France coach Fabien Galthié has hailed the Springboks ahead of Saturday’s blockbuster Test in Paris.
Galthié, who oversaw Les Bleus’ heartbreaking 29-28 quarter-final defeat to the Boks on home soil at the 2023 World Cup, said he has enormous respect for what Erasmus’ men have accomplished.
“We’re very proud of taking on this massive challenge,” Galthié said. “They’re maybe the best team ever.”
Erasmus led the Boks to back-to-back World Cups in 2019 and 2023, as well as a British & Irish Lions series win in 2021 and consecutive Rugby Championship titles in 2024 and 2025.
“It’s a nice compliment,” he said. “But those guys who are playing against us this weekend won’t believe we’re the best team in the world. They’ll go out there and try to beat us proper. But I appreciate what he’s saying.”
Saturday’s game at the Stade de France is being billed as the biggest of the Autumn Nations Series, which precedes December’s 2027 World Cup draw, based on world rankings.
“We’ve done well there in the past, but things change quickly,” said Erasmus. “We’re really looking forward to a brutal clash.”
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Galthié has just nine players from the loss in his squad for this weekend’s encounter, under the floodlights in the French capital.
“We have a lot of players who are absent or injured that could potentially be in the team,” he said. “We have players who experienced the game too. Sometimes you have to look backwards to go forwards.”
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The biggest name missing is superstar scrumhalf Antoine Dupont. The Olympic sevens champion, who has been out since March with a knee injury, is expected to return next month. In his place, 23-year-old Nolann Le Garrec starts.
Le Garrec wore the No 9 shirt for a third-string side for three losses in New Zealand in July.
“We know Dupont is not here,” Erasmus said. “There’s quite some depth in what they did when they sent the team to New Zealand and what they are building there. I think it’s very much what we’re trying to do in bringing youngsters through.”
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Two other Les Bleus players to benefit from the July tour were props Regis Montagne and Baptiste Erdocio, who will win their third caps against the Springboks.
They play in the absence of regular tighthead Uini Atonio and first-choice loosehead Cyril Baille. The inexperienced pair will face a grizzly Springbok pack with an average of 70 caps per forward, including captain Siya Kolisi on his 100th Test appearance.
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“We’re very proud of taking on this massive challenge, and of their career paths,” Galthié said of Montagne and Erdocio. “I think it would be vexing to hear criticism which diminishes their presence.”
The Boks outfit have lost just four times in 23 games since their second World Cup triumph using an evolved, more expansive strategy.
– AFP
Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images
The post Galthié: Boks maybe the best team ever appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
France coach Fabien Galthié has hailed the Springboks ahead of Saturday’s blockbuster Test in Paris.
The post Galthié: Boks maybe the best team ever appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
