake Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira’s hand, claiming the Brazilian had said France shouldn’t have qualified for the showpiece in the first place, because of Thierry Henry’s controversial handball that led to a winning goal at the expense of Ireland. Parreira denied having said that.

2010 — The Proteas and the West Indies play to a draw in the second Test of the three-match series in Basseterre. The two sides scored more than a combined 1,000 runs in the first innings, with Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers all scoring centuries. But there was nothing left to play for after SA had declared their second innings on 235/3, a lead of 232, after 83 overs had been bowled on the final day.

2013 — Winger Bryan Habana and flanker Francois Louw score two tries each as SA beat Samoa 56-23 in Pretoria. It was the final match in a quadrangular tournament also featuring Scotland and Italy.