With lower than 10 months to go to the Rugby World Cup hosts France welcome holders South Africa to Marseille on Saturday however the house facet are refusing the title of match “favourites” regardless of a file 11-match unbeaten run.
Les Bleus’ spectacular stretch of victories goes again to July 2021 and features a convincing win over New Zealand and a primary Six Nations Grand Slam success in additional than a decade.
Head coach Fabien Galthie has turned an under-performing outfit caught within the center of inconsistent choice and in-fighting between Top 14 golf equipment and the federation to second on the earth rankings since he took over after the 2019 World Cup.
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“The notion of favourites is so subjective,” France group supervisor Raphael Ibanez instructed reporters this week.
“We go away different nations the statute of favourites.
“They’re just words, what’s important is action,” the previous Test hooker added.
‘Great respect’
Galthie’s group have performed towards and overwhelmed each facet within the prime 10 on the earth over the previous three years, aside from the Springboks, who final misplaced to Les Bleus in 2009.
“South Africa, we love them. The South Africans, this team’s story, we’ve followed it since after the World Cup,” Galthie mentioned.
“We have great respect for them, what they do is marvellous, sublime in our opinion,” he added.
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An enormous half of the Boks’ success within the World Cup was their ‘Bomb Squad’, six heavy forwards coming off the bench, one thing which Galthie has tried to duplicate throughout his tenure.
This weekend, Galthie will hand Montpellier’s 121kg lock Bastien Chalureau a debut as a substitute alongside 135kg second-row Romain Taofifenua with simply two backs amongst his substitutes.
“Our wish is to have a solid front five starting and a solid front five to finish the match,” Galthie mentioned.
“The question was asked for the 5-3 split but when a guy like Bastien presents himself we felt it was important to open the door and give him a shirt,” the previous France captain added.
Unlocking France
Galthie’s counterpart Jacques Nienaber has reshuffled his back-three for the sport, with 33-year-old Willie le Roux coming in at full-back to take care of the hosts’ clever kicking sport.
“Everybody’s trying to unlock France at this stage, but nobody’s found the recipe,” Nienaber mentioned.
“That’s the challenge for us as coaches and players,” he added.
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Les Bleus’ outcomes have been constructed on enjoying with out the ball, self-discipline and a steely defence.
During their profitable streak, a Thirties file overwhelmed with final weekend’s win over Australia, they’ve conceded greater than two tries in a sport simply twice, towards the All Blacks and the one facet ranked above them, Ireland.
Well-organised defence
“They’re quite a stingy team, they don’t allow teams to get close to their half with their kicking game,” Nienaber mentioned.
“When you do get there, they are a really well-organised defensive side,” he added.
This week, Nienaber’s outfit have licked their wounds after final Saturday’s loss in Ireland on the Mediterranean coast, the place they are going to be primarily based earlier than subsequent yr’s match.
They will begin the defence of the Webb Ellis trophy in a matter of months on the Stade Velodrome towards Scotland they usually additionally face Tonga on the house of France’s solely Champions League winners in the course of the pool levels.
“We’re fortunate to experience for a week what we will experience in the World Cup for up to six weeks,” Nienaber mentioned.
“Toulon have world-class services.
“It’s nice for us to familiarise ourselves with the travel times, the fields, the facilities,” he added.
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