The Springboks are gearing up for their penultimate Nations Championship cross-hemisphere group match against France on Friday evening in Paris. The match features the log leaders of the southern and northern hemisphere groups.
And with the championship going straight to a final after the group stage, it’s a must-win clash for both. South Africa will gun for a third consecutive victory over France since losing to them in 2022 in Marseille.
But the Boks have not lost to the French in Paris since 2005 and have won nine out of their last 10 encounters against Le Bleus. Last year, South Africa beat the home team 32-17 at the Stade de France, but Springbok captain Siya Kolisi says this will be a different ballgame.
“We take every game as it comes, what happened last year is gone, we have changed as a group and the way we play so we don’t get stuck in things that happened before. This is a new game and new opportunity it’s not the same team that played in 2023 and last year, there are new guys that haven’t played here before. It’s a new challenge,” says Kolisi.
With France missing four big-name flyhalves due to injury, head coach Fabien Galthie made an interesting selection at number 10, with Antoine Dupont getting the nod. Dupont partners with Maxime Lucu, named at scrumhalf.
This will be the first time the mercurial Dupont starts at flyhalf for Les Bleus. And Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick says the key will be to deny the French space.
“When it comes to denying opposition space it’s always our plan, if you play against the best in the world line Dupont and Bielle-Biarrey they will punish you, so the key thing is to deny them space. You don’t allow teams to get on top of you especially playing against play makers like Lucu and Dupont with momentum will stay on top of you and he is very good making good decisions under pressure and Lucu is very good in game management.”
The big talking point this week was the forward battle. Last year, South Africa got the better of Les Bleus up front. The Boks made minimal changes to their forward pack, which started against Italy.
Wilco Louw and Thomas du Toit swap roles, with the latter dropping to the bench. With the Boks team named on Monday, Galthie bolstered his pack.
Julien Marchand starts at hooker in place of Maxime Lamothe, while Gregory Alldritt features for Les Bleus for the first time this season at number eight following an injury to Paul Boudehent.
VINCENT SITSULA