EXCLUSIVE: France kicking coach Vlok Cilliers chats to Sport24

Vlok Cilliers: France head coach Fabien Galthie and I played together for Western Province and he contacted me in 2020 to be part of the coaching set-up as kicking coach. For me, it was a no-brainer to accept the offer and it’s an honour to coach together all these years later. At least once a week, Fabien and I share memories of our time playing together for Western Province. After the Scotland game, Fabien and I took a picture with AB Zondagh, who is coaching with Scotland, and sent it to his dad Alan who coached Fabien and me back in the ‘90s. That was quite special. While the Sharks had the most French signings in those days, we had Fabien and Laurent Cabannes with us in Cape Town.

Special wins create special memories, we will keep working hard to inspire, @FranceRugby,@SixNationsRugby pic.twitter.com/tbgozpGD50

Sport24 asked: Do you regret only playing one Test match for South Africa?

Vlok Cilliers: I have regrets in terms of not playing more Test matches and would love to have played more than once. It was sad that I couldn’t play more Tests but at least I had the opportunity to play for the Springboks. At the time, it was between me and Joel Stransky and Hennie le Roux was also there. There was a lot of talent there but I always said to myself that I could have played more Tests. Aside from competition, another reason my international career was so short-lived was because when I was with the Springboks you could only go onto the field as a substitute if there was a real injury. It’s not like today where you know as a reserve you will go on at some point. During my playing days, you had to sit and wait and pray that someone would get injured so you could get on. I wanted to be involved in more Tests but, at the end of