Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick expected a gruelling encounter against France and made it clear that the Springboks needed to be at their best to get the desired result at the iconic stadium.
“Romain Ntamack is the only player in their backline who didn’t play in 2023, and he’s a world-class player,” said Stick.
“If you look at the players around him as well, such as Thomas Ramos, and their wings, who are very fast and dangerous, we know that if we give them space and time, they’ll punish us.
“We know the nature of the French team. They’ll keep the ball in play, and they have a high-tempo game, so we know very well that to win against them, we need to be at our best.”
Stick added: “In 2023, if we weren’t at our best against them that day, they could have scored 40 points, and we are expecting the same tomorrow. It’s going to be a tough one, but we also know we have the right squad to handle this match.
“If you look at our backline, all the players except for Sacha (Feinberg-Mngomzelu) played in that match, so we’ll keep on doing our best to make our people proud at home.”