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Cape Town - The Springboks do not know which French team will pitch up for their Test in Paris on Saturday, but flyhalf Morné Steyn has warned his team-mates to expect a team playing with emotion and passion.
The French are well-known for being the most unpredictable team in world rugby, but Steyn nevertheless believes the Boks will face a stern test at a packed Stade de France.
The former Bulls pivot now plays his rugby for the Paris-based Stade Francais, who play some of their home games at the Stade de France.
In an interview with the Cape Times, Steyn said he warned his players to prepare for "all eventualities" because the French themselves do not even know what mood they will be in. He did, however, warn that they will have to be 100% in the zone as one predictable thing about France is that they will be "full of emotion and passion".
Another worrying aspect for the Boks is the fact that out of Saturday's starting line-up, only Jaque Fourie, Steyn, Bryan Habana and Francois Louw played in their last meeting against France - a 42-17 win in 2010. Skipper Jean de Villiers and scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar also came on as substitutes in that game at Newlands.
More than half of the current match-23 have never faced France, and veteran lock Bakkies Botha, who is on the bench, has never beaten France in three outings (2002, 2005 and 2009).
But Steyn is confident they can clinically impose their game on the hosts and end the year on a high.
Kick-off is at 22:00 (SA time) on Saturday night.
Teams:
France:
15 Brice Dulin, 14 Sofiane Guitoune, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Remi Tales, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Wenceslas Lauret, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Pape, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Yannick Forestier.
Substitutes: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Yannick Nyanga, 21 Jean-Marc Doussain, 22 Frederic Michalak, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud
South Africa:
15 Willie le Roux: 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain) 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Flip van der Merwe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Bakkies Botha, 20 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 21 Siya Kolisi 22 Jano Vermaak, 23 Patrick Lambie
The French are well-known for being the most unpredictable team in world rugby, but Steyn nevertheless believes the Boks will face a stern test at a packed Stade de France.
The former Bulls pivot now plays his rugby for the Paris-based Stade Francais, who play some of their home games at the Stade de France.
In an interview with the Cape Times, Steyn said he warned his players to prepare for "all eventualities" because the French themselves do not even know what mood they will be in. He did, however, warn that they will have to be 100% in the zone as one predictable thing about France is that they will be "full of emotion and passion".
Another worrying aspect for the Boks is the fact that out of Saturday's starting line-up, only Jaque Fourie, Steyn, Bryan Habana and Francois Louw played in their last meeting against France - a 42-17 win in 2010. Skipper Jean de Villiers and scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar also came on as substitutes in that game at Newlands.
More than half of the current match-23 have never faced France, and veteran lock Bakkies Botha, who is on the bench, has never beaten France in three outings (2002, 2005 and 2009).
But Steyn is confident they can clinically impose their game on the hosts and end the year on a high.
Kick-off is at 22:00 (SA time) on Saturday night.
Teams:
France:
15 Brice Dulin, 14 Sofiane Guitoune, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Yoann Huget, 10 Remi Tales, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Damien Chouly, 7 Wenceslas Lauret, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Pape, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Yannick Forestier.
Substitutes: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Thomas Domingo, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 20 Yannick Nyanga, 21 Jean-Marc Doussain, 22 Frederic Michalak, 23 Mathieu Bastareaud
South Africa:
15 Willie le Roux: 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain) 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Flip van der Merwe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Bakkies Botha, 20 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 21 Siya Kolisi 22 Jano Vermaak, 23 Patrick Lambie
