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Where South Africa hope to get an edge against France
By PA
South Africa assistant coach Mzwandile Stick hopes his team can draw on the experience of their victorious 2019 World Cup run when they take on France in Sunday’s quarter-final in Paris.
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The defending champions finished second in Pool B to set up a meeting with the tournament hosts in the last eight, a position which is not unfamiliar to the Springboks.
In 2019 South Africa faced hosts Japan in the quarter-finals before going on to win the competition and Stick says it is beneficial to have a “reference point” ahead of what he anticipates will be a “tight game”.
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“We are playing against France and we know they are also in a good space as a team,” he said.
“They have won all their games, they had a big game against the All Blacks in the first game of the group stage and did very well.
“The nice thing for us is we have been in this position before. In Japan in 2019, it was the same thing, playing Japan with all their supporters. It is the nature of the game in a World Cup, you have to go through the tough ones.
“At least we have a good reference point. We have been here before. Every game we play now, we can’t afford not to capitalise on the opportunities that are created.
“It is going to be a tight game. We are well prepared but we will see tomorrow. It doesn’t get bigger than this.”
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South Africa have brought Cobus Reinach and Manie Libbok in at scrum-half and fly-half respectively, while Duane Vermeulen starts at number eight in place of Jasper Wiese.
The Springboks’ bench has a 5-3 split of forwards to backs for the second consecutive game, with Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard among the replacements.
“We looked at the balance of the team. Having guys like Handre Pollard and Faf on the bench, if the game gets tight we have guys who can close the game for us,” Stick added.
“With Cobus and Manie Libbok as a partnership, form-wise whenever Cobus gets an opportunity he really plays very well for us and Manie Libbok has changed the way we play.
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“You can see how we play. The quality of the tries we have been scoring lately, they are good team tries.
“Manie Libbok is our general, he is playing very well for us and is a very, very confident player and deserves to be in the starting line-up. You can’t ask for any better playmaker to play behind.
“I think it will take the whole 23 players, it is going to be a tough one.
“As we’ve been saying all week, to us it is bigger than just a rugby game. We have 60 million people in South Africa that are hoping (for a win). Tomorrow at nine o’clock they will forget about all the problems in their lives.
“Everyone is on the one page and celebrating the moment in front of them, which is the Springboks when they are playing.”
