The teams will cross paths at the Stade de France at 21h00 for a spot in the RWC semi-final, and Erasmus said playing against the hosts in front of their home crowd at a jam-packed stadium was as big as it gets in a quarter-final.

“If you want to do something great, it will never be in ideal situations,” said Erasmus.

“Given how France have done and the way they’ve been playing in the last few years, this will be one of the top games, and we’ll have to try to manage that.”

The former Bok loose forward expected a hard grind of a match and said doing the basics right would be essential this weekend: “Winning is everything, and there are different ways of winning. Defence, scrums, lineouts, mauls and rucks will always be important, and given where are in the competition now, things will get tighter as the pressure builds.”

Jesse Kriel, who will be pushing hard for a spot in the midfield along with Lukhanyo Am and Canan Moodie, agreed with Erasmus and said the Boks were ready for the challenge.

Jesse Kriel and Rassie Erasmus at Twickenham in August.

“The intensity of a playoff game is certainly higher than any other game so far,” said Kriel. “But we train with intensity in the week to be able to perform at that level on the weekend.”

Both Kriel and Manie Libbok, who will be considered at flyhalf along with the experienced Handre Pollard, had fond memories of the Boks winning 2007 Rugby World Cup at Stade de France.

Kriel said: “I was in grade seven at the time and I was watching in my pyjamas in the TV room at the school hostel with my twin brother, so I have good memories of that day. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

Of his memory of that match, Libbok said: “I was also young at the time, and it inspired me to play for the Springboks, to play in a World Cup, and to win it. It was also great for South Africa as country.”

The team will continue their training programme on Wednesday and will have Thursday off before having their traditional captains run on Saturday. Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber will announce his 23-man squad for the match on Friday.