Little? We’ve got beef to roast French
LITTLE ENGLAND was merely a state of mind on this side of the Channel until Fabien Galthie decided to use it as an epithet for the English rugby team about to play France in Paris.
As disclosed in the Daily Express, the eminent former Tricolour captain also suggested they were “fragile, young, inexperienced, in search of tactics, strategy and players”. But has he actually looked?
The customary attention is being given to the impending scrum duel, and here the England front row’s poundage is almost two stone a man more than their adversaries. In fact if you look at the packs as a whole, England’s scale 142st 8lb, France’s 134st 1lb. So if England are “little”, what does that make France. Petit, maybe? Yoann Maestri, 18st 10lb to Geoff Parling’s 17st 13lb, is the only French forward heavier one to one.
The fact remains that England’s young pack, traduced as they may have been by Galthie, will face an ordeal at Stade de France on Sunday greater than anything they have yet encountered in this Six Nations. The dismantling of the English scrum there two years ago was the essential prerequisite of a two- point French Grand Slam victory that would otherwise have been a defeat.
“Actually it’s put us in good stead having guys in the front row now who have been through that experience,” said England loosehead prop Alex Corbisiero. “It showed pretty clearly how you have to have all guns blazing from the fi rst scrum.
“We can’t feel our way in and then have to dig ourselves out of a hole. Every one of the French front row is technically sound, so equally our technical stuff has to be good as well.”
Whichever metaphor you prefer, England cannot afford – and thus far have shown no signs they might – to endure another prolonged trauma such as suffered in 2010 by Tim Payne, Dylan Hartley and Dan Cole.
Cole was removed at half- time, a serious comedown after the praise previously lavished on him by manager Martin Johnson and a fi ne example of how scrummaging against France is always liable to go awry.
Look no further than the England scrum during this Six Nations – only 10 put- ins between the three games and two of those, both against Italy, lost. Is this really progress?
“No one’s scrum is always going to go to plan in such a tough contest,” said Corbisiero. “France are a worldclass outfi t and we are still learning and on the way up, so I would say we’ve done pretty well. We have our