XV de France concerns ahead of Springboks test, Digi Mart USA News: France’s large 54-17 victory over Fiji offered plenty of positives, but it left behind a sense of unfinished business. Although the high-scoring result showed the Tricolores’ ability to run up points, not everything went perfectly, and some voices are already pointing to the physical examination that lies ahead against South Africa.
Former Rugby Club Toulonnais coach Daniel Herrero summed up that concern in a frank assessment. He said the key question concerns next week’s meeting with the Springboks, who he described as the most robust, disciplined and well-organized team in the game, and he noted that France does not currently show the same guarantees.
Still, the French pack’s work on Saturday evening was not entirely negative. The forwards did the basic work seriously, were solid in set-piece fixing, had the upper hand on carried ball and were impenetrable in the first five scrum-free introductions without conceding a single penalty.
Second row Mickaël Guillard also praised the collective discipline that supplied the backs with quality ball.
However, the weakness appeared in converting those collisions into real threat. Herrero pointed to the complete absence of French danger in the decisive zone, saying the forwards were mobile, active and fairly effective in the contest for possession but were never seen breaking through, and that the third-line players were not even mentioned.
Against a South African defense known for dismantling opponents’ ambitions at the heart of the ruck, that inability to break the advantage line raises serious doubts. Herrero stressed the worrying gap: there were a few tries from group play, along with mauls and fairly good scrums, but he admitted that the overall level of pressure the South African forwards are capable of applying genuinely worries him.
