Five Boks will be ready when they face France for first time – Kolisi
The Springbok captain also credited France's Top 14 for preparing the nation's players well for Test level.
Captain Siya Kolisi has briefed the five Springboks who will be facing France for the first time in the Nations Championship. Both teams are currently top of their respective hemisphere tables, with the match kicking off at 10:10pm in Paris. Rassie Erasmus made only two changes to his side, which had a dominant 66-7 victory over Italy, while France's coach, Fabien Galthie, had to make more adjustments following their 54-17 win against Fiji.
One notable change sees captain Antoine Dupont moving from scrumhalf to flyhalf after not playing the position for two years, with Maxime Lucu taking his place.
Among the Springboks, Ethan Hooker and Morné van den Berg are in the starting lineup, with Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Cameron Hanekom, and Paul de Villiers on the bench. None of these players have previously faced France. Kolisi highlighted two main issues the players need to address: the atmosphere in a French game and the physicality of their opponents.
He noted that despite the passionate French crowd, players must block out the hype and focus on the game itself. Kolisi emphasized that the French prioritize set-piece dominance and exploiting broken play, aspects that are crucial for international rugby and serve as a bonus for both nations.
Written by urgent.news from The Citizen's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
