The world champions were convincingly beaten by the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship last week, which earned criticism that key Springbok players ‘looked past it’ less than two months from the World Cup.

In naming their favourites to win the global showpiece, several former internationals have written off the Boks as title contenders and in his TimesLIVE column, Keohane argues that all the talk in 2023 is about France, Ireland and New Zealand.

However, he argues that Bok coaches Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber will want it to stay that way.

“[Erasmus and Nienaber] work their players into a frenzy of defiance. It is the South African way,” Keohane writes.

“Our players thrive on being told the world doesn’t give them a chance because it relieves the pressure. The Boks have never coped with expectation, which explains why they have failed to match the All Blacks in winning consistently.

“But they find an extra arm and leg at World Cups and they are a group of players who love the bonding, intimacy and structure of a World Cup tournament campaign.

“It plays right into the psyche of the Boks being at their best when they believe it is them against the world.”