1
Where South Africa hope to get an edge against France
South Africa assistant coach Mzwandile Stick hopes his team can draw on the experience of their victorious 2019 World Cup run when they take on France in Sunday’s quarter-final in Paris.
ADVERTISEMENT
The defending champions finished second in Pool B to set up a meeting with the tournament hosts in the last eight, a position which is not unfamiliar to the Springboks.
In 2019 South Africa faced hosts Japan in the quarter-finals before going on to win the competition and Stick says it is beneficial to have a “reference point” ahead of what he anticipates will be a “tight game”.
“We are playing against France and we know they are also in a good space as a team,” he said.
“They have won all their games, they had a big game against the All Blacks in the first game of the group stage and did very well.
“The nice thing for us is we have been in this position before. In Japan in 2019, it was the same thing, playing Japan with all their supporters. It is the nature of the game in a World Cup, you have to go through the tough ones.
“At least we have a good reference point. We have been here before. Every game we play now, we can’t afford not to capitalise on the opportunities that are created.
“It is going to be a tight game. We are well prepared but we will see tomorrow. It doesn’t get bigger than this.”
ADVERTISEMENT
South Africa have brought Cobus Reinach and Manie Libbok in at scrum-half and fly-half respectively, while Duane Vermeulen starts at number eight in place of Jasper Wiese.
The Springboks’ bench has a 5-3 split of forwards to backs for the second consecutive game, with Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard among the replacements.
“We looked at the balance of the team. Having guys like Handre Pollard and Faf on the bench, if the game gets tight we have guys who can close the game for us,” Stick added.
“With Cobus and Manie Libbok as a partnership, form-wise whenever Cobus gets an opportunity he really plays very well for us and Manie Libbok has changed the way we play.
ADVERTISEMENT
“You can see how we play. The quality of the tries we have been scoring lately, they are good team tries.
“Manie Libbok is our general, he is playing very well for us and is a very, very confident player and deserves to be in the starting line-up. You can’t ask for any better playmaker to play behind.
“I think it will take the whole 23 players, it is going to be a tough one.
“As we’ve been saying all week, to us it is bigger than just a rugby game. We have 60 million people in South Africa that are hoping (for a win). Tomorrow at nine o’clock they will forget about all the problems in their lives.
“Everyone is on the one page and celebrating the moment in front of them, which is the Springboks when they are playing.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Mad how this somehow contained absolutely zero information.
1 Go to commentsI’m looking forward to attending the Twickenham match, I don’t think it will have a bearing on the outcome of the grand prize itself but it will tell us more about each teams’ preparation and game plan. It’s hard to look past one of the big four (I’m including Canada) lifting the trophy in 2025 but sport is a curious thing, there will still be twists and turns in road ahead.
2 Go to commentsThe better side seems to be the losing side a lot these days. As far as narrative goes. Must be the big emergent culture of “participation awards” that have emerged in nanny states. ”It looked like New Zealand would take the game from there but lapses in execution let South Africa get back into the game. New Zealand’s goal kickers left five points out there, including a very make-able penalty on the stroke of half”. Sounds like a chronic problem… I wonder how the better team has lapses in concentration and execution? Or are those not important factors in the grand scheme of total performances? In 2023, the ABs at least didn’t give up a lead to lose. They just couldn’t execute to get the points and take the lead. This Baby AB result points to a choke - letting the game slip through your fingers. In the words of the great Ricky Bobby’s dad - “If you’re not 1st you’re last!” Loosely translated - if you didn’t win, you’re a loser.
9 Go to commentsWith Stuart Lancaster at the helm, Racing 92 looks more and more a mercenaries club like Toulon some years ago and they are not even performing despite all the money on offer.
4 Go to commentsCouple of things BS missed: wind was behind the Baby Blacks in the first half. Baby Boks got points from a scrum penalty in the final quarter against this ‘dominant pack’, and left three points on the park after a missed penalty.
9 Go to commentsSensible thoughts on this, Brett. Also worth considering we’ve sold 60k tickets for a game between the Rebels and the Lions next year. Got to be roughly $10m in ticket and game day revenue there.
5 Go to commentsUnsuccessful bitter ex Ulster player taking a pop shot at a side that isn't including his consistently poor mates up north
4 Go to commentsHis decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
4 Go to commentsWow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….
1 Go to commentsIs the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seems like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.
4 Go to commentsWell, it is easily one of the best Irish sides, it’s just that their historical standard is very low.
4 Go to commentsThe Irish side is good. They have lost 2 games in the last 23 tests. In the last 12 months they have have a 60% win rate against the top 5 sides in the world. Over the same period south africa have a 67% win rate against the top 5 teams, and New Zealand are at 40%.
4 Go to commentsOnly 1247 days until RWC 2027 starts Bin Smuth🤣Can’t wait to see how unhinged you’re still gonna get between now & then
200 Go to commentsany chance either team will improve on their u20 world cup performances this time around? I assume both sides will be deeply disappointed with how things went.
6 Go to commentsAnother poor articles by a poor journo, nothing new from Ben, at least you are consistently bad lol, geez I will try and watch the match later, clearly Benny was only looking to one end of the pitch, hard to tell whom the Baby Blacks were playing if it wasn’t in the header 😄😄
9 Go to commentsNz should have won. I didn't watch the game, but the ref was at fault and the bounce of the ball and the Bokke used the Bomb squad and the Bokke slow the game down and the Bokke scrum. They should remove the scrum. The Bokke are to strong. Not fair. Nz should have won
9 Go to commentsProbably the worst article on a rugby match I have ever read
200 Go to commentsWho hurt this man.. LoL 😭
200 Go to commentsIt unfortunate for the Jaguares that they became formidable just as super rugby as we knew came to an end. However, the idea of bringing them back is nonsensical. While I enjoyed the Jaguares and the South African flavour of the comp, a selling point of this incarnation of super rugby is that all games are on a decent time for an Aussie audience.
5 Go to commentslol that’s your opinion Ben, All Blacks benefited from a forward pass try, SA played 77 min without a recognised hooker, missed a no try conversion and a penalty could have would have but didn’t
200 Go to comments