Galthie’s Fijian talent
THE good news for England, ahead of a playoff-path deciding clash with France, is that the French are not a flaming rabble at this Rugby World Cup.
Which makes them more predictable. The bad news for England that with incoming coach Fabian Galthie on board and with some dangerous Fijian talent, France are returning to their rugby roots.
Which makes them less predictable.
Welcome to one of the more fascinating last round clashes at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
With Argentina having crashed in pool C, both France and England are already qualified for the quarter-finals but the game will determine who tops the pool. And ergo, who likely faces Australia in the quarters in Oita.
The loser will take on Wales, the likely winner of pool D.
(Disclaimer: Australia and Wales have to first get past Georgia and Fiji respectively)
Monkey off back
After England were knocked out in the pool stages in 2015, guaranteed finals qualification with a round to spare has dislodged a giant primate off the back, and there was a more relaxed air about the English camp in Tokyo this week.
There is even some talk Eddie Jones will rest some star players; with Billy Vunipola the most likely given he’s had scans on a twisted ankle. But England’s players and coaches were quick to point out on Monday that they’re are not easing off this week, for three key reasons.
The first reason why is 113-year history with France, and just like every Bledisloe Cup game counts regardless of the life signs of the rubber, any time “Le Crunch” is played, no-one is talking “friendly”. The second is neither side want to join Australia in having to write new history at this World Cup, by winning the thing after losing a pool game. Every competitor at a World Cup talks about the value of “momentum” and grinding to a halt a week out from the first final is not ideal.
The third is that England would rather play the Wallabies in Oita than Wales.
After a brief flirtation with running footy a year or two back, England’s game has reverted to the defence-pressure format this year and, unlike Ireland, it’s got them chuffing along nicely at the tournament.
Jones knows this game is wellsuited to beating the Wallabies defend the lights and punish Aussie errors/ill-discipline. Check the Wallabies record against England in the last four years: played six, lost six.
Wales are a team built similar to England, and are quite capable of blunting Jones’ plans with the same approach.
Wales have beaten England two of their last three starts.
Quarter calculations
Asked if he had a preference for a quarter-final opponent, England hooker James George said: “No preference. The big thing and the point that has been made to us is that the focus has to be on this week.
“The focus is purely on us getting ourselves better and focusing as much we can and preparing as well as we can for France.
“Whatever comes off the back of that is great, it’s great that we have managed to qualify.
“But that’s not what we’re thinking about. Momentum is a massive thing in a tournament like this so we want to make sure we put in another good performance and keep building for the quarter-finals.”
Jamie George says England are not looking past France.
Preparing to play against France can be a tricky beast, however, particularly at world cups.
France are perennially underestimated at world cups, and they’ve been runners-up at three of them: 1987, 1999 and 2011.
But in each of those tournaments, it turned out France did best when most people thought they’d gone off the rails and were no hope.
In 1987 they drew with Scotland in the pool stages before upsetting Australia in the semi-final.
In 1999, the team were Five Nations wooden spooners and lost to Tonga, and New Zealand 547, in the lead-up. Les Bleus then famously beat the Kiwis in the semi-finals.