In the great Siya Kolisi’s 100th Test match appearance, France finally get their opportunity to exact revenge on the Springboks for their agonising 2023 Rugby World Cup quarterfinal defeat when the teams collide in Saturday’s Parisian showstopper.
Saturday 8 November
France | Draw | South Africa
Handicap
France | South Africa
There’s been plenty of talk from the French camp in the lead-up to this weekend’s game about what happened at the Stade de France two years ago, when France’s golden generation, led by the best player on the planet in Antoine Dupont, where dumped out of their own tournament by the defending world champions South Africa.
Though a long-term injury meant he cruelly took no part in that encounter, France flyhalf Romain Ntamack recently labelled the effects of that one-point defeat as “traumatic”, while scrumhalf and Bordeaux-Begles captain Maxime Lucu used similarly colourful language in relation to the loss, saying that “their” World Cup was “stolen” off of them by Rassie Erasmus’ men. A rather melodramatic bunch, wouldn’t you say?
That pain, though, is obviously very real for Fabien Galthie’s men, who, even without a still injured Dupont, will be as dangerous as ever and seemingly willing to do whatever it takes to get this one over the line at the very venue, and in front of the same people that witnessed that dark day on 16 October 2023.
On the opposite side of the fence though, the occasion of Kolisi’s 100th Test cap will surely engender a similarly determined and passionate display from the Boks, who will want to give one of the game’s modern greats the performance deserving of such an occasion.
With the French having sent an arguably third-string squad to tour New Zealand for their mid-year Tests against the All Blacks, the last time Galthie’s outfit played at full-strength was way back in their successful Six Nations campaign at the beginning of the year.
Meanwhile, the Boks arrive off the back of the recent Rugby Championship and a 61-7 demolition of Japan in England last week. With so much momentum and continuity behind them, the away team will have a massive advantage, even without the services of Ox Nche at scrum time or a regular fullback.
France have some injury concerns of their own aside from their scrumhalf skipper extraordinaire, with front row juggernauts Uini Atonio and Peato Mauvaka both ruled out. Although they still have crazy player depth at their disposal, these absences, coupled with a lack of gametime, could all add up in a match set to be decided by the barest of margins once again.
Verdict: South Africa on the board
Get on the Springboks to do the business again against an underdone and potentially overemotional French outfit, whose World Cup demons may be here to stay.
