Sundiata Post – New Zealand can never be underestimated and are sure to be strongly in the mix, but there’s good reason why many feel France will be the biggest challengers to the Springboks when they go in quest of a three-peat at the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
The French were sent tumbling into a prolonged hangover when the Boks scraped to victory by the narrowest of margins in the quarterfinal of their own World Cup in Paris in October 2023. The world’s most hyped player, Antoine Dupont, might unwittingly have summed up the feelings of an entire nation when he decided to get over it by chasing an Olympic gold medal to make up for the disappointment.
Dupont’s temporary switch of code to Sevens produced the salve he was looking for and perhaps French rugby did too. They took their Olympic quest so seriously that their playoff win over the Blitzboks was way overhyped. The so-called revenge was hardly what they made it out to be when the South Africans, who ended with a creditable bronze medal in Paris, bore no resemblance at all to the team Siya Kolisi led and Jacques Nienaber coached to World Cup glory.
The French disappointment, the sense of anti-climax there must have been if you like, may have impacted on their challenge in last year’s Guinness Six Nations, where they were never really at the races and would have finished significantly down the table had they not scraped a last gasp win against a by then resurgent England in the last game of the tournament.
They finished five points behind Ireland, who won the Six Nations for the second time in a row and frankly never looked like being beaten to the trophy. From an early stage, Ireland were in charge of the competition and an embarrassing 38-17 win over France at none other than one of their most feared home venues, Stade Velodrome in Marseille set them up to sustain their status as kings of Europe.
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