Nick Mallett reckons France’s lingering resentment over their 1995 and 2023 World Cup disappointments against the Springboks will fuel the fire ahead of Friday’s clash in Paris.
Rassie Erasmus’ men will lock horns with Les Bleus at the Stade de France, where they have beaten France five straight times – including the 29-28 quarter-final victory three years ago on their way to retaining the World Cup.
But, speaking on the Talking Boks podcast, Mallett claims the French desire to address this Bok dominance stretches back further, to the 19-15 semi-final victory in Durban that sent South Africa through to the final, where they secured their first World Cup title.
In torrential rain at Kings Park, Ruben Kruger scored the only try, Joel Stransky kicked four penalties and France’s late Abdelatif Benazzi score was ruled held up.
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“There’s absolutely a revenge story,” ex-Bok boss Mallett said. “It burns the French that in 1995, they feel they won that game and Benazzi scored the try in the wet and it was disallowed.
“They were bitter about that. Benazzi apparently put out a podcast or was interviewed and he was absolutely bitter about that refereeing performance.
“Then we move on to the World Cup in 2023 and the confidence with which the French went into that World Cup, thinking absolutely that they were going to get through to the final and it was their God-given opportunity to win it.
“They were absolutely shattered by that one-point loss, to the extent that Fabien Galthié even left France for a couple of weeks because the media uproar after that was so intense.”
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Last year, the Boks triumphed 32-17 in the corresponding fixture after trailing 14-13 at half-time in a Test that saw them score four tries. Erasmus’ troops had to play the entire second half with 14 men after lock Lood de Jager was sent off.
“Even though we played well with 14 men last year and beat them, there’s still that resentment, and it’s going to be there for a long time,” Mallett added.
Erasmus’ troops resumed their Nations Championship campaign on Saturday with a resounding 66-7 win over Italy.
“It was an absolutely perfect performance,” Mallett said. “It turned into a really easy 40 minutes. The second half, not so much.
“But again, we don’t want to quibble. It was good preparation for the French game.”
Photo: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
The post Mallett: French revenge burns deep appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Nick Mallett reckons France’s lingering resentment over their 1995 and 2023 World Cup disappointments against the Springboks will fuel the fire ahead of Friday’s clash in Paris.
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