The big boys in the French pack will be a spoiling for a fight at scrum time when they collide with the Springboks in a bruising clash of the titans in Paris on Friday, prop Ox Nche says.
Nche said the battle for supremacy at scrum time will have a major say in who emerges with the spoils in a heavyweight fifth round Nations Championship rugby clash at the Stade de France (kickoff 10.10pm).
The teams have set their sights reaching the Grand Final between the top southern and northern hemisphere teams at Twickenham in London on November 29.
Last week, a rampant Bok side scored nine tries during their win over Italy to record their fourth consecutive bonus-point victory in the Nations Championship.
"The French love the scrum,” Nche said.
“They have a lot of big and heavy boys, who want to scrum, and that French team is a good example of rugby being a game for all shapes and sizes.
"They are really good at scrummaging, and you can see they’ve been very consistent throughout the Six Nations, and even with their teams in the European competitions, so they definitely bring a challenge similar to playing a local derby.
"It’s very personal for the guy you’re coming up against, and that’s probably the difference.
“The Italians put a lot of pressure on us last week.
“We’ve reviewed the game, and there’s quite a bit of work we have to do because we fell a bit out of system and we just weren’t on the same page as a pack.
"They were definitely more determined than we were, and I think we were just a bit loose.
“But we have solutions for that, and we’ll certainly look to fix it and put in a performance that matches our standards when this weekend.”
Nche says France will come out fighting with everything they have in front of their home crowd.
“They’re a very dangerous team," he said.
"They definitely have options in the squad, and they’ve created quite a good culture of giving the younger guys game time against top nations on their tours over the last two years or so
“So, we don’t see them differently than we did last season.
"They have very good players, who all understand the system, and they’ll be looking to implement it in their own way, so we’re just as focused as we were for the game last year.”
Fullback Damian Willemse says the Boks must greedily grab every opportunity that comes their way in what promises to be a ferocious battle.
Willemse recalled how tough it was to break down France when the two sides met last year, a match SA won 32-17.
“Last year was a tough match against France," he said.
“Now it’s about focusing on this week and the areas we need to improve on. We’ll take it from there.
"Friday is going to be a massive one, so we need to stay focused on that.
"There’s still a lot we need to improve on, especially with facing a top French team.
Willemse said there was a different feeling to previous end-of-year tours because there is a trophy at stake.
“It is a bit different so it’s very exciting for us because there is something we’ll be playing for towards the end of the year," he said.
“There’s a cup on the line, which we are all looking forward to. But we’ve got to keep one foot in front of the other.
Friday: France v SA. Saturday: Italy v Argentina, Wales v New Zealand, England v Japan, Ireland v Fiji. Sunday: Scotland v Australia.
