'We can win the World Cup' says Pelous

French captain overjoyed with Newlands win

A year out from the Rugby World Cup, to be staged in France from September next year, the French signalled their intentions with an empathic four-try to one (36-26) win over South Africa at Newlands on Saturday.

And French captain Fabien Pelous was the first to acknowledge the significance of the win in terms of the global showpiece they will host.

"I am very happy today," Pelous said of the victory. "It was a very good performance by the team, who performed very well today.

"It is one year out from the World Cup and it was important that we set down a standard. And yes, I feel we can win the World Cup, we showed that today," the French captain added.

He was also full of praise for the French forwards, who destroyed the much vaunted Bok pack.

"South Africa is always good in the physical stakes and we had to be at least at the same level as them. Today we were very good in that department," he added.

It was a win of many milestones fro the French.

It ended the Springboks' 13-match unbeaten home run at home - in fact it was Bok coach Jake White's first defeat on home soil.

It kept' France's unbeaten run at Newlands in tact. Their two previous encounters at Newlands ended in draws -3-all in 1958 and 6-all in 1967.

But most importantly, the French now moved past South Africa in second place on the world rankings - which is probably the most significant indicator of their march towards the top of the rugby pecking order.