The last of the quarter-finals. One semi-final place up for grabs. The hosts, second in the World Rugby Men’s Rankings powered by Capgemini, against the defending champions and the side they overtook during the tournament. It doesn’t get much bigger than this.
South Africa’s head coach Jacques Nienaber has named 13 of the 15 players who started against Ireland in round three. The only two changes are at scrum-half, where Cobus Reinach gets the nod ahead of Faf de Klerk, and at eight, with Duane Vermeulen in place of Jasper Wiese.
With 880 caps in the starting XV, it’s South Africa’s second-most experienced test line-up ever. Most of those caps are in the run-on pack, who have 623 caps between them - more than any other front eight in Springbok history. And there’s plenty more on the bench, as well…
Jacques Nienaber has named a 5-3 bench split for the second consecutive match, and third time at RWC 2023, while 14 of those involved here played against France in Marseille last November - including Manie Libbok, who made his debut back then.
South Africa assistant coach Mzwandile Stick said there are no second chances tomorrow: “It is play-offs. There is no second chance. It’s a big game playing against the host nation. They are in a good space as a team. I think this is way bigger than the game against Ireland. We will make sure that we pitch up, we’ve done all our prep.
"It is going to be a tough occasion. They are playing at home but we are also here to represent our country. We have been here before, we understand the challenge and hopefully we will be on the right side of the scoreboard.”
France coach Fabien Galthié has made just one change to his starting XV that defeated Italy 60-7 in the last game, with captain Antoine Dupont returning 24 days after fracturing his jaw against Namibia in Marseille.
Galthié has named a 6-2 bench split for the second time this tournament, though Sekou Macalou has been employed on the wing in the past, while 12 of the starting XV that defeated South Africa in Marseille in 2022 have been named again this time.
France general manager Raphaël Ibañez said he thinks that France have an advantage, playing at Stade de France, in front of a public that will be there to support and encourage them.
"Since the start of the competition, and for the last four years, the start of each week has been devoted to a debriefing of the match played, in terms of both technical analysis and the mental aspect. In this respect, we have two essential resources, Roberta [Antonini Philippe, sports psychologist] and Mickael [Campo, performance optimisation coach], who are with us regularly and try to anticipate the different scenarios.
"The context this time is different to the opening match [against New Zealand]. I think that we have an advantage, playing at Stade de France, in front of a public that will be there to support and encourage us.
“There's been a real evolution in that respect. You can feel that the public want to help the players, to support an offensive tackle, to support the team when they defend the line. It's remarkable. It's a very interesting development for our team to continue to grow.”
Teams:
France: 1 Cyril Baille, 2 Peato Mauvaka, 3 Uini Atonio, 4 Cameron Woki, 5 Thibaud Flament, 6 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Charles Ollivon, 8 Gregory Alldritt, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 12 Jonathan Danty, 13 Gael Fickou, 14 Damian Penaud, 15 Thomas Ramos. Replacements: 16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Francois Cros, 21 Sekou Macalou, 22 Maxime Lucu, 23 Yoram Moefana.
South Africa: 1 Steven Kitshoff, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 3 Frans Malherbe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 9 Cobus Reinach, 10 Manie Libbok, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 12 Damian de Allende, 13 Jesse Kriel, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 15 Damian Willemse. Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 Willie Le Roux.