This is set to be a World Cup clash for the ages with both sides possessing quality all across their matchday 23s.
Darry Worthington runs the rule over the fixture and gives his verdict on who he thinks will advance to the semi-finals.
France v South Africa
Sunday 15 October
Stade de France
France 4/6 | Draw 18/1 | South Africa 6/5
Is it written in the stars for Le Bleu or will another chance at World Cup glory slip by while South Africa march on to the semi-finals and continue their bid to become the first team to win four Webb Ellis Cups?
The French certainly have it in their locker to claim a victory here. It’s been them and Ireland who have been the form sides in the ‘comp with both coming through difficult pools without a loss affixed to their names.
Fabien Galthie’s men were a sight to behold during the pool phase opening their campaign with a solid 27-13 victory over the All Blacks. The only blip on an otherwise extremely impressive pool run came in their second fixture where a weakened Le Bleu were run close by Uruguay beating the South Americans by only a 27-12 scoreline when the rugby public was expecting a massacre.
The tournament hosts were back at their best the following week, however, as they hammered Namibia 96-0 – the biggest winning margin at this year’s tournament – before closing their campaign with a highly impressive 60-7 victory over 6 Nations rivals, Italy.
While a solid showing against their neighbors in their final pool phase fixture will have bred a lot of confidence in this French outfit, the news that talismanic scrum-half Antoine Dupont was able to return to training on Monday will have been the real shot in the arm for the tournament hosts. The dynamic pivot was expected to be out for the remainder of the tournament after sustaining a broken jaw bone but has been miraculously passed fit to return to training just a few weeks after copping the injury.
While I personally admire the man’s zealousness to return to the field, one has to wonder if the medics and doctors who have declared him fit need to take a second look at the hypocritical oaths they took.
With Dupont now back in training, the question is whether the world’s best scrumhalf gets a start or plays a role off the bench. Sense would say a role off the bench but there’s so much on the line here for Le Bleu and this will be such a tight game that you suspect he’ll be banging on Galthie’s door demanding a start. We could well be in for a very late team announcement from the French coach as he looks to buy his star man as much time as possible.
Over to the South Africans now, and while they did suffer a defeat in their pool phase they were also pretty impressive beating Scotland 18-3, Romania 76-0 and Tonga 49-18 while going down 8-13 to the Irish. They did have an Achilles heel during the pool matches with their goal kicking drastically letting them down. Incumbent fly-half Manie Libbok ended the pool phase with a conversion rate of just over 55%, which is pretty worrying.
With Libbok struggling with the boot, one would think Rassie and Jacques would be giving serious consideration to Handre Pollard coming into the side. The 2019 World Cup winner had a solid outing against Tonga landing all four of his shots at goal. It seems the Bok brains trust will continue with Libbok, however, as with Jacques Nienabar insisting Libbok’s style of play is crucial to the Springbok cause.
Another selection conundrum facing Springbok management is whether to get Lukhanyo Am back in the match day 23. The 2019 World Cup-winning centre linked up with the squad just over a week ago but didn’t arrive in time to get minutes against Tonga. He is such a brilliant defender though and he could well be called upon to close down an in-form Irish midfield.
Away from the team selection headaches and there are other problems for the Boks with South Africa’s sports ministry falling foul of WADA for not updating their doping code of conduct in good time. Should the South African sports department fail to appease the World Anti Doping Agency, then the South African anthem will not be heard during the quarter-final and the country’s flag will not make an appearance either.
This will be a cracking game and a tight one at that. I’m not too confident on backing a winner here but I do like the Springboks on the plus. I’ll also think this will be a low-scoring affair so back the match totals under markets could be a shrewd move for punters.
Verdict: South Africa
