Boks expect backlash
WITH a huge sigh of relief, the Springboks managed to do the business in their first game of the year with a solid outing at Loftus last week. However, some key personnel in the Bok squad know that the proud French nation won’t be doing them any favours in the upcoming Test at Kings Park on Saturday (5pm).
While the Boks put on a much better show than their first game against the Irish last year, the praise must be measured against the opposition. The French are coming off the end of their long season, they were without some of their best players from Clermont and Toulon who participated in the Top 14 final, and were rested last week.
It allowed for the Springboks to, indeed, build a little momentum, and build their crumbled confidence, but that game has also given the French a chance to bounce back against the odds.
Backline coach Franco Smith knows all about what a wounded French team can bring from his days of coaching against Top 14 teams in the then Heineken Cup. There would often be back to back games against French sides for Smith’s Italian side Treviso, and he has felt their secondround sting before.
“I experienced coaching against French teams in back to back fixtures in the Heineken Cup, and the one thing that you were always assured of was that there’d be a backlash. They would always provide a much bigger challenge the following week, if they had a bad game previously, and we are expecting a much better French performance in this game,” said Smith.
The French are also calling in the cavalry from Clermont and Toulon, including their captain Guilhem Guirado at hooker. On top of that, experienced flyhalf Francois Trinh-Duc also looks set to walk into the No 10 jersey along with five other players that were rested.
The French will, indeed, be a different beast in Durban, both in their team selection as well as their attitude. But another string in the Boks’ bow is their insider men on the ground in Steven Kitshoff and Frans Steyn, who both ply their trade in France.
Smith commented that the returning veteran Steyn has brought a lot to his table since rejoining the Boks after a lengthy hiatus. His time in France has matured the talented back, and he has learnt a trick or two about French rugby.
“Frans’s influence has been enormous, when he came back in here he was very positive for an experienced guy,” Smith explained. “He has come a long way. He is a young-old guy, if I can put it like that, and he has used his experience in France to influence the guys here and make the comfortable, and to give us some info on their players and how they play the game.”
France are too proud to be walked all over again, and, at least, the Boks are aware of this and not resting on their laurels after a big win in Pretoria. They will be fierce, but the Boks know this.