Springboks expect positional ‘switches’ from France

The Springboks are set to face a massive battle against France in Paris on Friday night, and the selection of renowned scrumhalf Antoine Dupont at flyhalf could bring a new dimension to the hosts’ game.

After France were hit by an injury crisis in the flyhalf position, the decision was made to shift Dupont to 10, while captain Maxime Lucu will start at scrumhalf.

However, the Springboks are expecting this to be a fairly fluid situation.

“We’ve watched clips and seen how they play, and we’ve watched how he (Dupont) plays at flyhalf too, so we haven’t done anything special for him individually because he’s playing at No 10,” Siya Kolisi commented.

“Maxime Lucu has also played flyhalf for Bordeaux, so it will happen naturally for them to swap. Antoine wants to be on the ball a lot and he creates a lot of play on the field, so for him to go to scrumhalf will also be natural, and they’ll be able to adjust. That said, our system is prepared for that, so it doesn’t matter who we’re playing against.”

Springboks ready to contend with curve balls from France

Springbok sssistant coach Mzwandile Stick also agreed with Kolisi’s point of view, and he suggested the halfback pairing would not hugely affect the match against France, especially on defence.

“When it comes to physicality, we know one thing for sure, France will always bring it. They’ve got very good physical players, especially among their forwards, but No 9 and No 10 is where it’s going to get tricky.

“I have no doubt that even though Dupont will be wearing the No 10 jersey, he’s going to have licence to do whatever he wants between the two positions.

“Remember that Lucu has also covered 10 in the past, so between the two of them there’ll be freedom to keep swapping in general play. You’ll probably see Dupont at the breakdowns at No 9, and Lucu at first receiver at times. So, we know what they want to achieve.

“That said if we allow that halfback combination time and space with ball in hand, they have the potential to punish us, so our main focus point is to make sure we don’t allow that. They also have very dangerous outside backs, and they’ve selected very quick players.”

Kick off is a 22:10 (SA time).

HOW THE TEAMS WILL LINE UP

France: 15 Théo Attissogbe, 14 Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, 13 Kalvin Gourgues, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Antoine Dupont, 9 Maxime Lucu (captain), 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Cameron Woki, 6 François Cros, 5 Mickaël Guillard, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Sipili Falatea, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros.
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Régis Montagne, 19 Charles Ollivon, 20 Tom Staniforth, 21 Esteban Capilla, 22 Axel Desperes, 23 Emilien Gailleton.

South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Lood de Jager, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Paul de Villiers, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Manie Libbok.