Boks expect similar arm wrestle against France as they experienced last year

The Springboks are aware of the seismic challenge that awaits them in Paris when they take on France on Friday night. Both teams are top of their respective hemisphere tables, with the Boks coming from a 66-7 thrashing of Italy in Turin and Les Bleus a comfortable 54-17 win over Fiji in Lyon. They meet in the penultimate round of the Nations Championship, with Ireland to follow for South Africa and Argentina for France, before the Finals Weekend in London. Springbok utility back Damian Willemse said he expected a “massive” battle between the sides, similar to last year’s clash on the end-of-year tour. Boks clinch 14-man win Last November, the Springboks were dealt a blow when Lood de Jager was handed a red card for a no-arms tackle in the second half. They trailed 17-13 after 58 minutes but turned the game around in the final quarter despite playing with 14 men. They were aided by wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey receiving a yellow for a deliberate knock-on, scoring two tries while he was off (André Esterhuizen’s maul try and then Grant Williams’ snipe) before Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s brilliant individual score. The three unanswered tries ensured a one-sided 32-17 scoreline, though the game was much closer than that. Willemse returned from a hamstring injury in that game and was off the pace. He left the field in the second half. “Going to Paris, we know what we are in for there. Last year was a tough match,” he said on Sunday. “Only around the 70th minute did we seem to break through them and get the victory. We’ll focus on the areas we need to improve on. Friday will be a massive one.” Conversion key against Italy He felt the Boks crucially got off to a solid start against Italy at the weekend, scoring six tries in the first half for a 45-0 lead. “Our conversion was key. When we got into their 22, we converted some of the chances that we created. That’s something we’ll be very happy with when we’re reviewing,” Willemse said. “But there’s a lot of stuff we need to improve on going to Paris next week, facing a top French team. So lots to work on, but very happy with some areas of our game.” Likewise, man of the match Morné van den Berg believed the Boks were under par in periods of the second half, when Italy held momentum despite some injuries. Still, he credited an “incredible” Italian team for staying in the fight. “They’ve got so much heart. So we did expect it and that’s where we could have been better,” Van den Berg said. “I think it was especially important to get our game right. To just get the stuff right that we practised, and obviously we needed a bit of momentum going into next week.”