Ollie Le Roux is not someone you want to meet in a dark alley on a cold, wet, windy night. The South African loose head prop forward tips the scales at a mere 126 kilograms after months of intense dieting and this week found him in a particularly mean mood - (Sky Sports Two, 4.0p.m.)
Like his fellow Springboks, Le Roux is trying to shake off the humiliation of a stunning 32-23 loss in Johannesburg last Saturday to a French team dismissed by the media as bit players there to make up the numbers.
This evening at Absa Stadium in this hot, humid Indian Ocean city, South Africa get their only chance to exact revenge as France leave for New Zealand the following day for a one-off Test in Wellington on June 30th.
"We do not like the fact that the French outmuscled us. We were playing a bit too far away from our forwards instead of getting the ball in front of them," "The whole team is embarrassed. We have been down all week because our performance was pathetic. We really want to lift our game and there is a lot of magic in this team."
South Africa coach Harry Viljoen - in charge for less than a year but already under pressure - has made five changes from the side that meekly surrendered to a French XV inspired by 27-point outhalf Gerald Merceron.
Thinus Delport replaces Percy Montgomery at full back, Robbie Fleck comes in for Japie Mulder at centre, and props Le Roux and Willie Meyer take over from Robbie Kempson and Etienne Fynn. The fifth change was forced by an injury to lock Andre Venter. Beanpole Albert van den Berg, considered the best jumper in the South African squad, takes his place.
Montgomerie's performance in Johannesburg was typical of the South Afican side. He missed touch all too often. However, while the axing of Montgomery was long overdue, it leaves the Springboks without a recognised goal-kicker. The task has passed to outhalf Butch James in only his second international appearance.
"Our goal kicking has always been a concern for me, but Butch has put a lot of work into his kicking this week and hopefully we will see the evidence of that on Saturday," Viljoen said.
Counterpart Bernard Laporte says he is expecting a noble war at a ground where France have not won in four meetings, and that the first 15 minutes will be particularly hard.
"The first 15 minutes will be really hard and we are expecting it to be a noble war. We have to be ready for everything the Springboks throw at us. We have to front up and we have to make our presence felt from the start. If we don't it could mean big problems for us.
"My players must be ready for an onslaught as the Springboks will be driven by the desire for revenge. "I want to prove that our victory in the last Test was no fluke. We did very well in the line-outs and will seek to destabilise the South Africans again in this area. We have to try and speed up our play, improve our ball retention and vary our game. This is a huge challenge for us."
Lock Olivier Brouzet from English club Northampton, the only member of an unchanged starting line-up based outside France, says the Springboks are in for another rude awakening.
"Maybe the Springboks will be better than last week, but so will France. We have trained with a lot of intensity to rectify our mistakes. There will be a few more surprises on Saturday."
Teams For Second Test
SOUTH AFRICA: Thinus Delport (Lions); Breyton Paulse (Western Province), Robbie Fleck (Western Province), De Wet Barry (Western Province), Dean Hall (Lions); Butch James (Sharks), Joost van der Westhuizen (Bulls); Andre Vos (Lions, capt), Rassie Erasmus (Lions), Corne Krige (Western Province), Mark Andrews (Sharks), Albert van den Berg (Sharks), Willie Meyer (Lions), John Smit (Sharks), Ollie le Roux (Sharks). Replacements: Conrad Jantjes (Lions), Percy Montgomery (Western Province), Neil de Kock (Western Province), Bobby Skinstad (Western Province), Johan Ackermann (Lions), Etienne Fynn (Sharks), Robbie Kempson (Western Province).
FRANCE: Nicolas Jeanjean (Stade Toulousain); David Bory (Montferrand), Yannick Jauzion (Colomiers), Stephane Glas (Bourgoin), Christophe Dominici (Stade Francais); Gerald Merceron (Montferrand), Fabien Galthie (Colomiers, capt); Patrick Tabacco (S tade Francais), Olivier Magne (Montferrand), Sebastian Chabal (Bourgoin), Olivier Brouzet (Northampton/Eng), Daniel Auradou (Stade Francais), Pieter de Villiers (Stade Francais), Raphael Ibanez (Castres), Jean-Jacques Crenca (Agen). Replacements: Olivier Azam (Gloucester/Eng), Christian Califano (Stade Toulousain), Lionel Nallet (Bourgoin), Elvis Vermeulen (Brive), Pierre Mignoni (Dax), David Skrela (Colomiers), Pepito Elhorga (Agen).
