France may have scored a thundering win over England this year in the Six Nations in Paris but the Stade de France has acquired a reputation as a venue where the national team are rarely at ease. At the other end of the country, the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille has rapidly become the opposite.

If France defeat the Springboks there tonight, that will complete a mini grand slam of southern hemisphere sides in the concrete bowl, after victories over the All Blacks in 2000 and the world champions Australia in 2001.

The unique power of Marseille is its proximity to the rugby heartlands in the south and south-west. Berets and tangy Provençal accents set the tone, along with a passion not usually seen in Paris.

Tim Lane, joint coach of the Springboks, said: "I wouldn't say the crowd is hostile, but they support the French team with incredible fervour."

Both sides have an experimental look, with the Springboks still rebuilding under Rudolf Straeuli, who has transformed them from the ponderous team of a year ago into a unit capable of putting nine tries past Australia in two recent Tri-Nations matches.

Straeuli claims "ability to score from the counter- attack" and "unpredictability" as his team's strengths and the former Bedford coach is following that up in his selections. There are eight changes from the side that beat Australia in August, including a first cap for the centre Jean de Villiers. Adrian Jacobs plays alongside him as replacement for the hamstrung Robbie Fleck.

France's coach Bernard Laporte has made seven changes from the side that lost to Australia in the summer's last Test, dropping five men, but his biggest blow is the injury to Tony Marsh, whose partnership with Damien Traille in the centre played a key part in their grand slam last spring.

His replacement Thomas Castaignède has been feted on his France return two years after rupturing his achilles tendon, but he is a gamble: he has not played in this position for Les Bleus since June 1999.

"Thomas is not the same player as Tony," admits Laporte, "but who is? Tony is the team's pacemaker, and with Damien he has permitted France to change the way they play. If Thomas is up to the task, that will be a massive bonus, as we will have a stand-in for Tony in the event of any accidents."

Laporte has brought in the fly-half François Gelez, mastermind of last year's victory in Paris over the Springboks, in place of the out-of-form Gérald Merceron. Castaignède's return, and the selection of the uncapped Toulouse wings Vincent Clerc and Cédric Heymans, is all part of the same bigger picture: the need to build strength in depth for the World Cup.

"We know that François is a world-class kicker, but he needs games," Laporte says. "It's better to start him today, or test Vincent Clerc now, than wait for the first game in the World Cup."

Laporte says of tonight's game: "We must win, and we must win against New Zealand and Canada to tell the world: here we are, folks, we are contenders for the world title."

France : Brusque; Clerc, Castaignède, Traille, Heymans; Gelez, Galthié (capt); Crenca, Ibanez, P de Villiers, Pelous, Brouzet, Betsen, Magne, Harinordoquy. Replacements : Rué, Marconnet, Privat, Chabal, Yachvili, Merceron, Garbajosa.

South Africa : Greeff; Paulse, J de Villiers, Jacobs, Russell; Pretorius, De Kock; Sephaka, Dalton, Meyer, Botha, Labuschagne, Krige (capt), A J Venter, Van Niekerk. Replacements : Joubert, James, Conradie, Wannenburg, Wentzel, Roux, Van Biljon.