Bob Skinstad's Springboks got their end-of-year European tour off to a disastrous start on Saturday when they lost 20-10 to a young French team in Paris.

Despite creating several scoring opportunities, they only managed one try through recalled winger Pieter Rossouw, while Braam van Straaten added the conversion and a penalty.

Some poor discipline, particularly by Cobus Visagie and AJ Venter, and option taking by the visitors allowed young French flyhalf Francois Gelez the opportunity to slot four penalties, with centre Damien Trialle also weighing in with a long-range three-pointer.

With the game evenly poised at 15-10 in favour of the home side, veteran French hooker Raphael Ibanez crashed over in the corner for the match-winning score after some good link-up play in the backline and a beautifully weighed long pass by captain Fabien Galthie.

For the Boks, debutant Trevor Halstead had a solid game, as did scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen. However, the front row of Cobus Visagie, Lukas van Biljon and Ollie le Roux were badly beaten by their opposite numbers Jean-Jacques Crenca, Ibanez and Pieter de Villiers.

South Africa next head for Rome to face the Italians, before leaving for Twickenham where they will face a fired-up England side after their 21-15 victory over world champions Australia on Saturday.

Scorers:

South Africa - Try: Pieter Rossouw; Conversion: Braam van Straaten; Penalty: Van Straaten.

France - Try: Raphael Ibanez; Penalties: Francois Gelez (4), Damien Traille.

Scoring Sequence:

First Half: 3-0 Van Straaten penalty (5th), 3-3 Gelez penalty (9th), 3-6 Gelez penalty (11th); 3-9 Gelez penalty (34th).

Second Half: 10-9 Rossouw try, Van Straaten conversion (8th), 10-12 Traille penalty (20th); 10-15 Gelez penalty (27th); 10-20 Ibanez try (35th).

Teams:

South Africa: Conrad Jantjes, Breyton Paulse, Andre Snyman, Trevor Halstead, Pieter Rossouw, Braam van Straaten, Joost van der Westhuizen, Bob Skinstad (capt), AJ Venter, Andre Vos, Mark Andrews, Victor Matfield, Cobus Visagie, Lukas van Biljon, Ollie le Roux. Substitutes: John Smit (Van Biljon 67th), Willie Meyer (Visagie 67th), Toks van der Linde (Le Roux 60th), Andre Venter (Andrews 78th), Joe van Niekerk (AJ Venter 75th), Deon de Kock, Percy Montgomery (Snyman 70th).

France: Clement Poitrenaud, Aurelien Rougerie, Damien Traille, Tony Marsh, David Bory, Francois Gelez, Fabien Galthie (capt), Olivier Magne, Francis Ntamack, Patrick Tabacco, Thibault Privat, David Auradou, Pieter de Villiers, Raphael Ibanez, Jean-Jacques Crenca. Substitutes: Yannick Bru, Jean-Baptiste Poux, Lionel Nallet, Serge Betsen, Frederic Michalak, Christophe Dominici, Nicolas Jeanjean.