While the Springboks have been based in the idyllic city of Toulon this week, they are now on their way to Marseille, a historic part of the French Revolution and the birthplace of the national anthem, La Marseillaise, where they will attempt to dethrone the 2023 Rugby World Cup hosts a year before the event.
France is the favourite to win the Webb Ellis Cup for the first time next October, but they must first defeat the current world champions at the Stade Velodrome on Saturday night (10 pm SA time kickoff).
Coach Fabien Galthie has led Les Bleus to a French record 11 consecutive victories, but guess what: they have lost their last seven Tests to the Boks, with their last victory coming in Toulouse in 2009.
After losing 19-16 to World No. 1 ranked Ireland in Dublin a week ago, Siya Kolisi’s team is the clear underdogs against the French.
They were far from their best at the Aviva Stadium, squandering several scoring chances and missing out on seven points via goal-kicks.
However, the fact that they came close to a victory in Ireland will give them confidence. The Boks would like to make a statement tonight, much like they did a year ago in New Zealand when they defeated the All Blacks.
That steely resolve was on display at the captain’s press conference on Friday. When asked what the most important factor will be in determining the outcome, Kolisi simply stated, “This weekend, for sure, physicality.”
The Boks are at their most dangerous when they are able to “get up” for a game, which appears to be the case this week – possibly because their travel schedule was delayed in getting to Dublin last week, some of the players were unable to play in the URC due to postponements, and there was uncertainty about their back-three combination with Cheslin Kolbe at fullback and Damien Willemse at flyhalf.
Even though the powerful Jasper Wiese was ruled out with a concussion on Friday, with Kwagga Smith now starting at No 8, the visitors are eager to get their teeth into the monster French pack.
“It’s physicality from both teams, not just from them, as we also are going to bring physicality,” Kolisi later elaborated.
“They know what they’re good at as a team, and they do that very well. Coach Rassie (Erasmus) always tells us that Test matches are between our plan and their plan, and their systems and all of that – and they know their plan very well, and they don’t go away from it.
“They are able to impose themselves on other teams very well, and that’s what we had to study as a team. So, we are going to try to meet them in that, but we are a genuinely physical team as well.
“So, it’s going to be a good test tomorrow. We will see what their tactics and our tactics are going to be, but the mauling and the scrumming are direct, and it’s going to be all about who wants it the most tomorrow – and obviously the technical things.”
Rassie Erasmus, the director of rugby, was alongside Kolisi and spoke about France’s approach, and how they kick the most of any top team, which is probably why Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse were preferred over Makazole Mapimpi at wing – to fight fire with fire with the boot in the air.
But all of that effort will be for naught if the Boks can’t convert their possession, territory, and pressure into points, as they did in 2022.
They must be ruthless inside the French 22, and Kolbe must also score in order to silence the 67 000-strong capacity crowd.
“We just want to make sure that we are playing like we plan to play in the week. The biggest thing is that we keep on going through (the fact) that we are creating all of these opportunities,” Kolisi said.
“But this weekend, we’ve got a very good plan. It’s a big game, and we always want to win in the Springbok jersey. For the momentum going forward, it’s also going to make a difference.
“We have been trying to build from last week already, and it didn’t go our way. But it’s going to be important to play them here, as it’s going to be the same atmosphere next year.
“It will be good to test all of us as a group, and if we are able to take the kind of pressure that we are going to feel on Saturday…”
Teams:
France: 15 Thomas Ramos 14 Damian Penaud 13 Gael Fickou 12 Jonathan Danty 11 Yoram Moefana 10 Romain Ntamack 9 Antoine Dupont (captain) 8 Gregory Alldritt 7 Charles Ollivon 6 Anthony Jelonch 5 Thibaud Flament 4 Cameron Woki 3 Uini Atonio 2 Julien Marchand 1 Cyril Baille.
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka 17 Reda Wardi 18 Sipili Falatea 19 Romain Taofifenua 20 Bastien Chalureau 21 Sekou Macalou 22 Maxime Lucu 23 Matthieu Jalibert.
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux 14 Cheslin Kolbe 13 Jesse Kriel 12 Damian de Allende 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse 10 Damian Willemse 9 Faf de Klerk 8 Kwagga Smith 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit 6 Siya Kolisi (captain) 5 Franco Mostert 4 Eben Etzebeth 3 Frans Malherbe 2 Bongi Mbonambi 1 Ox Nche.
Main Image:Steve Haag Sports via Hollywoodbets
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