We have forgotten who we are, admits France star Magne

‘ANGLAIS?’ asks the wiryhaired security guard at the entrance to France’s remote team base in the south of Paris. ‘What will be ze score at Twickenham? I think England 40 France 12.’

If scathing assessments from France veterans Olivier Magne, Thomas Castaignede and Dimitri Yachvili were not enough, now the FFR’s own staff are starting to doubt them.

On a whiteboard in the media room the name of France’s sacked former coach — Guy Noves — is written in the middle of a love heart with an arrow. Welcome to the ‘zinzin’ or bonkers world of Les Bleus.

Defeats by Wales and Fiji have left a storm cloud over the national team, although the death of four young players in the past 12 months have cast a far darker shadow than any results.

One of those was 18-year-old Stade Francais academy flanker Nicolas Chauvin, who suffered a fatal cardiac arrest after breaking his neck in a tackle.

French rugby hit an all-time low and players such as France centre Gael Fickou, who also plays for Stade Francais, were left in mourning. ‘Look at what happened to Emiliano Sala, the footballer who died in the plane,’ Fickou tells The Mail on Sunday. ‘It brought a kind of solidarity.’

‘We’ve all been very moved by the deaths. We take risks every time we play rugby.’

Solidarity was lacking against Wales last week and French rugby is in desperate need of some good news. This week’s newspaper headlines included La Grande Nevose — The Great Neurosis — after Midi Olympique asked a psychiatrist to work out how the team blew a 16-0 half-time lead in Paris.

‘It’s hard to hear these things,’ says Fickou, who will start on the wing against England at Twickenham today. ‘When you lose against a better team there is nothing to say. But when you lose in that way — a game where we showed two different faces – then you expect that reaction.

‘Last week, all the pressure was on Ireland’s shoulders and England won. This week all of the expectations are on England’s shoulders.’

Indeed, France have not won at Twickenham in the Six Nations for 14 years. The national team have been caught in the crossfire of boardroom politics and the influx of foreign stars to the Top 14 has resulted in a lack of game time for young players.

‘Over the last 10 years we have forgotten who we are,’ Magne tells the Mail on Sunday. ‘We will win nothing with this generation. It will take maybe 10 years before this team are challenging to be world champions.

‘We need to expose more young players at a high level. Our captain is 32 years old. You need speed, precision. If you can’t maintain the intensity for 80 minutes you lose the game.’

Coach Jacques Brunel has made sweeping changes for the match at Twickenham, although some of his latest selections are unlikely to last for the full 80 minutes.

He has picked heavyweight centre Mathieu Bastareaud in midfield to smash through the defence, while ageing lieutenant Morgan Parra has been retained his place at scrum-half.

‘Antoine Dupont is the future for France,’ says Magne. ‘He should be starting at scrum-half.

‘Of course, anything is possible at Twickenham. France could win once, but if they played ten times they would lose nine at the moment.