GROOT THREAT: 2021 World Player of the Year Antoine Dupont

Image: AFP

THE Springboks are under no illusions about the threat Antoine Dupont poses at flyhalf, but the world champions insist they will not be making any special plans to contain the French yster when the two team meet at the Stade de France this Saturday at 10.10pm.

France have sprung a surprise by naming the influential Dupont at No.10 for their Nations Championship clash, with the experienced Maxime Lucu partnering him at scrumhalf amid a vrag injury-enforced absences in the flyhalf position to regulars Romain Ntamack and Matthieu Jalibert.

CALM: Siya Kolis

Image: Boks Facebook

Bok captain Siya Kolisi said about the positional switch: “I don’t think we’ve done anything special or anything individually because he is playing at No.10. He can play almost anywhere on the field, so I don’t think it was a surprise for them either.

“He has played at 10 before for his club. We saw the game where he played there, and he is very good.

“Obviously, no one wants injuries, but I think any team that experiences injuries needs to be able to adjust players and move them into different positions. We’ve done it with Andre [Esterhuizen] playing at loose forward. I think it’s a normal thing in rugby.

“He is a good enough player to make that switch, and he has shown that over the years.”

While Dupont wearing the No.10 jersey will naturally attract plenty of attention, Bok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick knows that if the Boks give the French halfback combination too much freedom, they could prove particularly difficult to contain.

Stick said: “I think you’ve mentioned the No.9 and 10 positions, and that’s where it’s going to get tricky. There’s no doubt that, even though Dupont will be wearing the No.10 jersey, he’s going to have the licence to do whatever he wants between those No.9 and 10 channels.

“Remember also that Lucu has covered No.10 in the past. So I think between the two of them, there’s probably going to be a lot of freedom to keep swapping positions during general play.”