During the 2017 Six Nations Championship, France finished in their highest position since the 2011 Six Nations Championship. They secured three wins in the Championship, defeating Scotland 22–16, Italy 40–18 and Wales 20–18. The Wales match saw France claim the victory twenty minutes into overtime (100 game minutes), beating Wales for the first time since 2011. In June 2017, Novès took France on their first test series to South Africa since 2005, and their first away fixture to South Africa since 2010. Despite the South African side having thirteen players with less than ten caps in their squad, the Springboks convincingly won the series 3–0, winning the first test 37–14, the second 37–15 and the final test 35–12. Following the series loss, France dropped to eighth place in the World Rankings. The French Rugby Federation president backed Novès to take France through to the next World Cup.