Assistant coach Daan Human and prop Trevor Nyakane are ready for set-piece warfare when the Springboks and France tussle in Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final in Paris.
The Boks will face the tournament hosts at Stade de France in the last of four quarter-finals of the 2023 edition, for what is expected to be a cracker of a knockout match.
The recent tussle between South Africa and the French saw Les Bleus triumph 30-26 in Marseille last November, and Human and Nyakane have no doubt their next meeting will be a top-class affair.
Speaking in the lead-up to this weekend’s playoff, Human was thrilled about the Boks advancing to the quarter-finals: “Our objective was to qualify for the quarter-final, so we are very happy, and we are looking forward to this week.”
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Human said both the Boks and France had improved since last year, while adding that it was difficult to single out any weak links among Fabien Galthie’s troops.
“I think they are better than last year, but so are we,” the scrum tactician said.
“If you train hard, you’ll naturally get better as a team. But just as they believe in themselves, we believe in our players as well.”
When quizzed about France’s strengths, the former Bok and Toulouse prop added: “They are strong in every department. That’s why they are the No 2 team in the world. They also won all four pool games and did very well against New Zealand, so there isn’t one area one can say they are particularly good at.”
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Nyakane, too, can’t wait to continue to help defend the title the Boks won in Japan four years ago.
“I’m very pleased and excited to be here and I can’t wait for the next few weeks of rugby. We’ve been working as hard as we can to achieve our goals and hopefully, we can continue to do so,” said Nyakane, who plays his club rugby for French club side Racing 92 in Paris.
“[Scrumming] is a very important facet in the game in France and in the Top 14 competition. They put a lot of emphasis on that area of the game. If you get it right, it’s a beautiful thing and it gives you a mental boost.
“They are going to be a difficult set piece to move, but we pride ourselves in the scrum and we pride ourselves in set-piece dominance.
“We’ve been working hard, coach Daan has been killing our legs in the scrum sessions. It’s a challenge we’re looking forward to now.”
On the partisan French crowd, the 66-Test Nyakane added: “The crowd will be there and will be loud.
“We all know the French crowd is very passionate, even if you play against the team that’s 14th in the Top 14, when you go there it’s actually hostile. It’s loud and it’s intimidating.”
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