The Springboks have had a tough time in France when it comes to the way they’ve been treated by the crowds ever since they knocked the French out of their own World Cup in a memorable but tightly fought and controversial - to the French public and media anyway - quarterfinal.
They became the team everyone loved to hate after that, with the animosity of the French crowds very evident in the semifinal and final that followed that game, as well as when the two teams met in Paris last November.
And yet the Boks prevailed every time, and coach Rassie Erasmus confirmed that part of the reason is that the adversity switches his team on.
“We always get up for a game like this. The French crowds and stadiums are foreign to us and France is a tough place to play but that makes it really enjoyable for us,” said Erasmus.
“We lost narrowly (in Marseille) when Pieter-Steph du Toit was red carded early in the game in 2022 and then we had two narrow wins since then where we scraped through. Like when we play New Zealand or England, it doesn’t require a lot to be done to get the team up for it when we play against France. We enjoy the French vibe and the way they get behind their team.”
Erasmus was asked why his team tended to win the close ones against France but he wasn’t prepared to answer that question in a direct way.
“I can’t say why we win, or give you a reason why we win, because we might lose on Friday. What I can say is that we have a lot of respect for France, who we regard as a very good team, and we enjoy the physical as well as the tactical battle.
"They have guys who have a lot of skill and also guys who have a lot of power. It is a big challenge to play against France.”
MUTUAL RESPECT BETWEEN THE TEAMS
The Boks do enjoy a challenge, and respect is one of the keys to why Erasmus doesn’t believe there will ever be a question of his team not being up for a French game.
He is expecting France under the coaching of Fabien Galthie, who has made a few adjustments to his management team since these teams last met at the same venue a year ago, to throw a slightly different challenge at the Boks this time.
Erasmus didn’t mention the All Black series, but it is clear he feels that the French might have noted how the Kiwis attacked the Boks with tempo in the four test matches of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
“We expect their team to be lighter and more full of running this time,” he said. “They always have a good kicking game. I am not sure who will play 10 for them (because of injuries) but it looks like it might be a centre.
"They maul a lot. Last year they mauled 70 per cent of their lineouts. They have a very dangerous player in Antoine Dupont. Not even his teammates know what he is going to do next so how are we supposed to know.
“They like to play against a physical team like us as they are quite similar. They don’t hide away from the physical stuff. They used to rely heavily on a long kicking game before the Dupont rule came in, now they play more of a contestable kicking game.”
That is an area where Erasmus will expect the French to be better than the All Blacks were when they were in South Africa in August and September.
RASSIE LAUGHS OFF FAVOURITES DEBATE
When it came to the question of who would be the favourites to win on Friday night, Erasmus took a bit of exception to a French journalists suggestion that the hosts would be the underdogs because injuries have forced them to go into the game under-strength.
“We have several guys who are not here too. We don’t have injuries to the players who played the last game against Italy but Frans Malherbe is not here. He is going to play in January and we expect him to be part of our World Cup squad.
"RG (Snyman) is not here. Eben (Etzebeth) has just flown out from South Africa after missing the start of the tour through injury and is not ready yet to play this game.
“Kwagga (Smith) is not here, Andre Esterhuizen is not here, Handre Pollard is not here, Cheslin Kolbe is not here. So who is really under-strength?
You also need to look at where in our respective seasons we are playing these games. It is the back end of our (international season), we have three games left. France played in the Six Nations, then they had the July window, and they are now playing for the first time since then. They are definitely not punch drunk.
“They are using these matches to build into the Six Nations, which starts in two months' time. Our guys, those who have not been in Japan, have been playing in the URC. I don’t think the talk about favourites has any relevance.
"There are two assistant referees, one referee, one field, the crowd is very intimidating but we know they can’t kill you. They might think they are favourites, they might think we are favourites. Being favourites might make you complacent, but I can tell you we are definitely not complacent for this game.”