Rankings: Where Springboks stand ahead of clash against France

The Springboks are embracing the challenge of facing the 2023 Rugby World Cup hosts, France, at Stade de France in the last of four quarter-finals on Sunday.

The South African squad will travel to Paris on Monday to prepare for the blockbuster knockout game, which kicks off at 21h00 on Sunday and will be broadcast live on SuperSport and SABC.

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Ahead of this encounter, the World Rugby rankings certainly make for interesting reading, with just 0.89 points separating second-place France and the Springboks, according to the live rankings table.

It’s a reminder of just how little separates these top teams who last played each other on 22 November, with France edging that match 30-26.

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You can see where the Springboks stand in latest rankings below:

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Boks ready for battle

Bok assistant coach Daan Human was thrilled about the Boks advancing to the quarter-finals after Ireland knocked Scotland out of the competition on Saturday night and said: “Our objective was to qualify for the quarter-final, so we are very happy, and we are looking forward to this week.”

Human said both teams had improved since their encounter in Marseille in November last year in what proved to be a humdinger of a match. The hosts won 30-26 as the Boks were reduced to 14 men early in the game due to a red card and added that it was difficult to single out their strengths as a team.

“I think they are better than last year, but so are we,” said Human.

“If you train hard, you’ll naturally get better as a team. But just as they believe in themselves, we believe in our players as well.”

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