Springbok assistant coach Felix Jones believes France could bring a new “tactical element” to Friday night’s Nations Championship encounter.
Les Bleus will be looking to avenge last year’s 32-17 defeat to the Boks at the Stade de France, as well as their painful 29-28 World Cup quarter-final loss at the same venue in 2023.
At Monday’s team announcement, Bok coach Rassie Erasmus acknowledged the threat posed by France’s tactical kicking.
“In the past they had a long kicking game before the Dupont rule came in,” he said. “Since then, you can see them move more to contestable games and shorter kicks. And then obviously they’ve got their game-breakers.”
Named after France scrumhalf Antoine Dupont, the so-called “Dupont Law” was a loophole in rugby’s offside laws that allowed players in front of a kicker to remain stationary until put onside, contributing to prolonged kicking exchanges.
RASSIE: Les Bleus don’t know what Dupont will do
Speaking at Tuesday’s press conference, Jones said France had adapted well to the law change that closed the loophole.
“They put us under pressure last year with a lot of attacking-style kicks, trying to exploit as much space as they could in behind us, with a different style and a little bit of unpredictability that comes with that,” he said.
“So I think we’re expecting, again, a potential tactical element that we may not have seen.
“I think both teams have also had tactical battles which we’ve learned from, and I’m sure they’ve learned from us.
“We’re definitely anticipating some tactical nuances that we may not have seen already, and it could be in the form of some kicking.”
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Jones also acknowledged that the French may still harbour resentment over their narrow defeat in the 2023 World Cup quarter-final.
“To be honest with you, I would imagine that that still is there. I think it was such a significant game that I don’t think that goes away easily.
“So, you know, that niggle, a lot of that niggle is probably on the field. And again, it comes back to just the intensity about playing for the Springboks, and the French guys are the same.
“But most of that, I think, stops there.”
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Jones pointed to the good relationships between the respective coaching teams.
“Fabien [Galthié] is a guy who was one of the first coaches from outside of Ireland that I got to know. He came over and visited myself, Rassie and Jacques [Nienaber] when we were at Munster. Raphaël Ibañez did the same.
“So, look, there are some good relationships off the field. But certainly when we’re on the field, we want to win, and we have no doubt that they want to as well, given the results of the last one or two [matches].”
Photo: Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images
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Springbok assistant coach Felix Jones believes France could bring a new “tactical element” to Friday night’s Nations Championship encounter.
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