EXCLUSIVE: Ex-French fullback Scott Spedding chats to Sport24

Sport24 asked: What have you made of the South African flavour at France?

Scott Spedding: Over and above the influence South African-born players have had on the field for France over the years, Fabien Galthie has been very clever in terms of who he has brought in on a coaching front. He has foreign expertise in the form of Vlok Cilliers as kicking coach and Shaun Edwards as defence coach. In terms of the former, Les Bleus are intelligent in the way they go about their kicking, exit at the right time and often use the cross-kick to get out of sticky situations. They are definitely calculated in their kicking, which I like to see as I don’t enjoy sides just kicking it away.

Sport24 asked: What’s your opinion on Eben Etzebeth’s move to the Sharks?

Scott Spedding: Etzebeth will add massive value to an already strong Sharks side when he joins from Toulon in July. In the games Etzebeth has played in France, he has been very good and is a crowd favourite because the French love big, physical guys. Etzebeth is not the first player Toulon has seemed to have had an issue with, in terms of not being available for periods of the season owing to international duty, and certainly won’t be the last. In France, they have not only been frustrated with Etzebeth but with a few other international as well in terms of a lack of playing time. However, for me, it beggars belief because when you sign a player like Etzebeth or any other top international for that matter you know what’s coming with that. The 30-year-old lock is still in the prime of his career and is going to be playing for his country, so his club time will be limited. As a club president, you can sort of calculate how much time he’s going to be there for, so I’m not sure why he’s