FRENCH FARCE
25 stars absent for England showdown
TWICKENHAM will stage a farcical final on Sunday as Fr a nce wi l l be without at least 25 of their leading players for the Autumn Nations Cup decider against England.
When Fabien Galthie, t he French head coach, announced his 31-man squad yesterday, there was official confirmation that the showpiece would be undermined by club v country politics.
Instead of 2,000 fans being allowed in to watch a titanic showdown, they are likely to witness England’s first- choice side claiming a hollow victory against third-choice opposition.
The Covid pandemic has created t he need f or some uncomfortable compromises, but this is too much. None of the France players who started in Paris when they beat England in February will be on duty.
Eddie Jones’ side will not have to contend with the brilliant Gallic half-backs, Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack, or their rampaging Fijian centre, Virimi Vakatawa — not to mention captain Charles Ollivon or influential No 8 Gregory Alldritt.
When this extended autumn window was authorised by World Rugby, it was rejected by the powerful French clubs, who went to war with their own union.
An arbitration process initially found in favour of the FFR (French federation) but the clubs appealed again and a settlement was reached, meaning that no player could appear in more than three of France’s five autumn Tests.
The Autumn Nations Cup has been a drab event — with a succession of arm-wrestle contests in front of empty stands and Fiji’s Covid outbreak denying the public a box-office treat. Now there will be no thunderous finale.
Speaking yesterday, England scrum-half Ben Youngs said: ‘It wasn’t something I was aware of until after the result (France’s 36-5 win over Italy) came in. I think i t’s something they’re trying to sort out.’
Youngs went on to admit this was wishful thinking — and it soon became apparent there was no hope of a late U-turn.
England will still be wary of the threat posed by France’s reshuffled squad, thanks in large part to the presence of a renowned Englishman in Galthie’s set-up.
‘Whichever French team takes the field will be ferocious,’ said Youngs. ‘With Shaun Edwards as their defence coach, there will be no lack of physicality or organisation. His record speaks for itself.’
England will want to improve on their performance in Saturday’s 24-13 win over Wales in Llanelli, which was solid but lacked attacking cohesion.
‘We don’t feel like we’ve played our best rugby yet,’ said coach Jones. ‘ We’d like to play with a little more fluency and precision with ball in hand, but it’s just not there at the moment.’
Earthy English staples have been re- established, notably by the pack, but there have been too few flourishes, aside from Jonny May’s classic solo strike against Ireland.
At Parc y Scarlets, a slick break and some effective handling created a try for Henry Slade — before Mako Vunipola added a second later from a close-range driving onslaught.
But overall, the visitors threatened to cut loose but didn’t manage to do so, in the face of a resolute Welsh defence. Time after time, promising raids came to nothing due to a lack of support, composure or accuracy.
The repeat message from the England camp is that forging an attacking framework at international level is a slow process, but Jones is growing exasperated at the inability of his team to make and take try-scoring chances.
‘It’s a combination of factors,’ he said. ‘ The ability to get cohesion is a challenge. We’re not coaching that well enough at the moment.’