Wales tick all the right boxes
No shocks, no injuries, no fuss. To say that Wales will face France today in Oita in rather decent fettle is simply to state the obvious. Things could not have gone more to plan.
There had been some concern over the midfield trio of Dan Biggar (concussion), Hadleigh Parkes (shoulder to add to a fractured hand) and Jonathan Davies (knee), but Warren Gatland was able to name the same starting XV that beat Australia three weeks ago.
The selection of Biggar, 30, after two head injuries in two matches was always bound to raise eyebrows, thus the inclusion of a statement by the Welsh Rugby Union alongside its team announcement. Apparently Biggar has been symptom-free since being concussed against Fiji 11 days ago, has undergone MRI scans and had two consultations with a world-renowned concussion specialist from Australia.
‘‘We feel that we’ve gone through the due diligence, making sure we’ve covered all the bases in terms of Dan,’’ Gatland, the Wales head coach, said. ‘‘He’s obviously done all the protocols and been fit for three or four days.
‘‘He’s desperate to play but we’ve been conscious in the past – George North has had a few knocks and so have other players – so we’ve got to make sure if he gets a knock in the next few games or the next couple of months, obviously there would then probably be a different course of action. But he’s very confident that he’s 100 per cent.’’
There has been considerable critical comment in France on the subject and Jacques Brunel, the head coach, stirred the pot a little further when announcing his team. ‘‘If it had been the French Top 14, sustaining two concussions automatically means three weeks out with the protocol that is applied there,’’ he said. ‘‘So he wouldn’t have been able to play.’’
Gatland knows what he wants, and it is not to be ending his tenure with Wales by slinking off early from this World Cup. As Alun Wyn Jones, the captain, said: ‘‘The planning for this has probably been in Gats’ head for the last 10 years. He is constantly building and what we have achieved or have not, whether it is strength in depth, training facilities or whatever, comes to this moment.’’
That Wales have beaten France in seven out of their past eight clashes is well documented, but Wales are happy about that and so happy being favourites.
‘‘It comes with the territory. If you take out the [four] World Cup warmup games, we have won 18 competitive games in a row, we are grand-slam champions and we know as we go on in tournaments we get stronger and more cohesive as a unit,’’ Gatland said.
France have made just one change – bringing in lock Bernard Le Roux – from the side that started the tournament against Argentina, with halfback Antoine Dupont fit after a back problem.
‘‘We are aware of France’s threats, they are a big side with an offloading game,’’ he said. ‘‘Dupont is probably one of the best nines in the world, he is very influential. But they have had the most turnovers in the competition and they have played one game less [with their match against England being cancelled].’’
It would be easy to interpret all this as arrogance but there has genuinely been none of that in the Wales camp this week or any other at this tournament.
Wales are just well prepared and therefore very confident. It could go wrong, as Gatland cautioned: ‘‘Anything can happen in international rugby.
‘‘If we are good enough, you win the games and if the other team is better than you on the day, then you lose.’’
But that is doubtful, and so Gatland will surely have his finest moment against France this weekend. Asked about his best and worst memories against them, he first went to the worst and the obvious example of the lost 2011 World Cup semifinal. As for the best, he hesitated for a moment, turned to his captain alongside him, smiled and said: ‘‘This Sunday.’’
Remember what happened when he said that if Wales beat France in Paris this year, they would win the Six Nations? Gatland does indeed do a decent line in prediction.
– The Times, London