In their attempt to crush France’s hopes at the Rugby World Cup on Sunday, the Springboks proved to be uncompromising.

In front of almost 80,000 spectators at Stade de France, the reigning champions went above and above for one of their most stubborn performances, eliminating the highly regarded French from their home World Cup with a thrilling 29-28 victory in the quarterfinals.

“For all the support we’ve had, it’s heartbreaking,” France flanker Charles Ollivon said.

For the first hour, France’s attacking rugby was all the rage, and the fans loved it. South Africa was left to hang on and eat crumbs, but in the last 13 minutes, lock Eben Etzebeth unexpectedly turned the tide by barging over close to the posts to make up for an earlier yellow card.