Sir John Kirwan claps back at Springboks legend after claims France ‘grudge match’ will be ‘harder’ than All Blacks Eden Park Test
France taking on Springboks in 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final, and All Blacks legend Sir John Kirwan.
Victor Matfield insists that the Springboks will be “underdogs” for this weekend’s clash against France but Sir John Kirwan is having none of it.
South Africa face Les Bleus for the first time since they knocked Fabien Galthie’s men out of their home Rugby World Cup in 2023 with a 29-28 victory.
It also takes place at the same venue – the Stade de France – with the hosts very much out for revenge against the Springboks.
Rassie Erasmus’ side will certainly not fear going to the French capital having achieved plenty since the global tournament success.
Impressive Springboks
They have claimed back-to-back Rugby Championship titles, which included a record victory over the All Blacks in Wellington.
The Boks have suffered just two defeats with the most recent coming a week prior to that historic win against New Zealand when they went down to Scott Robertson’s men at Eden Park.
Matfield believes this match will be more challenging than that clash at the iconic Auckland venue, where the Kiwis have remained unbeaten since 1994.
“This weekend, I think it’s probably our toughest Test of the year, even tougher than going down to Eden Park. I think it’s going to be harder to beat them,” the former lock forward said.
“This is going to be a huge test, we’re definitely the underdogs going into this, although we’re playing really well at the moment.
“One thing that can count in our favour is they haven’t played together for quite some time and there’s one or two injuries.
“They’re going to be up for it, they’ve been waiting for this for two years to get this grudge match against South Africa after that quarter-final.”
Kirwan scoffed at those claims, however, insisting: “I can’t believe you say you’re underdogs, you can’t play that card anymore, you can’t say that because you’re not. You’re world champions.”
Matfield defended his position, saying: “We’re going to Paris playing the French team who are the Six Nations champions”, before some jovial joshing began.
Former Ireland star Andrew Trimble, who joined Matfield and Kirwan on the podcast, quipped: “Why have you not mentioned your World Cup wins? You can’t talk up your World Cup wins and then talk about being underdogs.”
However, Matfield states that he is staying “humble”, admitting that he is slightly concerned about the upcoming encounter in Paris.
“I’m hiding that away this week, I’m nice and humble this week. I’m a bit worried about the weekend so I’m really humble,” he said.
Kirwan’s respect for France
Kirwan then returned to more serious matters and, despite mocking Matfield over his stance, he revealed his admiration for the current state of French rugby, but admits they need regular wins over the southern hemisphere giants.
“I think the French, after seeing them down in New Zealand with not their top side, they’re one of the best rugby nations in the world, from A-Z,” the All Blacks legend said.
“Their game is really working from a publicity point of view, crowds are full, their TV rights are going up, they’re attracting a whole lot of foreign players.
“That’s why I thought [Abdelatif] Benazzi should have been [World Rugby] chairman because I think the French have proved that their whole game’s going right.
“I do think they need to beat South Africa and New Zealand. They beat us last year in November but they need to get these scalps under their belt if they want to go into the World Cup and actually be really, really confident.
“I still believe way back in 2003 that the reason England won in Australia is they came down to New Zealand and they beat us on our turf, and it just gives you that confidence that you can do it.”
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