World champions South Africa will seek to break a 12-year hoodoo when they take on France at the Municipal Stadium, Toulouse on Friday (Saturday AM AEDT).

The Springboks last won on French soil in 1997, handing the home side a record 52-10 defeat in the national team's final game at the iconic Parc des Princes in Paris.

The World Champions have lost three times in France while the French have also beaten the Boks twice away, most recently in their last encounter in Cape Town in 2006 (36-26).

South Africa coach Peter de Villiers has made four changes to his starting line-up from the side that beat New Zealand in their last Tri-Nations clash in September .

Zane Kirchner returns at fullback in place of Frans Steyn, JP Pietersen replaces Odwa Ndungane on the wing, while centre Adi Jacobs and No 8 Ryan Kankowski have both been promoted from the bench in the place of Jean de Villiers and Pierre Spies.

De Villiers was in a bullish mood, saying: "I've had good experiences here with junior teams and also the Boks in 1997, when we last had our opportunity to beat France.

"France is one of those teams we respect and I expect them to come out with all guns blazing."

When asked whether he expected the intensity of Friday's clash would match that of the high-octane series against the British and Irish Lions, de Villiers said he thought it might be yet "more severe".

"We're playing France in France and that's another story. We know how passionate the people are here, we know how the players can get raw energy from the crowd. It will be really tough, but that's exactly what Test rugby's about.

"France are a very good side, especially the pack. They're very physical and there are some hard-running backs," he said.

Fittingly for a game to be held in the southwestern heartland of French rugby, seven Toulouse players form the backbone of the France team, including Yann David who will win his second cap at centre.

Coach Marc Lievremont, who has used 68 players in his year-long tenure, named his 11th half-back pairing in Montpellier's Francois Trinh-Duc and Julien Dupuy of Stade Francais, who gets the nod at scrum-half following his strong displays during the summer tour of Australia and New Zealand.

Flanker Thierry Dusautoir captains the side which features a strong-looking forward pack.

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