VIDEO: Why physical battle against Boks won't faze Les Bleus
PARIS, FRANCE: Experienced Springbok lock Lood de Jager has likened the French Top 14 to the Rugby Championship ahead of the Boks’ showdown with Les Bleus at Stade de France on Saturday.
The Boks surpassed a number of their own attacking benchmarks and topped the overall Rugby Championship stats for points, tries, linebreaks, metres gained, and offloads.
They faced some stern challenges in the tournament and took heavy beatings in Auckland against the All Blacks and at Ellis Park against the Aussies.
France’s last outing was in July when they were defeated in their Test series by New Zealand. However, their top players have been in action in the very tough and competitive Top 14.
De Jager believes this is ample preparation for the big Test coming up this weekend.
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“The Rugby Championship is a tough competition, and we’ve played world-class teams. They test you in different ways. Every opposition has different threats and ways you have to deal with them,” the big lock told Rugby365 on Tuesday.
“But the French have played in the Top 14, which is a very physical, confrontational league with very high standards.
“So it’s difficult to say, we will see on the day who has prepared the best.”
Much has been made about the physical onslaught the Boks can expect from a begrudging French side, but De Jager feels the Boks will be prepared for any eventuality.
“We analyse every team we play, so we look at their line-outs. They have a very good success rate and a very strong maul, so it is definitely a threat, so we have to do our best to try and negate that threat to win the Test.”
De Jager admits that the Boks have prepared for a physical battle, given how France is hyping up the game as a grudge match.
“They’ve got a big pack and they are quite confrontational. It’s going to be a good challenge for us as a pack, where we are at physically.
“They’ve got a maul and scrum, and they are a team that plays quite direct, so it’s going to be a big challenge for us as a pack.
“The Rugby Championship is a tough competition, and we’ve played world-class teams who are physical and they test you in different ways.
“Every opposition has different threats they pose and ways you have to deal with them.”
