Saturday’s Test in Paris will mark the first time the teams meet since the Boks’ dramatic 29-28 victory against Les Bleus in the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final at the same venue.

Jones admitted that while there may be extra attention on this match following France’s one-point defeat in the RWC, he said their focus was solely on trying to ensure that they are as well prepared as possible going into the match.

Asked how it felt to be back in France for the first time since 2023, Jones said: “We enjoy it every time we are here in France, and in general, we have fond memories of being here, even when we lost the match in 2022 in Marseille.

“What happened in 2023 was positive too for many other reasons, but that’s in the past. Our focus this week is to give ourselves the best chance to perform well on Saturday.”

Jones was careful to be drawn into the “revenge” aspect for France, but he was open about the fact that the hosts would try to make a point of rectifying the 2023 result.

“I don’t know (if they are seeing this as a revenge match), to be honest,” said Jones.

“I’m not sure how they are talking about it in their camp. That said, it would be hard to deny that they would have some regrets from that game that they would like to make right.”

While the local media suggested that this would be the biggest match of the season for the French, who were crowned Six Nations champions earlier this year, Jones said they would approach the encounter as they do with any other Test match.

“I wouldn’t say any single Test match is bigger than another,” he said. “We’ve had some big games this year against New Zealand, and we lost a Test match against Australia at home.

“We also have clashes against Italy, Ireland, and Wales coming up after this, so for us, every match is massive, although I can understand the extra attention this match is receiving after the World Cup quarter-final in 2023.”

Jones, however, had no doubt it would be a massive challenge and said they expected France to field a different team the side that suffered a series defeat against the All Blacks in July.

“They are a huge threat – their entire pack, in general, is tough, and they have several quality players to select from” said the Bok assistant coach.

“They’ve built a lot of depth there in the last few years, so we are expecting this match to be as big a battle as it was against them in 2022 and 2023.”

Of the team the Boks expected to face, he said: “Fabien Galthié (France head coach) has taken players who are lesser known on tour for their summer series a few times, and that’s a great exercise in building depth. But for this game, we are expecting them to select a different side.”

When quizzed about the decision to switch the Springbok team announcement from Monday to Thursday, Jones said: “If you look at our history, we’ve commonly changed the days of our team announcements. We obviously lost Ox (Nche) to injury last weekend, and we have a very competitive squad, and want to make sure we get our selection right before announcing our team.”

Springbok hooker Johan Grobbelaar was excited about the prospect of possibly being selected to face France this weekend, and said if he were to play, it would be one of the most competitive matches he has participated in.

“It would be a massive opportunity for me to play this weekend, and since I don’t have a lot of Test caps, it will be one of my biggest games yet,” said Grobbelaar. “This is my first time in Paris, and to be here with players of this quality is awesome. I think it’s going to be a massive battle.”

Watch the Springbok action live on the Grandstand and the SS Rugby channels during DStv Open Time this weekend.