Brendan Gallagher on the ten-match tour which changed rugby in France for ever

FRANCE’S ten-match tour and series win in South Africa 1958 can probably be viewed, historically, as the seminal moment in the development of Les Bleus. French rugby was never the same afterwards which means the rugby world itself changed.
On one level it was a ripping rugby yarn, a backs-to-the-wall triumph in adversity. Already travelling with a much-weakened squad to tackle the unofficial world champions in their own lair, France picked up a litany of injuries early on and appeared complete no ho...