Paris cauldron will be Test of nerve
IRELAND captain Rory Best says a Six Nations debut at the Stade de France will separate the men from the boys. Lock James Ryan, wing Jacob Stockdale and centre Bundee Aki will all make their tournament bow in Paris’s imposing stadium this afternoon. Best admitted Test match rugby in the vast and colourful ground is always an attack on the senses, from the baying home fans to the brass bands’ constant chorus. And the Lions hooker accepts that how the trio of Six Nations debutants handle their Paris initiation could prove pivotal to Ireland’s chances of victory.
“At this stage they probably are a little bit unaware as to the magnitude of the game, the atmosphere, the microscope you are under in the Six Nations,” said Best. “It’s probably going to be a bit of a surprise for them, but they are used to big games and they performed well in the autumn.
“Sometimes not knowing what is coming is a good thing, there’s less for you to fear. The big thing is to play the match and not the occasion. No matter how much you’ve prepared yourself, even if you’ve been here before, for any player to step out into that stadium and the noise generated, I wouldn’t say it’s so much a shock as a hugely motivating factor.
“You grow up watching the Six Nations games and you hear the noise on the TV as a fan but stepping into the arena as a player is totally different. And how you handle that does separate those who can step up and those who cannot.”
France enter the tournament with a new coach in former Italy boss Jacques Brunel and an untried fly-half in Matthieu Jalibert, the 19-year-old sensation from Bordeaux Begles.
Jalibert has featured just 15 times in France’s Top 14, but Brunel has seen enough to hand him a start as he attempts to lift the side out of the doldrums and compete for a first Six Nations title since 2010.