South African-born former France international Antonie Claassen previews the 45th test between the two teams at Stade Velodrome in Marseille. He talks about the Boks’ flyhalf conundrum, how the backrows compare pound for pound and Cheslin Kolbe channeling his inner-Morne Steyn with the boot on Saturday night.
Since the Springboks last played in Marseille 20 years ago, the stadium has undergone a facelift with construction having taken place ahead of the 2016 European Championship. Marseille is a city which is mostly known for its soccer but I recall playing a semifinal there for Racing and the atmosphere on that occasion was amazing.
HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT AWAITS THE BOKS
People are very passionate about their rugby in the south of France and the Boks can expect an extremely hostile environment. On-field, the French pack is not as experienced as the Boks and I would like to see if they can match up physically. The Boks’ philosophy has been to batter teams and wear them down physically to be able to open up in the second half. We will see the true depth and quality of this French pack when they come up against this Bok side. Will the French walk over the Boks? I’m not so sure because it’s two teams with very similar game plans and strategies that they want to put in place. When France are in their half, they very seldom play any rugby, they kick the ball away and try to put some pressure on the opposition in their own half.
The French are conditioned in such a different way than before. They are in great physical condition so are able to kick the ball away and defend for long periods of time. France have a very similar defensive strategy to the Boks – coming up hard and closing from the outside. It's a high-risk defence, and you have to be well-prepared physically.
WILL KOLBE DELIVER FROM KICKING TEE?
There is going to be a lot of kicking and high-ball contestation which is why the Boks have made changes, with Cheslin Kolbe going back to the wing and Willie le Roux regaining his place at fullback. It has been done in order to counter those kicking tactics. In terms of goal-kicker, the Boks have suggested that Kolbe will be their first-choice from the tee, with Manie Libbok poised to debut off the bench. Being less than a year away from the World Cup, for me, it’s important to have a kicker you can rely on. For South Africa’s sake, I hope Kolbe is able to channel his inner-Morne Steyn but I’m on the fence about that one as he has to prove it this weekend. It’s going to come down to those pressure kicks and, when it counts most, is he going to be able to slot them? Personally, I prefer a more experienced kicker with a higher conversion rate.
With the French having won 11 games in a row, it would have been like throwing Libbok in at the deep end had he started. Giving him some minutes in the second half is the best solution in my opinion. Willemse is still trying to find his feet at test level at No 10 which isn’t easy when you are
playing against the best in the world. The question that must be asked is, how many games do you afford a player at this level to find his feet?
BACKROW BATTLE WORTH THE ADMISSION
People can be of the opinion that the Boks are over-reliant on their physicality and it’s possible that they sometimes might seem one-dimensional. However, you have to work with the qualities and the culture that you have. Why try and play an expansive game when you’ve got the forwards able to physically hurt the opposition? For the Boks, it comes down to sticking to the game plan and working with the forwards that they have.
When comparing the loose trios, Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jasper Wiese’s reputation speaks for itself and they are a little bit more experienced than their French counterparts. But Gregory Aldritt is one of the top players in the world at the moment and the French depend on him for go-forward. Charles Ollivon has leadership capabilities and Anthony Jelonch is the workhorse in the team and does the hard graft.
I think the French should be favourites for this test match because of what they have done over the past two years and the structures they have put in place. That said, the Boks are world champions and you can never take that away from them. They are a team with a helluva lot of pride and they have won the last seven tests against France. However, owing to their current form and the fact that the game is being played at home, it leans more towards the French but it’s going to be a matchup of small margins.
BOKS MUST TARGET FRENCH GENERALS
For the Boks to prosper against the French, they need to follow the Wallabies’ lead and put pressure on the 9-10 axis of Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack. They are really leading the team and are two little generals. Dupont is the key player the Boks should target. The Boks also need to slow down France’s ruck ball because when they generate quick ball on the front foot and start offloading, they are extremely dangerous.