Boks find form in four-try romp over under-strength France

Monday, 12 June 2017 00:04 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

IN-3 Ross Cronje

Pretoria (Reuters): Scrumhalf Ross Cronje scored a try on his debut as South Africa returned to form with a 37-14 victory over an under-strength France in the first test at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The Springboks started nervously but scored four tries as centres Jesse Kriel and Jan Serfontein also crossed over, to go with a penalty try.

France, who had made 10 changes from the side that played Wales in their final Six Nations match in March, were in the game until the final quarter as centre Henry Chavancy and replacement scrumhalf Baptiste Serin crossed the tryline for the visitors.

There were green shoots of recovery for the Boks after their disastrous 2016 season in a game watched by just 29,313 fans.

The second test will be played in Durban next Saturday, with the final match in the series at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on 24 June.