The French will look to extend their unbeaten run in Test rugby to twelve wins when they come up against the World Champions. The last time the French lost an international was in July 2022, when they were beaten 33-30 by the Wallabies.

The Springboks, in their turn, have beaten the French in their last seven meetings, which date back to 2010.

The Springboks have made no secret about the fact that the French will test them upfront and they are up for the challenge.

The monstrous New Zealand-born tighthead prop, Uini Atnoio, will be starting for the French in the Test.

The La Rochelle player tips the scales at a staggering 147kg and stands 1,97m tall. His direct opponent, Ox Nché, is a mere 1,76m tall and weighs in at 115kg.

While Nche may be smaller in stature than his opponent and will be have his work cut out, he has worked with the scrum guru, Daan Human, for many years.

Human, the former Cheetahs assistant coach and Springbok tighthead, played a large part of his career in France for Toulouse, and now as the Springbok scrum coach, he is sharing his hard-earned wisdom with the World Champions.

Human and Nché also matriculated at the same alma mater, HTS Louis Botha in Bloemfontein (other Springboks from the school are AJ Venter, Oupa Mohoje and Raymond Rhule).

The Springbok flanker, Pieter-Steph du Toit, said they trust in what they are being taught by their scrum coach, Daan Human.

"The knowledge that Daan has learned here in France is something that he took and taught us," said the former World Rugby Player of the Year.

"We can see that since Daan joined up here at the Springboks, we almost have the same approach he had when he played and that is the way we want to focus on the scrums as well.

"A lot of what he was taught here in France is something that we try and implement in our personal game as well."

Saturday night’s Test at Stade Velodrome kicks off at 22:00.

France - 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Yoram Moefana, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (captain), 8 Gregory Alldritt, 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 Anthony Jelonch, 5 Thibaud Flament, 4 Cameron Woki, 3 Uini Atonio, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Cyril Baille

Replacements - 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Sipili Falatea, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Bastien Chalureau, 21 Sekou Macalou, 22 Maxime Lucu, 23 Matthieu Jalibert

Springboks - 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche

Replacements - 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Marvin Orie, 20 Kwagga Smith 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Makazole Mapimpi

Morgan Piek OFM Sport