Assistant coach Jones, Reinach, Mbonambi (RSA)

Comments from South Africa assistant coach Felix Jones, scrum-half Cobus Reinach and hooker Bongi Mbonambi at a media briefing at Roland-Garros ahead of the Springboks' match against Rugby World Cup 2023 hosts France on Sunday, 15 October.

Felix Jones, assistant coach

On preparations:

"We pushed everything back a day, but it's still a very normal week for us. We've just come off the training ground and all are fit and good to go."

On selection choice at fly-half between Manie Libbok and Handre Pollard and if expected number of penalties is a factor:

"It is very tight in a number of positions and fly-half is very tight. Handre has been there and done it before for us in that starting role, but Manie is also playing some really great rugby for us.

"Penalties does come into our consideration. There could be 10 penalties in a game, but there are 100 rucks, seven or eight scrums. There could be 20 line-outs so it is just one of our considerations."

On some players not having played since the game against Ireland:

"It's probably an individual thing. Some players like to battle-hardened and play week in, week out. Some guys feel they need a break after a very tough test match like that. You can't give it a blanket statement whether it's a good thing or a bad thing."

On narrow defeats to France and Ireland in recent years:

"There have been a number of games over the last two to three years where it comes down to the last play of the game or the last kick of the game or a penalty in the last minute or two either way, giving one away or receiving one. We have also won a lot of games in those dying few minutes.

"We expect this to be a very tight game. What do you do to overcome that? You probably don't want to let it get to that stage and try and nail your biggest moments in the first 70 minutes so it doesn't come to that point. But if it does you need to be accurate. We were disappointed we couldn't finish off our last opportunity against Ireland."

On how France have developed under head coach Fabien Galthie:

"There is a real resilience in what he's built in comparison to what had gone on before. I wasn't coaching at international level back then. Fabien came and visited us in Munster before he'd taken that job and we got to know him a bit. Rassie [Erasmus] and Jacques [Nienaber] were still there.

"It's a very tight group that play for each other. You've never beaten France until the last few moments of the game, the very last play. The depth that has been built.

"Look at their depth at hooker even with [Julien] Marchand who could potentially miss out if he's still injured. Even if he isn't there, there are two or three guys ready to step in who are tier-one test excellence. You can say the same about Antoine Dupont. If he does play, he is one of the world's best players, a World Player of the Year, but [Maxime] Lucu behind him has also been absolutely outstanding for them."

On what will change if Antoine Dupont plays against South Africa:

"The presence is something that you can see. He has a big impact on the players around him and [their] belief. Everyone knows the quality of player. We can't control the presence he brings, we can only control trying to stop the many talents and abilities that he has.

"If it's Lucu, there are some really effective pieces of play he can put together. We can't control the presence but we can try and stop what's happening."

Cobus Reinach, scrum-half

On if it is an advantage playing France with him having played club rugby in France:

"It is always special too play any game in the World Cup. Getting any game time is awesome for any player. There are a lot of players who have played here and still play here. I wouldn't say it's an advantage on game day but knowing how things work and the culture we can give some insight into how the French might think or find solutions."

On all the focus being on France captain Antoine Dupont:

"World Player of the Year - if you have that title you are a special player and he has proven it playing for Toulouse and for the French team. Every game he plays is [like] some highlights reel of a magic moment - a cross-kick or a pass or putting someone over the try line. He is an unbelievable player. We haven't spoken a lot about whether he is going to play or not. We are just focusing on making sure our systems and plans work."

On whether he felt like the odd man out being the only back in a seven-one bench (seven forwards to one back):

"I have a wrestle with them every now and then just to keep them grounded (laughs). We all buy into it and we all have a role to play. Sitting there with a six-two, five-three, seven-one, it's all the same. If you have to go on and do a job, you have to go on."

On the difference between Antoine Dupont v and his South Africa counterpart Faf de Klerk:

"They are both great players with ball in hand, kicking game, everything. The difference is the way the teams play. France play a lot of offloads, balls over the top, cross-kicks from him, whereas we might play from 10. They both can do the same thing, it's just the game plan that differs."

On the difference between playing a RWC quarter-final compared to a semi-final, where there is at least the consolation of a third-fourth-placed playoff:

"There is no difference. We want to win every game. Losing a quarter-final or a semi-final, that's not even in our vocabulary. We are focusing on what we need to do and how we prepare and if we do that we will hit our straps on game day. Playing a third-and-fourth-place playoff, that is not why we or anyone is at the World Cup."

On describing the France scrum:

"From a scrum-half's point of view, we don't know a lot about what is going on there. I just know from playing in France it is something they pride themselves on. It is huge players all the time, you don't have anyone small in that pack in the French team. The set-piece for us, we're going to have to make a statement there."

On how you manage your emotions leading up to the match:

"We all know it is a quarter-final and there's a lot to play for. We try to keep emotions out of it. We all have a job to do. We stay on our job and that is how systems function."

Bongi Mbonambi, hooker

On having 'banked' the emotion of beating France at Stade de France in 2018:

"It was 2018, a long time ago, but it was a special game in a special stadium. We know they are not the same team that they were then. They have been working hard. They have a good forwards pack, very well coached, so we are expecting a totally different challenge and obviously the atmosphere will be way different to what it was in 2018."

On trying to stifle France for the first 20 minutes in Saint-Denis to try to silence the crowd:

"We will just take the atmosphere as it is. We have played them in Marseille, which was a very hostile atmosphere, so we have experience of that. It will be very important for us to shut out the noise. We need to make sure we execute our plan as a team."

On being inspired by playing the host nation in their Rugby World Cup, just like they did when they beat Japan in 2019 [in the quarter-final]:

"It is definitely very inspiring. We know we are the defending champions and we know we have a huge task playing the host nation again in a quarter-final. It is very exciting. That was four years ago. Rugby has changed - players are bigger, stronger, fitter."