France still hurting after 2023 Rugby World Cup loss, says Bok coach

In the quarterfinal of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, the Springboks edged the hosts by a single point in a match for the ages in Paris. Then the Boks' 32-17 win over the Les Bleus on the 2025 end-of-year tour did little to ease their pain.

"To be honest with you, I would imagine it's still there," said Jones of the mental scarring.

"It was such a significant game that I don't think it goes away easily. A lot of that niggle is on the field, and it comes back to the intensity. But most of it stops there.

"Fabien Galthie [France coach] is one of the first coaches from outside Ireland that I got to know. He came over and visited myself, Rassie [Erasmus] and Jacques [Nienaber] when we were at Munster, and [team manager] Raphael Ibanez did the same.

"So, there are some good relationships off the field, but when we're on the field, we want to win, and we have no doubt they want to as well, given the results of the last one or two games."

In terms of strategy, Jones recalled their tactic last year of turning the Bok defence around with kicks. Given the fast defensive line, he is expecting more of the same. But as is often the case with France, they aim to surprise.

"They put us under pressure last year with a lot of attacking-style kicks, trying to exploit as much space as they could in behind us, and with a different style, and a bit of unpredictability that came with that," he reflected.

"So, we're expecting a tactical element we may not have seen. This contest has traditionally been very close and very enthralling to watch because of the intensity of the collisions and the athletes playing against each other.

"But both teams have also had tactical battles, which we've learned from, and I'm sure they've learned from us, so we're definitely anticipating some tactical nuances we haven't seen yet, and it could be in the form of some kicking."