MONSTERS, INC!
The French pack is full of 22-stone giants due to different rules across Channel, genetics and overseas recruitment. So can England handle this collection of...
ENGLAND will have to cope with a tonne of trouble in Lyon tomorrow, as a potent mix of genetics, ethnic diversity, overseas recruitment, Gallic rugby culture and law variations mean France will be armed with a monster pack.
It will be Le Crunch in a literal sense. The visitors face the daunting prospect of a ferociously physical onslaught in the last game of this year’s Six Nations. Their opponents can unleash a handful of forwards who are among the biggest in the world.
Last Sunday in Cardiff, France pounded the gallant Welsh into submission by making use of the brutal firepower at their disposal up front, in a starting eight with a combined weight of 153 stone.
Their first- choice tighthead prop and lock, Uini Atonio and Emmanuel Meafou, contributed a whopping 46st between them. After the break, head coach Fabien Galthie was able to rotate his giants by sending on the similarly imposing Georges-Henri Colombe — who scored a debut try — and Romain Taofifenua. In the previous round of the Championship against Italy, Galthie selected Manu Tuilagi’s massive nephew, Perpignan lock Posolo Tuilagi, all 23st of him, for a first Test start.
Much was made in the build-up to England’s win over Ireland at Twickenham last weekend about how the return of Leicester’s George Martin in the second row would give the pack some additional clout. The hard-hitting Tiger certainly provided extra physical edge, but he is more than 4st lighter than Meafou.
Steve Borthwick has noted during this campaign that English rugby is not delivering the sort of huge specimens that other countries do — and France are an extreme example. There are many reasons for this contrast.
Former England head coach Stuart Lancaster, now in charge at Racing 92 in Paris, explains: ‘Not all of them are French by birth — Meafou and Atonio and guys like that have come from other countries and established themselves in the French game.
‘The French system is geared to finding talent outside of France: players who are big and can become JIFFS (academy-trained players). They get them young and get them JIFF-qualified, like Meafou, so they become eligible to play for France.’ The RFU have sought to learn from the success of their Gallic counterparts in tapping into the potential in their ethnic-minority communities. That has been a factor in the production of such powerful players.
‘The genetic profile of France as a country is another reason,’ says Lancaster. ‘ It is very multicultural, so as a result you get guys like Georges-Henri Colombe coming through and someone like Jordan Joseph — a big backrower who we have at Racing.
‘There are a lot of big athletes in French rugby and genetics do play a part in that. Compare that to Irish people. They are very much white and Irish — there are not many different ethnicities in Ireland. So, there is a cultural and genetic dimension to it.’
Castres prop Henry Thomas, who has represented both England and Wales at international level, has plenty of experience of playing in France’s Top 14 league, following a successful stint at Montpellier.
He picked up on the theme of how French rugby has made the most of attracting players from different countries and backgrounds — notably, in one case, from a famous rugby dynasty.
‘France is very multi- cultural, with its proximity to Africa and eastern Europe,’ he says. ‘On top of that, there’s the Tuilagi bloodline now established in France. Henry Tuilagi was an absolute monster in his playing days and so is his son (Posolo). He is going to be a very, very good player.
‘ The guys at Perpignan tell stories about how Henry basically has the keys to the city — and if he is not happy with what is going on, he will come into the changing room at half-time to give the players a talking-to, or at least to give his son a talking-to.
‘ That would be unheard- of anywhere else, but in France it is quite normal.’
There is also a rugby culture across the Channel which allows for the abundance of super-sized forwards. ‘In the Top 14, ball-inplay time is four or five minutes less than in the Premiership and United Rugby Championship,’ says Lancaster.
‘So the game is not set up for aerobic athletes. If you have the choice between a 140kg (22st) or a 120kg (19st) tighthead, they all go for the 140kg one, because the game is stop-start in the Top 14 and they also have rolling subs.
‘The inter-change system means you can make 12 substitutions in any one game. So, I can change my tighthead prop after 40 minutes, then bring him back on after 70 minutes. The game therefore becomes full of the power athletes and you don’t have to lose a lot of weight off them because the games are stop-start.
‘The other issue is that the quality of refereeing in the Top 14 is not the same (as other leagues) and the breakdown is an absolute mess. Teams go with double jackalers, contest every breakdown and push the boundaries with the referee.
‘What that means is that the game gets stopped for penalties all the time, so it never gets into multi-phase rugby. All these massive players can take a knee, walk around for a bit or rest after every scrum collapses. So the Top 14 is full of these huge men.’
When Atonio plays for La Rochelle at their ground, Stade Marcel Deflandre, which has sold out every league game for several seasons, he is acclaimed by the adoring public. He is a cult figure and that is the case with a lot of the giants of French rugby. ‘The Top 14 is full of massive blokes and they really value that,’ says Thomas. ‘They don’t compromise on the size of the tighthead lock — the No 5 — they really value them as well as the props.
‘They will often go with both guys in the second row being scrummaging locks, then they’ll make a more dynamic second row into a six to jump in line-outs. ‘The No 5s aren’t expected to do so much in the line- out, whereas in the Premiership, they have to be a good line-out option.
‘ In France, they want a massive five and, if possible, a massive four, to give them extra power in the scrum. ‘ These enormous second rows can make average props look like w o r l d - b e a t e r s with their power. If you have someone there who is 145kg (23st) and knows what he is doing, it gives you such a solid base. In the Premiership, players in these positions are expected to do more and be a lot more mobile. In France, they give licence to these big guys to be slack in a few elements but unbelievably effective in other parts.
‘When you are playing against Meafou at Toulouse, Taofifenua at Lyon or Paul Willemse at Montpellier, these guys carry hard and tackle hard. Meafou is a real handful. He can run over you and off-load.’
So, what do England have to do to counter these forces of nature? The blitz defence system which has been established by Felix Jones has successfully, aggressively stopped most teams on or behind the gainline — but no opposition so far have had the carrying clout of France.
‘You have to compete toe-to-toe at the power game,’ says Lancaster. ‘You have to win your contacts and all the fundamentals of the game remain the same: the scrum, the line-out, etc. But equally, to take the game to an altitude that they can’t live with, in terms of ball-in-play time. The best example was in the Six Nations in Dublin last year, when France were at the top of their game.
‘Ireland beat them and the ball was in play for 46 minutes. At the end of that game, the French were dead on their feet.
‘Against Wales last weekend, even though they won, there were periods in the game when I was thinking, “France are on their knees here” — or certain players were struggling to get back into the defensive line at least.
‘But inevitably, after four or five phases, the game gets stopped, they have a breather, then another massive unit gets brought on!
‘If England play as well as they did against Ireland, they have definitely got a shot. France are not playing as well as they were in the lead-up to the World Cup, or in the Six Nations last year.
‘They have a lack of cohesion in attack and defence. They have lost their way a little bit but the atmosphere in Lyon will help them.’
Thomas senses that, having regained confidence with their win in Cardiff, France will have precious momentum going into this home game and England will have a daunting task in trying to halt the Gallic juggernaut.
‘Other teams always go into games against the French teams thinking, “We will run them around and they’re not used to it”,’ he says. ‘But actually the French teams can do that.
‘They are fit. I think (running them around) is a bit of a misnomer and it doesn’t actually work. With the big guys, someone has to go low and there has to be two guys tackling them. With this game being in France, I can see the French getting on a roll and then that power is hard to stop.’