Cape Town — Beware, Springboks: France are coming with their own ‘Bomb Squad’ to explode during the second half at the Stade Velodrome on Saturday night (10pm kick-off).
Thursday’s move by French coach Fabien Galthie to pick six forwards and two backs on his replacements bench is quite ironic, considering that South African counterpart Jacques Nienaber went the other way when announcing his match-23.
Nienaber chose a five-three split, with Cobus Reinach, Manie Libbok and Makazole Mapimpi the backline players, while Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Marvin Orie and Kwagga Smith are the big men upfront.
The Boks have spoken this week of bringing something different to the game after their physical style was thwarted in the mauls by Ireland in the 19-16 defeat in Dublin, as well as missed goal-kicks.
The selection of Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse, as well as Damian Willemse’s retention as the flyhalf, indicates a more attacking approach, and the same can be said about Ox Nche and Bongi Mbonambi’s inclusion in the front row.
But first, the forwards will need to stop the juggernaut French pack. In the starting eight, they have heavy hitters such as tighthead powerhouse Uini Atonio, who weighs around 152kg and stands 1.97m tall, as well as lock Thibaud Flament (2.03m, 116kg) and dynamic loose trio Gregory Alldritt, Charles Ollivon and Anthony Jelonch.
Then, Galthie has some heavy artillery on the bench. There are two locks in the shape of Romain Taofifenua (2.00m, 133kg) and Bastien Chalureau (2.02m, 118kg), while the extra forward is loosie Sekou Macalou, who is no shrinking violet either at 1.98m and 108kg.
“We lost Paul Willemse to injury at the start of the tour. Killian Geraci was benched for Australia, but he had to forfeit the warm-up. But it is not by chance that we summoned Chalureau. For two years in Montpellier, he has transformed, he has taken on a dimension that allows him to enter our locker room. We felt it was appropriate to open the door for him and give him the jersey,” Galthie said at a press conference on Thursday, according to French newspaper website Le Figaro.
“We have enough options in the composition of our front five, between starters and finishers. But our wish was to have a solid front five to start and another solid (one) to finish: to respond to all the problems, and above all, to impose our problems on the adversary.
“Saturday, we are going to shoot first. We have put together a team to keep control, put pressure on the opponent. And we believe this formula is the most effective for that.
“(Rassie) Erasmus made them rediscover their DNA, their strength. South African players have that in them: the intensity, the physical challenge. It’s a team that likes to move forward, that harasses, takes the opponent by the throat. But we have prepared for this challenge.”
France starting XV: 15 Thomas Ramos 14 Damian Penaud,, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Yoram Moefana, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (capt), 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 Anthony Jelonch, 5 Thibaud Flament, 4 Cameron Woki, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Cyril Baille. Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Sipili Falatea, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Bastien Chalureau, 21 Sekou Macalou, 22 Maxime Lucu, 23 Matthieu Jalibert.
IOL Sport