Boks are a dangerous side, says French centre

"Strong, intelligent, aggressive." The French have a way of encapsulating sentiment in three words and that was centre Gael Fickou's description of opposing midfield wrecking ball Frans Steyn.

Steyn, who started playing club rugby in France in 2009, has become part of the furniture in the French Top14. It is perhaps one of the reasons Allister Coetzee has recalled him for this series. His contributions for Racing92 and Montpellier have been keenly felt by the opposition, including Toulouse, whom Fickou has represented since 2012.

Steyn returns to the Springbok set-up as they start their quest to rebuild after last year's disappointments. Some of the fault lines have been addressed, a fact not lost on Fickou. "There are a few new faces. They remain a very strong and very dangerous side.

"I have enormous respect for the Springboks here. The way the game is played. Rugby is like a religion here."

France arrived with some unanswered questions of their own. They are undoubtedly improving but, unlike their South African opposition, who are halfway through their season, they arrived in the country after a 10-month slog.

"It has been a long season," the burly Fickou conceded. "We've played more than 30 matches. Fortunately for me, my domestic season finished two weeks ago. I feel a lot better [than some of his teammates who have played in the semifinals and final of the Top14]."

France, too, are in a rebuilding phase after the desperately lean times under erstwhile coach Philippe Saint Andre.

However, Guy Noves, the grizzled and widely respected coach who held the reins at Toulouse between 1993 and 2015, has made the Tricolores competitive again.

Fickou is in the ideal position to judge whether Noves's methods have remained the same since those halcyon days when he became the only man to coach a side to four Heineken Cups.

"It isn't that much different," Fickou said. "If anything, he is stricter as national coach."

Noves may be stricter, but he has been nowhere near as restrictive as some of his predecessors.

The Tricolores have, under him, played with more expression, a fact the Springboks can ill-afford to lose sight of.