[WATCH] France are faves: Bok coach makes his World Cup call
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Hosts with the most: South Africa have in-form Les Bleus to worry about.Picture credit: Sylvain Thomas
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber says France are favourites to win the Rugby World Cup this year.
Speaking from their base in Corsica where South Africa are preparing for next week’s tournament opener against Scotland, Nienaber says the world champions won’t enter the global showpiece as favourites.
Captain Siya Kolisi and his manskappe have the world taking notice of them again after giving fierce rivals New Zealand a record 35-7 pak slae last weekend.
“It’s not a holiday, it’s a proper training camp” 😁![CDATA[]]>💚![CDATA[]]>💛#Springboks #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/i5QCKC6ayv
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 30, 2023
But hold your horses according to Nienaber, who tells the team’s website: “I think France are the favourites, but obviously we are the world champions, and we can’t deny that.
“That said, I believe this is going to be one of the most closely contested World Cups in history with a couple of teams that can win it on the day.”
Warm-up matches all done and dusted.
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 30, 2023
Up next = Rugby World Cup 2023 🏆![CDATA[]]>🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦#StrongerTogether #Springboks pic.twitter.com/nmU6i2fd4P
It’s for this reason that he had to hammer home the point that they are not on the Mediterranean island for a vakansie.
Nienaber explains: “It’s not a holiday, it’s a proper training camp.
“There are a lot of things we need to work on because we are in a knock-out pool from game one, so there’s a lot we need to get right if we want to be competitive and defend the World Cup title.
“From a rugby perspective we can work hard here and can prepare, and from a team perspective it’s nice for us to meet and mix with the people of Corsica.”
No island holiday in Corsica as the #Springboks build towards the start of #RWC2023 in France - more here: https://t.co/gnOGLGLyMa 🥵#StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/aLq2zpgmdW
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 30, 2023
Of facing Scotland next week, he adds: “In our pool, Scotland is No.5 in the world, South Africa No.2 and Ireland No.1, and one of us is not going to make it out of the pool. But it is what it is, so we have to be on form from the outset.
“And if we do get out of the pool, we’ll either face France or New Zealand in the quarterfinal, so it’s going to be really tough.”
South Africa will move their camp to their training base for the tournament in Toulon on Saturday.