WeeklySA_AdminKNOCKOUT MATCH: THE SPRINGBOKS TO STORM THE BASTILLE WHEN THEY TAKE ON HOST FRANCE IN THE QUARTER-FINALS
By Ali Mphaki
Enconsced in some top hotel in France you may be inclined to forgive pre-eminent South African sport fans Mama Joy and Botha to be thinking they are some African version of the infamous Queen Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI.
With South Africa playing against host France on Sunday little wonder therefore that Mama Joy would utter the famed words attributed to Marie Antoinette..let them eat cake, she said.
The Springboks are expected to storm the Bastille with Bongi Mbonambi revealing that the Springboks have been training with background noise to prepare themselves for the “hostile” French crowd at the Stade de France on Sunday night, according to the SABC.
The Springboks are set to be heavily outnumbered inside the 80,000-capacity Saint-Denis arena for their World Cup quarter-final showdown with the host nation, with masses of Les Bleus fans intent on making their team’s home advantage count.
The Boks are well accustomed to dealing with uninviting environments, however, and Mbonambi explained why they will not be fazed by any attempts from the French crowd to put them off on Sunday night.
“The atmosphere is going to be massive,” said the 32-year-old. “We have tried to simulate the noise in training so that when it comes to the match on Sunday, it’s not the first time we have experienced it and it doesn’t come as a shock to us.The Boks are well accustomed to dealing with uninviting environments, however, and Mbonambi explained why they will not be fazed by any attempts from the French crowd to put them off on Sunday night.
“The atmosphere is going to be massive,” said the 32-year-old. “We have tried to simulate the noise in training so that when it comes to the match on Sunday, it’s not the first time we have experienced it and it doesn’t come as a shock to us.
“We know they are going to be singing and everything like that but we’ve just got to embrace it and try to focus on our game plan. “We will just take the atmosphere as it is. We have played them in Marseille (last November), which was a very hostile atmosphere, so we have experience of that.
“It will be hostile but for us as a team we have to focus on executing our plan. It is very important for us to shut out the noise.”
South Africa lost 30-26 to France in a closely-contested encounter in Marseille last year but Mbonambi expects a more ferocious showdown this time.
“I think the intensity is going to be way more than Marseille,” he said. “That was just an end-of-year Test match. This is a World Cup quarter-final so there’s a lot on the line.”
Although they will be in the minority in the north of Paris on Sunday, Mbonambi insisted the Springboks will be fuelled by a knowledge that they have their nation behind them.
“Back at home we have 60 million South Africans who are looking for hope and inspiration and we take that out on the pitch,” he said. “That is special. It is a massive privilege and a massive honour. “Different players have different ways of preparing and when we’re on that bus together you do what you have to do to make sure your attention is just on the Springboks, just on South Africa.”
Prior to their defeat in Marseille last year, South Africa had won seven matches in a row against Les Bleus, including their last meeting at Stade de France five years ago.
“It was 2018, a long time ago, but it was a special game in a special stadium,” said Mbonambi, who played in that 29-26 victory. “We know they are not the same team that they were then and they have been working hard for this.
