Springbok lock RG Snyman admits that it is basically a losing battle trying to silence the French crowd in their Rugby World Cup quarterfinal in Paris on Sunday night.
The host nation’s crowd has been on fire since the word go - from singing La Marseillaise when World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont addressed them in English during the opening ceremony - to singing their national anthem basically at every single match at the tournament.
Their in-your-face attitude will only be magnified on Sunday as the defending champions look to poop the hosts’ party.
#RWC2023 Pool stages done ✅
— Springboks (@Springboks) October 9, 2023
Up next, a quarter-final clash with the hosts 🇫![CDATA[]]>🇷#StrongerTogether #Springboks pic.twitter.com/7v4l31LsYs
Snyman, 28, knows Les Bleus will draw inspiration from their extra man.
Can the Boks take him out, though? Snyman answers: “I don’t think the crowd will be silenced from what we’ve seen. The support’s been incredible for the French team.
“And playing at home, we won’t be able to silence them this weekend. But we will draw energy from each other and keep our focus tight.”
The Springboks played France in Marseilles last year and went down 30-26.
And while a lot is made of their halfbacks Antoine Dupont and Matthieu Jalibert, it’s the platform given to them by their pack of forwards that Snyman knows the Boks have to nullify.
He says: “One of the challenges we’ll face this weekend is the physicality from the French pack. “It’s one of the big things we’re measuring ourselves on also, so we’re looking forward to that.”
Coach Jacques Nienaber and his team are doing things differently this week, naming their side on Friday instead of earlier in the week.
“If you want to do something great, it will never be in ideal situations” - more here: https://t.co/71HxfWUdGa 🗣#StrongerTogether #Springboks #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/EPX2uJnxm5
— Springboks (@Springboks) October 11, 2023
With assistant coach Deon Davids saying they are “keeping mense guessing”, the Boks will need to take out all the tricks in their playbook to silence a hewige French crowd on Sunday.