‘Still sore, still traumatised’ France place faith in ‘French Pieter-Steph du Toit’ who ‘can melt people’
Anthony Jelonch of France and, inset, Pieter-Steph du Toit of South Africa
Retired France forward Benjamin Kayser has every faith that rejuvenated back-rower Anthony Jelonch can be the crucial point of difference when they take on the Springboks on Saturday in Paris.
This weekend’s Autumn Nations Series fixture will see the two nations collide for the first time since South Africa eliminated the French at the quarter-final stage of their home Rugby World Cup in 2023.
That 28-29 defeat at Stade de France is still an open wound for the French, whose post-tournament hangover continued into the 2024 Six Nations. In the meantime, South Africa used that October 2023 victory to go on and clinch back-to-back World Cup titles and they have since won successive Rugby Championship silverware for the first time.
France admittedly have bounced back, winning the 2025 Six Nations with a Grand Slam. However, the challenge of facing a steeled Springboks in their opening match of the November series has French fans – including media pundit Kayser – on edge ahead of this weekend.
Still having nightmares about it…”
“We are still sore, still traumatised,” he told The Good, The Bad & The Rugby. “I am not sure how much we have been craving this game and it’s not easy, it’s the first one of the November series for France.
“It’s a really, really tough game for France to get into, considering there are a couple of injuries and considering the trauma that is still there. The backs coach for France mentioned it, (Patrick) Arlettaz. He said we are still having nightmares about it.”
Kayser’s memory of the one-point 2023 loss remains vivid. “I remember coming out of the New Zealand-Ireland quarter-final (the night before) thinking I love rugby, it is so, so good because I didn’t care.
“I was gutted that the Irish were going home because they were lighting up the stands and all the cities and everybody adored them, but I was really impressed by the Kiwis and fair play, when you write those guys off, they are always back.
“The day after was a totally different experience. I remember putting the mic down and not looking at my co-commentator next to me because we were just stunned that our World Cup is over, we are gone, we are out, we have just got murdered. It was really, really tough.
“2023/24, all the players were zombies. Antoine Dupont goes to sevens rugby, hallelujah, we win an Olympic gold but other than that, we weren’t really there and got absolutely demolished by Ireland in Marseille. Still traumatised. Then there is a bit of rotation, new guys coming in, there’s a bit of freshness.
“There is also a league and a federation, all of a sudden the old demons come back, so now we have a changed deal, it’s not the same deal we had all the way leading into the World Cup, but we have emerging talent. We’re not thinking without Antoine Dupont, we are doomed… There is a lot of excitement but wow, that is a big, big piece to take on Saturday.
“If you are taking looseheads, Wilco Louw or whoever is going to play at tighthead for South Africa, we do not have anyone as big as them. They have got nine props and we are probably going to have a young loosehead (Baptiste Erdocio) who is not Cyril Baille.
“It’s going to be a tough one, a big ask, a tremendous challenge, but it’s the only way of getting over that trauma, to play them again and see how we are. But considering it is the opening of the three matches for France, the week after we will play Fiji and then finish with Australia, I would have loved it the other way around. This one genuinely scares me.”
Scared but still with reasons for optimism, none greater than the on-fire Jelonch, the 29-year-old who has recovered from two ACL injuries. “France are going to be, ‘Do you remember this pain of 2023?’ They are going to use it to stir it up to actually have an extra element of motivation in terms of physicality. Now let’s hope we don’t let it bubble over.
“There is also a guy in there, if you are talking about physicality, who has been the standout player of Toulouse since the beginning of the year. In that World Cup 2023 quarter-final, he was barely back. He did his ACL and had to rush it. He played one game against Uruguay in the pool stage or something. That was five months and three weeks after an ACL. They definitely rushed it, and he did his other one a couple of months afterwards.
“So they rushed it, they f*cked it, he did his other one and it was really bad. But he is properly, properly back. He is playing at eight for Toulouse, not six… and in terms of physicality, he is the French Juan Smith, he can melt people. He is the Pieter-Steph du Toit; he can melt people, and he has got that physicality that can bring the whole team together.
“They are going to poke the bear a little bit, chuck some oil on the fire, and remember 2023 and remember that day.”
Kayser hoped that Fabien Galthie’s French would play their game and not adapt their tactics due to what the Springboks have. “The best way to beat the Boks is to play your own game,” he insisted.
“If you only try to match them in terms of scrummaging, driving maul and high balls, we are doomed because they are a big old outfit. If you are only going to focus on what Rassie (Erasmus) is going to pull out of his bag and the smoke bomb he is going to throw in the press and leaving lineout options in the changing room on Friday, all the tricks that are probably delightful for him to watch but they are mind games…
“Hopefully, we [France] are not the same team. We are older and more together, and there are some new faces there and the Springboks simply don’t know who they are, so there is that element of sparkle.
“And in 2023, (Romain) Ntamack did his ACL a couple of weeks prior. He is now on fire and is totally back… it’s a full Romain Ntamack who is back after his knee clear-out in the summer. So it is going to be about managing the emotions, using the disappointment to fuel the inner physicality without over-bubbling.”