Englishman Matt Dawson is the latest pundit who has written off the Springboks’ chances of beating France on Sunday and continuing their World Cup title defence.
In naming his favourites for the quarter-finals of the competition this weekend, former England coach Clive Woodward predicted that all four winners will be Six Nations teams.
And Dawson, writing for BBC Sport, also expects a clean sweep for the northern hemisphere sides, and anticipates the Boks putting up a brave fight but will be no match for a Les Bleus outfit even without talismanic skipper Antoine Dupont.
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“One thing in France’s favour is the support of the home nation,” the World Cup-winning scrumhalf writes.
“We have sometimes wondered if the occasion and expectation might prove too much for them, but head coach Fabien Galthie, team manager Raphael Ibanez and defence coach Shaun Edwards seem to be able to manage them through the pressure.
“Dupont is still coming back from a facial fracture sustained against Namibia and may not be quite ready for this game. Any team is going to miss the world’s best player, but Maxime Lucu, who has stood in at nine, has been an excellent understudy.
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“South Africa have the tools to beat France. Their defence comes up so fast and they tackle so hard that they can defend the gain-line and slow down France’s supply of ball.
“But France have threats across their team and the intelligence and composure to find them and depose the defending champions.”
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