The Springboks host France in a once-off Test at Newlands, Cape Town on Saturday at 14:00.

Traditionally, as a Springbok supporter I have had the most respect for the All Blacks as opponents to play, but in clear second place has always been France…. “Die Hane” as we know them in Afrikaans.

From my early rugby viewing days, the days of the blond French machine flanker and captain, Jean-Pierre Rives, this has been the most unpredictable Rugby side in the world, traditionally known for their French flair and passion, known for their hard rugby due to the fact that rugby was so popular amongst the French factory and Industrial workers…. producing hard as nails forwards and a no-nonsense attitude.

Well, in modern times the French has continued this tradition and the past year was certainly no different.

On the other hand, South African rugby, on Franchise or Union level and on National level, has had a wonderful bloom period for the last 5 or 6 years, eventually filtering through to 3 Super 14 wins in the last 4 years, a Rugby World Cup title in 2007 and last year’s Tri-Nations crown.

These successes of South Africa have set the Springboks up to be respected from Wellington or Aucland in New Zealand, all the way to London in England or Cardiff in Wales, to Perth or Sydney in Australia… and definately in Paris, France.

The rivalry between these 2 teams is legendary!

Well, this brings me to a closer look at the game this weekend…

The Springboks have assembled a very strong squad, probably stronger and more refined than the successful 2007 World Cup winning squad, still represented very strongly in this team. With a bare minimum disruption due to injury concerns, bar the dynamic Fourie du Preez, the Springboks field a squad with very few weaknesses.

The Springbok front row looks potent, at loosehead a prop, Gurthro Steenkamp, who’s had his best ever Super 14, taking no prisoners. At hooker the strong scrumming and dynamic qualities of John Smit and at tighthead prop the man we have all touted as the only viable solution to anchor SA’s scrum, BJ Botha. That said, the French themselves boast a formidable front row.

At locks the Bokke possess wealth in the starting line-up as well as those following close behind them on the bench and at the Unions. One can safely say that South Africa probably has the top 5 locks in world rugby… think about it… Matfield & Rossouw (starting), Bekker and Bakkies, and newcomer Flip van der Merwe… who would you rate better than any of them?

At backrow South Africa is equally blessed, one could select 3 out of possibly 12 backrowers and they would be formidable in world terms! On the flanks South Africa have the Stormers pairing of Schalk Burger and Francois Louw, who both had excellent Super 14 seasons and at No 8 we have the monster athlete, Piere (spiere) Spies… feared all over the globe.

The link between forwards and backs is a possible weakness, the injury to Fourie du Preez has really thrown the cat amongst the pigeons and Ricky Januarie will have to show tremendous guts and a very big heart to successfully step into the maestro’s shoes. His tatical nous and lack of an excellent tactical kicking game is a worry, so too his slowness in clearing balls and a weak pass to his pivot, but Ricky has another quality and that is a terrier-ability, in-your-face presence and he certainly does not want for giving his all in a match situation.

At flyhalf we have Mr Cool, “Mr Simply the Best”… Bulls flyhalf, Morné Steyn, who seems to thrive on big occasions and who has BMT in bucket loads. Strange to think that less than a year ago he was not considered Bokke quality.

The centre combination for this Saturday is pure quality, but will they gel as a pairing, that is the question. Wynand Olivier has had the best rugby year of his life and has certainly been the best performing inside centre in SA during the Super 14, if not in the Super 14 as awhole, ably assisted on the bench by Juan de Jongh, the new star on the block. At outside centre we have the world’s best, Jaque Fourie…. Brian O’Driscol eat your heart out!

The Springbok back 3 consists of the 2 Stormers wings, with Bryan Habana on the left and that little boy wonder, Gio Aplon on the right. Zane Kirchner completes the team at fullback and personally I’m glad that he gets a full game for the Bokke in their best possible combination. Despite his slip-up in the 4 minutes he played last week, he’s had a super season, solid as a rock and considering that he applies his trade in SA and Frans Steyn not, I would have selected him in the last vestage as well.

So, to sum up, my only real concern is the link between front and back.

Oo-la-laaaa… the French, what to say about the Kings of perfume, the lovers of the ladies… the animated animals on a rugby field… I’m approaching this one differently, starting from No 15 and working my way back..

The French back 3 generally field high balls well and can run you off your feet from broken play, with Vincent Clerc at right wing their most potent weapon.

In the centres I sense a weakness, I cannot see David Marty (13) and Maxime Mermoz (12) troubling the 2 quality Bokke… but then again, they’re French, they could have a belter on the day.

Francois Trinh-Duc at flyhalf is solid and gets his backline moving.

At No 9 there is the settled and in-form Morgan Parra, who kicks well out of hand and to goal… he might have the wood over Januarie.

The backrow forwards consist of No 8 Julien Bonnaire, No 7 Wenceslas Lauret and captain Thierry Dusautoir at No 6, a very nicely balanced and combatative combination.

In Romain Millo-Chluski and Lionel Nallet the French have an able lock pairing but nowhere near as good as the Springbok pairing or for that matter the Springbok bench replacement.

The French props are hard bastards and will be wily enough to give the Bokke a hard go in the scrums but one senses that at hooker they have opted for a lighter and more athletic hooker in Dimitri Szarzewski. Szarzewski is not a reknowned strong scrummager, but he acts very much like an extra looseforward, much in the mould of Bismarck du Plessis.

OK, so those are the teams and their strengths and weaknesses, where does that leave me… hell it still leaves me exactly where I started. Balls to the wall… I believe 3 crucial factors favour the Bokke more than the french, that being HOME GROUND ADVANTAGE and a BETTER MIDFIELD COMBINATION and a SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE REFEREE in Bryce Lawrence. I therefore boldly predict a Bokke win, but not by a huge margin… Bokke by 10.

Recent results:
2009: France won 20-13 at Stade Toulouse
2006: France won 36-26 at Newlands
2005: France won 26-20 at Stade de France, Paris
2005: South Africa won 13-27 at Boet Erasmus, Port Elizabeth
2005: Draw 30-30 at King’s Park Stadium, Durban
2002: France won 30-10 at Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
2001: France won 20-10 at Stade de France, Paris
2001: South Africa won 15-20 at King’s Park Stadium, Durban
2001: France won 32-23 at Ellis Park, Johannesburg

Teams:

South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Gio Aplon, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 François Louw, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Gürthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Dewald Potgieter, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Juan de Jongh, 22 Jean de Villiers

France: 15 Clement Poitrenaud, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 David Marty, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Aurélien Rougerie, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Wenceslas Lauret, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5 Romain Millo-Chluski, 4 Lionel Nallet, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements: 16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Jean Baptiste Poux, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 David Skrela, 22 Marc Andreu, 23 Luc Ducalcon.

Date: Saturday, June 12
Venue: Newlands
Kick-off: 14.00 (12.00 GMT)
Expected weather conditions: Scattered clouds. with a high of 17°C and a northwester of 21 km/h. The possibility of rain in the evening.
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Keith Brown (New Zealand), David Changleng (Scotland)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)