OPINION | The Boks fried the French to a crisp in Paris

By Marcell Readmi

In the build-up to last Saturday’s clash there was little evidence of an entente guiding the actions of France and South Africa in the north of Paris.

As it turned out there was nothing cordiale as the Springboks continued their dominance at the Stade de France over the again off-colour Tricolores in their 32-17 victory.

History tells us how the locals defend Paris has not been a source of Gallic pride. The Boks, too, have found Paris a happy stomping ground. While South Africa slipped to defeat in a match remembered for its unbridled brutality in Marseille in 2022, Saturday’s fifth straight win over the Tricolores in Paris suggests an emerging pattern of capital punishment.

The hosts were desperate to exact revenge for their premature exit from their own lavish banquet at the hands of the Boks in the 2023 World Cup quarterfinal, where they decried the match officiating.

The hosts were well aware of the threats. The Boks don’t operate like thieves cloaked by darkness.

The defending Rugby World Cup champions didn’t tiptoe through the back door of the Louvre to dent French pride. Their burgeoning scrum has long served notice of their intention to shatter the glass upfront.

Despite being stripped of the services of injured Ox Nché, the Bok scrum found the traction to plough profitably with power and precision. It says much of their succession planning that their scrum this year has retained its might and menace despite the retreat of stalwarts Frans Malherbe and Steven Kitshoff from their front row.

Apart from not having his first choice front row, France head coach Fabien Galthié continued to operate without his talisman. Without the player who could provide the point of difference, many argued France, without their much-feared playmaking general Antoine Dupont, were going to be blown apart.

It proved to be so, as the Boks overcame a lamentable start. The red card for Lood de Jager added to their burden but the Boks have become adept at rolling up their sleeves and with the punches. They have the innate ability to tap into their championship qualities.

Under coach Rassie Erasmus they have successfully emerged from the furnace of successive World Cups, a series win against the British & Irish Lions and three Rugby Championship titles in the past seven years.

When the chips are down, the Boks prefer them in the fryer.

They certainly fried the French to a crisp when things reached boiling point at the Stade de France. Apart from a scrum that grew in stature, at the back there was enough dash and dare to further reduce the hosts to the status of guillotined cockerels. Cobus Reinach stirred, teased and tormented, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu oozed panache and poise, Malcolm Marx wasn’t only in the middle, he hit the mark, while Pieter-Steph du Toit again left France with lingering post-traumatic stress disorder.

Much of the French capitulation has its foundations in the scrum. As anticipated, the French scrum on Saturday had the structural integrity of an overly crusty croissant, if not a shoddy soufflé. There had been much talk pre-match of the French going into the clash undercooked. Their last match-day combat was mid-year when they assembled a criminally inexperienced foreign legion for a three-Test tour to New Zealand. They lost all the Tests but some of the younger brigade showed better days may be on the horizon.

The last time Galthié assembled something resembling his best squad was in March in a Six Nations campaign that yielded the elusive silverware.

As champions of the north, the cockerels had reason to be chests out, but they were facing Erasmus’ team who had a spring in their step in part due to back-to-back Rugby Championship titles.

The Boks were far more battle-hardened and their ability to up the ante in the final quarter served as further evidence of superior body and mind. Moreover, the Springboks, and this is where they continue to separate themselves from the chasing pack, are able to grasp and come to grips with the clutch moments in Tests.

With France vanquished, their maraud through Europe next takes them to Turin, where a very different job awaits against the resurgent Italians.

The week after they face another red-letter day when they face irritable Ireland. Coach Erasmus turned 53 last week and his celebration was made special by taking sole ownership of the record number of Test wins for a Bok coach, which stands at 38.

Three years ago on the eve of his 50^th birthday the coach was optimistic on the cusp of the Boks’ last clash in Dublin. He was less concerned about blowing out candles as pricking the increasingly buoyant Irish balloon. Due to their own frailties his team came up short that chilly night, but they have since lengthened their stride, while faltering Ireland continue to look at the double RWC holders green with envy.