LET’S GET BRUTAL

Eddie urges England to pass ‘test of manhood’

ENGLAND are ready to pass a ‘test of manhood’ in Paris this evening by subjecting France to a brutal backlash after the shock defeat by Scotland.

Eddie Jones’s team still have an outside chance of defending their Six Nations title but their primary target is to beat an imposing home side. The visitors know what is required.

‘We have to be brutal,’ said head coach Jones. ‘You know every time you play against the French it is a test of your manhood.

‘ You hear those old stories from French club rugby when at the kick-off they deliberately kicked into touch then want to scrum you. We have to beat them on the gain line and in the scrum.

‘I know, having played France with

Australia, that when you play them at the Stade de France or in Marseilles, it is always a big physical game. They are the European version of the South Africans: they are big, they are physical and they want to hurt you.’ England want to hurt France too, by stopping their most potent threat — the marauding Mathieu Bastareaud. The giant Toulon centre starts the game with an imaginary target on his head, as will scrum-half Maxime Machenaud. ‘He’s a bit of an icon for them,’ said Jones, when asked about Bastareaud. ‘He’s been built up as the guy who’s going to regenerate French rugby. So it’s important that, early in the game, we let him know he’s going to have a tough day in the office. The other key position for any French team is the nine — he’s been playing in a dinner suit. We want to put a bit of heat on him.’ England need a bonus-point win to have a realistic chance of a title ‘three-peat’ and Jones added: ‘It is a Test match and our priority is to win it, but if we are in a position where we need to push on for a bonus, of course we will do that.’ But France fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc warned they are ready for the fight, saying: ‘If we stop them playing, work hard at the breakdown, be aggressive in defence we can make it difficult for them.’