Siya Kolisi and Jacque Nienaber chat after squad announcement

Jacques Nienaber, head coach

On the 5-3 split on the bench, plus selections at nine and eight:

“If it’s 8-0, 7-1, 6-2, 5-3, it falls under team selection. We have selected a team, irrespective of the bench, that we think will give us the best opportunity of a victory on Sunday.

“If we select Cobus [Reinach] or Faf [de Klerk], I don’t think there would be a lot of raised eyebrows. France have got a very interesting kicking game and we feel using those two guys will give us the best opportunity. For this specific game, we feel Duane [Vermeulen] is the guy we will need, but that doesn’t mean Jasper [Wiese] won’t play in the semi-final. It is based on what we feel we need to get a victory on Sunday.”

On combinations:

“If you look at a guy like Cobus, he is playing exceptional rugby, and Faf for that matter. It’s the same with Manie [Libbok]. Handre [Pollard] is a bit different, when you look at the cumulative number of minutes he has played for us this year. It is probably one game altogether, so he is slowly building up his minutes. And Manie is probably our in-form fly-half. I think we have lost one game this year when he has started at 10. The team performs when he starts at 10, it is as simple as that.”

On playing against an entire nation:

“Since we started in 2020, our aim was to win the World Cup. Otherwise, why are you in it? Our aim was always to do that. Since the draw was made, we knew the quarter-final would probably boil down to France or New Zealand. It didn’t matter which team we played. It will be a tough quarter-final, the same with Ireland and New Zealand. I think all the quarter-finals will be really close. All the teams are preparing to be in the semi-finals and we go on from there.”

On managing the squad:

“The whole team selection was quite tough. If you look at the squad and the way we have managed the load over the last few games and the 10 tests we have played this season, the majority of our group has had between four and six games of exposure. The World Cup is spread over two months so we need to manage the squad so they go into knockout stages as fresh as possible.

“The beauty of our squad is we had the ability to rotate and rest and manage their load. Hopefully that will carry us through. Lukhanyo [Am] has not had much exposure because of his injury, but he looks good in training. It’s the same with Jasper [Wiese], there is no reason why they might not get selected in a semi-final. We believe we have a team to match the strengths and expose the weaknesses of France, although there are not a lot of weaknesses there.

“I know Handre came back and kicked 100% in the last game, but I think Manie did too. Any kicker can have an off day but when you play knockout games, you are not going to get many opportunities. So when we get them, we must use them.”

On how exciting it is the top four teams are all playing this weekend in Paris:

“It’s going to be two massive games. Ireland and New Zealand is going to be a tough game too. They are both on form. We are on form, France is on form. They are going to be two humdingers of games, and the others also [in Marseille], even though they are not as high ranked.  But the four teams playing in Paris are very much on form and it’s going to boil down to execution and taking opportunities on the day.”  

On whether reverting to a 5-3 bench split risks losing South Africa’s aura:

“Sometimes we play around with a 7-1, 6-2, 5-3 split on the bench. But it goes back to team selection. You look at the opposition and make a decision based on what you think is the best 23. For this specific game, we felt a 5-3 is the best for us. But in terms of losing our identity? No. When we went 7-1, everyone said there was risk. But with every team selection there is risk. With 5-3, it is perceived as more standard and less risk. But you do mitigate that risk with multiple players being able to play in multiple positions.   

“The last big final we played was against the British and Irish Lions and we went for a 5-3 split there. Morne Steyn was selected and he kicked the last penalty. So it’s not like we haven’t done 5-3s in big games before. Maybe people who don’t follow us that often and only in the World Cup might see it as strange, but we have gone for a 5-3 in big games before.”

On what he expects from France:

“There are not a lot of weaknesses in the French side, or all four teams playing this weekend. One thing a bit different is their kicking game. They make no bones about it – they prefer not to play with the ball. They pressurise you, try to suffocate you and force you into making errors, which is a very good defensive system from Shaun [Edwards]. So you have to find strategies around that and we have had to talk to that with our team selection. If you look at their set-pieces, they win their ball and then they have some X-factor, So they are a well-rounded team who puts teams under pressure and don’t give up, they play for 80 minutes.”

On moving away from the half-back partnership which won the 2019 RWC:

“The big thing was Handre [Pollard] being out for 19 or 20 weeks before the World Cup. That was unfortunate. If he hadn’t got injured, we might have looked at it a bit differently and he probably would have been in the squad from the start because he’s a quality rugby player.

“With Manie, if you look at the way he drives the team, he is obviously on form. The difference in the games he has started for us at 10, I think it is like four tries to one, so we score points with Manie at 10. Manie is in form, playing good rugby. Cobus [Reinach] is in form, playing good rugby, so is Faf [de Klerk]. But just looking at what the French will bring, we feel this is the best option for us.”

Siya Kolisi, captain

On playing against the host nation:

“Of course it’s a big game, we all know that. We have experienced it before in Japan and it is difficult. But we find strength in each other, we know we have 65 million people back home supporting us. In our last game against them in Marseille, the atmosphere was amazing. But you can’t think too much about what is happening around you, the main thing is to focus on the game.”

On facing France openside flanker, Charles Ollivon:

“He’s an amazing player and great leader, very skilful. He’s a big player for them. I know they are preparing for a physical battle. We don’t hide who we are, it is nothing new for us, we don’t have to do anything different. We are driven by hard work and physicality, The main thing is to bring it on Sunday for 80 minutes. We have had a couple of games like that against Tonga and against Ireland. This game will be no different. It is all about doing it for 80 minutes.”

On playing knockout rugby:

“Our coaching staff have been amazing. They have planned for different scenarios, but as players not a lot changes. It is the same as in the pool games. If we didn’t beat Tonga, we wouldn’t be here today. A lot of this team has been here before; 90 per cent of our team played at the last World Cup. There are no excuses, we have been here before and will draw a lot of confidence from that. We are confident but we know France are also confident and have the advantage of playing at home, so it’s going to be a proper battle.”

On ‘managing the referee’ and discipline in a game of such physicality:

“Our discipline has been really good – I think we are the only team who haven’t received a yellow card in this tournament. We do play physically, we do play on the edge but we train to tackle correctly and stay onside. That is why technique is so important. But at the same time, we can’t be worried about doing something crazy. We have to live on the edge, that is what our game is as a South African team, to play as hard as we can for 80 minutes.

“People enjoy rugby because it’s brutal. We need to go forward so our wings and backs can do their thing. I think the ref will be able to manage the game and obviously if we steer clear of anything naughty, we will be alright.”