Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
OUT WITH THE LES BLEUS
French hope young guns can usurp masters
THE masters meet the apprentices in what could be a defining clash at Lansdowne Road tomorrow.
Having risen to the status of arguably the world’s best half-back partnership, Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray really need to click again after a stuttering Six Nations to date.
This encounter with France represents their 53rd Test in tandem – 51 with Ireland.
They find themselves up against the new kids on the Six Nations block, who were scintillating against Scotland last time out.
This will be just the second time 19-year-old out-half sensation Romain Ntamack, son of French legend Emile, and scrumhalf Antoine Dupont (22) have been paired together.
And they will be the pivot of what promises to be a dynamic threat as the visitors arrive unchanged and buoyant after their Stade de France victory a fortnight ago.
But wary as Ireland will be, a sold-out Aviva Stadium should be a cauldron of fire that will test the young guns’ character.
“Whenever you get the opportunity to put some pressure on any players, anyone who is a strength can potentially be a weakness,” said Ireland boss Joe Schmidt. “It’s up to us to make sure that we don’t allow Antoine Dupont too much time and space around the ruck to get running, that we do stay very alert that he might take a quick tap.
“It’s the same with Romain Ntamack. He’s played a lot in midfield – particularly at 12 – so he’s a ball carrier as well as a distributor, and a good kicker.
“He’s multi-faceted and if we’re going to contain the various facets where they pose a threat to us, we’re going to have to be really well connected and accurate round those two guys.”
Schmidt is a big fan of Dupont, having first noticed him impressing for Castres against Leinster two years ago.
“He’s a really good player,” he said. “He was unbelievably good in that game.
“He’s had to come back from injury. Reading some of the French media, he’s been doing a lot of work on his kicking game.
“He’s a nightmare, the amount of times he beats the first tackle. He’s so powerful and so low to the ground that he’s very hard to contain.
“There certainly seems to be the potential there. I just hope it’s not realised on Sunday.”