Paris (AFP) – South Africa captain Siya Kolisi says he is desperate to beat France in Paris on Saturday to give the visitors a much-needed boost after two successive defeats.
The Springboks lost 32-30 to New Zealand in Pretoria on October 6 and were beaten 12-11 by England last Saturday.
They will face the All Blacks at the group stages of next year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan.
The clock is ticking on South Africa’s preparations for the World Cup, where the former two-time champions are in a pool with Italy, Namibia and the winner of this month’s repechage tournament.
The defeat to Eddie Jones’ side last weekend came in the opening match of their November Test series.
“We want to get our tour back on track. We are desperate,” he told reporters on Friday.
“We made mistakes in London and some of them cost us the game.
“It’s tough to lose by one point. We’re heading in the right direction,” he added.
Despite the defeats Kolisi said his side will be sticking with the same strategy applied by coach Rassie Erasmus.
“We’re not going to change our plan now because of the two losses.
“We can see what we are doing is working but we just need to execute it better,” he added.
Kolisi is joined by Faf de Klerk as well as Willie le Roux in the starting lineup after they missed the loss to England.
The scrum-half and full-back were unavailable for selection as the game was played outside the international Test window and they were not released by their English clubs for the fixture.
“They have a lot of experience, but the most important thing is their passion,” Kolisi said.
“They didn’t enjoy watching, they want to play,” the back-rower added.
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