Steven Kitshoff said the Springboks are prepared to dominate the set-piece and physical battle against France in the World Cup quarter-final in Paris on Sunday night.
Defending champions, the Boks and tournament hosts France are set to lock horns at a jam-packed Stade de France in what promises to be a titanic last-eight clash between two of the world’s top teams.
Speaking in a Bok conference on Friday about the physicality of the game, Kitshoff emphasised the need for meticulous attention to detail while acknowledged the strength of the French pack and their penchant for creating pivotal moments at the breakdown.
“France has a big pack and they live for big moments at the breakdown and turnovers,” the veteran loosehead prop told reporters.
“There’s going to be a lot of physicality in the game and big collisions but it is something we have been preparing for since June, working hard on the way we tackle and the way we impose ourselves physically, so we are pitching up on Sunday.
“When it comes to the big scrum battle, you have to make sure you are mentally in there, get onto the front foot and get a lot of go-forward for the team.”
Kitshoff was well aware that France planned to match the Springboks’ renowned physicality. He recalled tough encounters earlier in the year against Ireland and Tonga and added: “We always try to make it as physical as possible.”
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Reflecting on the teams’ previous meeting with France in Marseille in November 2022, Kitshoff noted the valuable lessons learned.
We did a lot of things right in that game. They got a red card quite early in the game but were still in it right to the end,” he said.
“We took a lot of learnings from it. The experience from that game is going to help us a lot this weekend but we still need to pitch up and play proper rugby.”
Regarding the magnitude of the forthcoming quarter-final, Kitshoff stressed the need for unwavering focus and a commitment to avoid costly errors: “You’re going to have to go to a dark place quite early in this game,” he said, alluding to the intensity of the contest and the importance of fine-tuning the Boks’ strategy.
Kitshoff, however, downplayed the hype surrounding the match, rather highlighting that the Boks’ primary focus was on playing well and securing victory.
He mentioned the intense preparation the team had undertaken, fine-tuning every aspect of their game in anticipation of the high-pressure encounter.
“It’s been hyped up how big this match might be, but for us it is about playing well and getting the victory,” Kitshoff added.
“There’s been a lot of focus on the way we run our splits, our lineouts, our scrums, our kicking game, our defence, our attack – a lot more detail thrown into the players to make sure everyone is in the right frame of mind to understand how big an occasion this is for us. It’s been intense but also very exciting.”
Photo: Christophe Simon/AFP