Felix Jones Warns France Could Spring More Tactical Surprises Against the Springboks

Springboks assistant coach Felix Jones expects France to bring new tactical ideas to their Nations Championship meeting in Paris, warning that the hosts have moved well beyond the approach they showed several years ago. The teams are due to meet at the Stade de France on Friday night. Jones said France had changed how it uses the kicking game since the sides’ close Rugby World Cup quarter-final in 2023. Back then, captain Antoine Dupont often kicked long towards the opposition 22, with the French then looking to make use of the lineout that followed. The strategy could also give the forwards a brief chance to recover during the kicking exchanges. That match produced a notable turning point when Springboks fullback Damian Willemse called for a scrum after taking a mark. The resulting contest put the French forwards under pressure, and South Africa was able to kick for touch and attack from the lineout. Coach Rassie Erasmus later gave the relevant law change the label “Dupont Rule”; teams can no longer choose a scrum from a free-kick. France’s kicking has since developed, Jones said. In the sides’ meeting last year, the French used more contestable kicks, a tactic that has become common in international rugby after rules against blockers and obstruction runners changed how teams compete in the air. “They put us under pressure with a lot of attacking-style kicks, trying to exploit as much space as they could in behind us,” Jones said, according to the source. He added that South Africa is preparing for possible tactical elements it has not seen before, including innovative kicking and a measure of unpredictability. The coach also played down suggestions of lasting ill feeling between the teams’ management groups after South Africa edged France 29–28 in the 2023 quarter-final. That game saw the Springboks come from behind despite Lood de Jager receiving a permanent red card. The article says the previous Paris Test had been framed as a revenge occasion for France, but Jones stressed that mutual respect exists away from the pitch.