The Springboks are expecting a tough onslaught from France in their Castle Lager Outgoing Tour match at Stade Velodrome in Marseille on Saturday, but said they were ready for the challenge.
The Boks had their last field training session on Wednesday before Friday’s traditional captains run, and experienced flanker Pieter Steph du Toit and exciting wing Kurt-Lee Arendse – who addressed the media from the team’s base in Toulon, in the south of France – said the players were raring to go against the second ranked team in the world.
“They have an extremely good record having won 11 games in a row, so it is going to be tough to match them,” said Du Toit.
“They have the heaviest pack of forwards, so as a team we’ll make our plans for the weekend.”
Du Toit said they have been putting in the work on and off the field in all facets of play, one of which was the mauls.
“We’ve have been working hard to improve our mauls,” he said.
media/w40ihf21/220924-kurt-lee-arendse-springboks.jpg” alt=”Kurt-Lee Arendse in action against Argentina in Durban earlier this year.” srcset=”data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7″ class=” jetpack-lazy-image”>
Kurt-Lee Arendse in action against Argentina in Durban earlier this year.
“Opposition teams always come up with new tricks against us and the more we experience that, the better it will be as it allows us to learn to adapt.”
Arendse expected an equally big challenge from the French backs and said: “We’ve been preparing well for the match. We know they kick a lot, so we are expecting that from them. Willie (le Roux) and Cheslin (Kolbe), with the experience they have, have been helping me so much. We are prepared so we must just take it to France.”
Arendse added: “We will try to look for the running option and try to exploit them on the outside.”
Of France’s renowned kicking game, Arendse said: “We will handle it. We also have a good kicking game plan. Things might change on the day, but we must be up for whatever France decides to bring. We must be ready to adapt and handle it.”
Asked if there was pressure on the team to win this weekend after suffering a defeat against Ireland, Du Toit said: “We didn’t use the opportunities we created last week, but I would say there is pressure on both sides to do well this weekend. They are ranked second in the world, and we know we have to be up for the challenge mentally and physically.”
