Ibanez, Woki and Mauvaka chat ahead of Springbok clash

Raphaël Ibañez, general manager

On the quarter-final:

“It's a big game. Playing South Africa, who won the competition four years ago, at the Stade de France, in the final stages in front of our home crowd, we couldn't dream of anything better."

On the plan for the opening minutes:

"Since the start of the competition, and for the last four years, the start of each week has been devoted to a debriefing of the match played, in terms of both technical analysis and the mental aspect. In this respect, we have two essential resources, Roberta [Antonini Philippe, sports psychologist] and Mickael [Campo, performance optimisation coach], who are with us regularly and try to anticipate the different scenarios.

"The context this time is different to the opening match [against New Zealand]. I think that we have an advantage, playing at Stade de France, in front of a public that will be there to support and encourage us. 

“There's been a real evolution in that respect. You can feel that the public want to help the players, to support an offensive tackle, to support the team when they defend the line. It's remarkable. It's a very interesting development for our team to continue to grow.”

On South Africa’s squad selection:

"We'll wait until kick-off. We could be surprised right up until kick-off. Like against New Zealand, anything can happen. We're prepared for anything. It's a game of chess. It's all about pre-match strategy. We prepare for everything.

On France's preparation for this stage of the Rugby World Cup:

"We feel we've given ourselves every chance, on the strategic aspect, in our build-up since our first meeting in June. We've been together for 15 weeks now. We’ve tried to calibrate the players’ preparation as much as possible. [Strength and conditioning coach] Thibault Giroud told us that the France-Italy match would be the start of the period when we feel physically at our best."

Cameron Woki, second-row

On the South Africa second-row duo:

"I expect a very tough, physical game against a second-row that has a lot of game time together. They're strong physically. In Marseille, we were able to cope with their threat. This is a match with a lot at stake. We have to rise to the physical challenge of two locks who work well together [Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert] and have played a lot.”

On the atmosphere at Stade de France:

"We need it, we need the fans who push us on and who have always pushed us on. It's a boost for us. We're playing a World Cup in France. We'll need the crowd tomorrow. They will be our '16th man', pushing us on."

On emotions in the France camp:

"There's a lot of excitement. We're where we want to be. The week went as normal. We trained in the same way. [But] in our heads, the preparation is different. It's a high-stakes match - we go through or we go home. 

"These are games we want to play, whether for club or country. That's why we play this game, for this level of emotion and this level of stakes. We’ve been pretty quiet this week. We tightened up and talked a lot about the breakdown, which is going to be an important area of the game. There have been plenty of smiles in and out of training. We're enjoying these moments. We're still human beings. We have to make the most of every moment."

On the South African 23-man squad:

"We analyse a lot. We know South Africa are difficult to break down. But there are always alternatives. There are always ways out. We're going to try to find those ways out, and not make things too complicated.

"The aim is to get on the front foot and make it as difficult as possible for them defensively. We've got a big challenge on our hands. I enjoy playing against the best possible teams.”

On playing a quarter-final in Saint-Denis:

"It's important to me because I was born in Saint-Denis. It's important to play at home, in the Île-de-France. I'm proud to belong to this region. I'm playing for all those players who dream of playing in a World Cup in France, and at Stade de France. There are so many emotions, but the most important thing is the match and what we're going to do as a team. I'll put my emotions aside."

On appearing to be so calm:

"We're calm because most of the players here have a taste for the finals. We're lucky enough to play with Toulouse players, who play finals every year. We're all used to this level of event, even if this one is a bit different. It's a World Cup quarter-final. Very few players in this team played in the quarter-final in 2019. It's an important match, but we're relaxed because it's rugby. We all get on well. We don't put any pressure on each other. Everything's going well."

Peato Mauvaka, hooker

On playing at a Rugby World Cup after missing out in Japan:

"I was lucky enough to be part of the group in 2019. I did all the preparation, I was supposed to play against Tonga [at RWC 2019] but I got injured. It wasn't my moment. I've worked hard to wear the blue jersey. With Julien [Marchand], Gaëtan [Barlot] and Pierre [Bourgarit], we rotate a lot. I didn't know that Julien was going to get injured against New Zealand. But we're prepared for that, and we have to be ready to respond at any moment."

On the South African pack:

"Before each match, whether it was a warm-up, in the pool phase, or this match, we prepare as if it is a final. We know that winning is their strong point. I can't wait for Sunday."

On competing with the South African scrum:

"We know they play a lot off their scrum and that they rely on it a lot. In the Marseille match, the scrum went pretty well. We’re working hard with William [Servat, France forwards coach]. I can't wait for Sunday to see what they have to offer."

On the apparent calm in the camp:

"We’re calm because Antoine’s back [France captain Antoine Dupont]."