Romain Ntamack was not on the pitch when Les Bleus last met South Africa just over two years ago, having been denied a starring role at the home World Cup by a knee ligament injury the previous summer. The Toulouse fly-half was nevertheless as affected as anyone by the one-point quarter-final defeat by the Springboks, which brought France’s ambitions to an abrupt and sobering end.
“The trauma from that match went beyond the 23 players who were on the team sheet,” the 26-year-old said before this weekend’s rematch, which kicks off the autumn campaign for both sides. “We’ve moved on since then, though, and we’re fully focused on Saturday’s match.”
