The teams clash in a big Nations Championship match in Paris on Friday night.
French coach Faboen Galthi has high praise for Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks. Picture: Warren Little/Getty Images
The current Springbok team under coach Rassie Erasmus are “among the best ever rugby teams in the world”, according to France coach Fabien Galthie. The teams meet in Paris in the Nations Championship on Friday night (10.10pm).
The Boks lead the way in the south section of the competition, while France top the log in the north section.
The two teams have met regularly in close matches in recent times, with the Boks just holding the edge in number of wins, including in the 2023 World Cup quarter-final on French soil.
Asked his thoughts about the Boks ahead of Friday’s game in Saint Denis, Galthie said: “They’re double world champions and right now they’re among the best ever rugby teams in the world … that’s what they’re building.
“They’re effective in every area. In the air, there’s very little space with them; on the ground, there’s very little space with them; there are very few gaps with them.
“To get out wide, you have to first go through the middle where they are very aggressive and win a lot of collisions.
“Against South Africa, there’s very little space, very little time and a constant physical dimension which means that the physical battle affects the strategic, technical and tactical side of things.
“But that’s a good thing because it allows us to push our limits where we want to evolve.”
Dupont at 10
The Boks go into the game after hammering Italy in Turin last Saturday, while France beat Fiji last Saturday night.
Both teams are missing key players; the Boks will be without Cheslin Kolbe and Eben Etzebeth, while France are without several first-choice flyhalves, including Romain Ntamack, as well as fullback Thomas Ramos.
Antoine Dupont, the regular scrumhalf and influential captain, will start in the No 10 jersey. Maxime Luca will play scrumhalf.
“We took a lot of pleasure in tackling this challenge of designing something which could bring us greater stability and balance in our playmaking,” said Galthie of the surprise selection at nine and 10.
“These are two players with a lot of experience, they are two icons in France… and in the world, who we wanted to align together to lead the team on Friday night.”
Both scrum-halves have played at flyhalf before, but Lucu has considerably more experience doing so for his club Bordeaux-Begles than Dupont does at Toulouse.
Galthie has also opted to beef up his pack against the fearsome Springbok forwards, with Julien Marchand picked in place of Maxime Lamothe at hooker.
Former captain Gregory Alldritt makes his return to the team for the first time in a year at No 8 with fellow back-rower Paul Boudehent injured.
