The Springboks are embracing the challenge of facing the 2023 Rugby World Cup hosts, France, at Stade de France in the last of four quarter-finals at 21h00 on Sunday, and Bok assistant coach Daan Human had no doubt it would be a top-class playoff match.
Human was thrilled about the Boks advancing to the quarter-finals after Ireland knocked Scotland out of the competition on Saturday night and said: “Our objective was to qualify for the quarter-final, so we are very happy, and we are looking forward to this week.”
Human said both teams had improved since their encounter in Marseille in November last year in what proved to be a humdinger of a match. The hosts won 30-26 as the Boks were reduced to 14 men early in the game due to a red card and added that it was difficult to single out their strengths as a team.
“I think they are better than last year, but so are we,” said Human.
“They are the most dominant pack in world rugby at the moment."
“It will be a battle, like all the other games are a battle. It’s a hurdle and if you want to get over the hurdle you must put in some hard yards and be successful and be good in all the departments.”
“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 Springbok and Toulouse prop said: “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 not particularly good at.”
