South Africa coach Peter de Villiers has paid France plenty of respect ahead of the Springboks opening Test on tour against their bogey team on Friday.

The two-time Rugby World Cup champions will seek to break a 12-year hoodoo when they take on Les Bleus at the Municipal Stadium.

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.

There have since been three losses 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).

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

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," he said.

"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."

Although history favours the hosts, de Villiers was confident the men in green and gold can produce the goods and record a long-awaited win against their French rivals on their home patch.

"I've had good experiences here with junior teams and also the Boks in 1997, when we last had our opportunity to beat France," he said.

"So it's not impossible!"

De Villiers has made four changes to his starting line-up from his last side in the Tri-Nations, the competition including Australia and New Zealand that the Boks won this year.

Zane Kirchner returns at full-back in place of Frans Steyn, JP Pietersen replaces Odwa Ndungane on the wing, while centre Adi Jacobs and number eight Ryan Kankowski have both been promoted from the bench in the place of Jean de Villiers and Pierre Spies.

France: Damien Traille (Biarritz); Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), Yann David (Toulouse), Maxime Mermoz (Perpignan), Cedric Heymans (Toulouse); Francois Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Julien Dupuy (Stade Francais); Fabien Barcella (Biarritz), William Servat (Toulouse), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan); Lionel Nallet (Racing Metro 92), Romain Millo-Chluski (Toulouse), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse).

Replacements: Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Francais), Sylvain Marconnet (Stade Francais), Sebastien Chabal (Racing Metro 92), Julien Bonnaire (Clermont), Morgan Parra (Clermont), David Marty (Perpignan), Maxime Medard (Toulouse), Thomas Domingo (Clermont).

South Africa: Z Kirchner (Bulls); JP Pietersen (Sharks), J Fourie (Lions), A Jacobs (Sharks), B Habana (Bulls); M Steyn (Bulls), F du Preez (Bulls); R Kankowski (Sharks), S Burger (Stormers), H Brussow (Free State Cheetahs), V Matfield (Bulls), B Botha (Bulls), J Smit (Sharks, capt), B du Plessis (Sharks), T Mtawarira (Sharks).

Replacements: A Strauss (Free State Cheetahs), W du Preez (Free State Cheetahs), CJ van der Linde (Leinster), A Bekker (Stormers), D Rossouw (Bulls), R Pienaar (Sharks), W Olivier (Bulls).