Springbok pack gears up for brutal French set-piece battle in Paris

The Springbok forwards are ready to meet the physical challenge of France, and the duel could show them exactly where they are two years from the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

South Africa will face Les Blues at the Stade de France on Saturday evening (10.10pm kick-off), and following their previous encounter at the stadium in 2023, they expect the home side to come out firing to avenge that quarter-final defeat.

It was a one-point victory for the Boks, who eventually bagged the Webb Ellis Cup, and it’s expected to be another tight encounter in the rematch in Paris.

Springbok lock Lood de Jager, who missed the previous clash and the World Cup due to illness, says they are ready for that challenge.

“They are known for their confrontational style of play,” the lineout ace said on Tuesday.

“They have a good pack, with a strong rolling maul and scrum. They are a team that plays quite directly, so it will be a challenge for us as a pack of forwards. We analyse every team we play, and we had a good look at their lineout as well.

“France have a very good success rate when it comes to the lineouts and a strong maul. So, it is a threat. We have to do our best to negate it and get the upper hand to win the Test. Every match is a big challenge as a team and individually. We look forward to it.”

Bok flyhalf Manie Libbok added that they will prepare in the same manner as they do for other Tests, although it is a massive game. He was part of the team that won in the quarters, but added that it is not something they will look into too much.

While the talk in France is about getting ‘revenge’ for 2023, the Springboks won’t fall into the trap of getting caught up in the emotion that comes with the duel. They know the French will come out guns blazing to take them down.

“We will go out and give our best to represent the team and the country. Our focus will be on ourselves to get the result on the day. The past encounters with France have always been tough, and that shows their quality, especially when playing against them here.

“It was awesome to get that result two years ago. That game was very tough and physical. It took a lot out of us as well. We were very happy with the result. Although the margin was just one point, a win is still a win.

“We haven’t changed much in our game plan (since then), and our main way of play is still the same. There were a few tweaks here and there that we’ve added to our game to present different pictures to our opposition.”