The XV of France at the foot of the South African mountain. On the eve of challenging the reigning double world champions Springboks, on behalf of the 5th day of the Nations Championship, Antoine Dupont and his partners took part in the traditional “captain’s run” on the pitch of the Stade de France, this Thursday afternoon. At the end of this hour of setup, the French captain, who wore chasuble 10 and who will start at the opening - at least on paper - for the first time at international level on Friday evening, answered questions from journalists present in Saint-Denis.
The South African physical challenge: “I have played them in different contexts, but, since their title of world champion in 2019, they produce a density which is very important and have a strategy which is very marked, very effective. The matches against them are always great strategic games, but above all a physical challenge. We know, they want to impose this every time. This is the first thing we must answer. And then, strategically, we have to try to give them as few opportunities as possible to come to us, because then they are very difficult to stop.”
South Africa, the bane of the French XV: “We can say that it is the bane of a lot of teams, because over the last eight years, they have not lost many matches. And when they lost, it was a close call every time. We managed to beat them. There are teams who haven't beaten them. It remains a very good team on the circuit, surely the best at the moment. They bring down a lot of people, including us. There is obviously this quarter-final in 2023... But like any big team that is hard to beat, at some point, you have to be able to get out of the match at the right time.
His positioning at the opening: “These are two positions which are very different, but which are also very linked. With Maxime, we both have this versatility. We tried to discuss, to prepare as much as possible, to adapt to what will be offered to us by also preparing things with the only day of training we had. We are adapting, but also with the knowledge that we have from this position, he and I, on which we were also able to discuss.
A possible permutation with Maxime Lucu at the scrum: “That, you will see tomorrow (Friday) how we will try to adapt to what is offered to us. We tried to make a combination that works best for the team and as I said, with maximum adaptation. The injury to Romain (Ntamack) was not planned, nor that of the three other openers who were already injured. We do what we can with the qualities of each person which are different, those of Maxime and mine.”
The South Africans are favorites: “If we take the statistics, obviously they are favorites. They arrive with a lot of collective experience, sure of their strength. It's up to us to showcase our qualities, what we know how to do, our identity, our rugby to try to compete with them. But obviously on paper, they remain the favorites.”
Why was placed in 10: “I don’t know if you asked Fabien (Galthié) the question. We talked about it together. Then, as I said, we will try to adapt according to what is proposed tomorrow. Honestly, I'm not going to have much more to tell you and we didn't have much time to think either since we had to make this decision quickly, to test this association on a single training session.
The return of Grégory Alldritt: “I think he just sees it as an opportunity to show what he is worth at international level. He is a very experienced player. We have a few selections in the team's average, so it's always good to have players who have the experience of playing these matches. Last year was a more complicated season for him and for his club, where he gave a lot of energy. We know how grueling the championship can be. There, he comes back with great energy, wanting to give the maximum for himself, but especially for the team, because he loves this team, he loves this group and he wants to see them perform at the highest level. So a lot of enthusiasm on his part and a lot of desire to do well.”
Better finish matches: “Yes, of course. It's something that we talked about, especially last year when we were leading, then it was close until the 60th and they took the upper hand at the end (17-32 defeat, Editor's note). We know the physical density they can have in their starting XV, but also with their replacements. They manage to maintain this impact over 80 minutes. We will have to be able to respond to this intensity, to have more consistency and to give them the minimum amount of ammunition.
Managing to surprise the Springboks: “In any case, we are going to have to surprise ourselves because, as I said, we are not in the most favorable context given the squad we have today. But we have nothing to lose in this match, except to give our best, to play without complexes, first of all to compete with them obviously, but also to be able to play our rugby, which is always hard against them. They put a lot of pressure and they prevent teams from playing. We will have to be able to take on this challenge and go there without complexes while playing our game.”
An aggressive South African defense: “Even if they are able to go up very hard, to put a lot of intensity, they also get passed. It obviously happens to them like all teams, but they very often manage to make up for it because they have a strong collective desire. We will try to get into these loopholes while playing our game. But there are solutions that we can find against them. Again, if we can meet the physical challenge and win our collisions first. We will have to be constantly reading and able to seize opportunities because there won't be many. We will have to be able to be as pragmatic as possible.”
What lessons can be learned in relation to the difficult context: “I don’t want to draw conclusions before playing the match. The situation is as it is. We still have a very good team lined up on paper, full of quality and which is capable of winning against any nation if it is able to play at its level. We don't have the long-term vision yet today and certainly the team in a year will be different and perhaps theirs too. We're not looking further ahead than that, but it's already a big challenge awaiting us against a team that is favorite for the competition next year. So it’s important to be able to compete against the best.”
