Dupont praises France late grind in South Africa victory

France captain Antoine Dupont said on Friday beating Rugby World Cup holders South Africa 21-19 was important to show his side are capable of grinding out victories when it matters.

Dupont's outfit held off an attempted second-half Springbok comeback in Paris to remain top of the northern hemisphere table in the Nations Championship having come into the fixture as underdogs.

The half-back, who turns 31 on Sunday, put in a player of the match performance as Les Bleus kept out the visitors with a last-gasp defensive effort.

"In the head it's important to win matches that count, that are tough, that go down to the last minute," Dupont told broadcaster TF1.

"It shows the mentality of the team that never gave in, even if we had it hard on our line," the 2021 World Rugby player of the year added

Dupont was named to start the game at fly-half for a first time in international rugby with France down to their fifth-choice playmaker after Romain Ntamack's injury in last weekend's win over Fiji.

Despite wearing the number 10 jersey, Toulouse's Dupont featured in his regular scrum-half position with Maxime Lucu in the nine shirt deputising for Ntamack.

"We only had one training session and what was the best combination for us," Dupont told ITV.

"I'm happy it worked out," he added.