England facing a ‘test of manhood’
ENGLAND are ready to pass a ‘test of manhood’ in Paris tonight by subjecting France to a brutal backlash after the shock defeat to Scotland.
Eddie Jones’ team still have an outside chance of defending their Six Nations title but their primary target is to beat an imposing home side. But the visitors know what is required.
‘We have to be brutal,’ said head coach Jones. ‘You know every time you play against the French it is a test of your manhood.
‘You hear those old stories from French club rugby when at the kick-off they deliberately kicked into touch then want to scrum you. We have to beat them on the gain line and in the scrum.
‘I know, having played France with Australia, when you play them at the Stade de France or in Marseille, it is a big physical game. They are the European version of the South Africans: they are big, physical and want to hurt you.’
England want to hurt France too, by stopping their most potent threat — Mathieu Bastareaud. The giant Toulon centre starts the game with an imaginary target on his head, as will scrum-half, Maxime Machenaud.
‘He’s a bit of an icon,’ said Jones, when asked about Bastareaud.
‘He’s been built up as the guy who’s going to regenerate French rugby. So it’s important that, early in the game, we let him know he’s going to have a tough day in the office. The other key position for any French team is the nine — he’s been playing in a dinner suit. We want to put a bit of heat on him.’
England need a bonus-point win to have a realistic chance of the title and Jones added: ‘It is a Test match and our priority is to win it, but if we are in a position where we need to push on for a bonus, of course we will do that.’
But France fly-half Francois Trinh-Duc warned they are ready for the battle. ‘The English will want to make up for their defeat to Scotland. It will be hard and rough, but we have qualities that we need to show,’ he said.
Jones will demand his players deliver resounding proof that his grand plan is on track, that the Edinburgh result was a blip and that confidence remains strong within the camp.
‘It’s big,’ said the head coach. ‘It’s important how we respond to the loss. It is the first time we’ve had the team together after a loss.’
Jones and his assistants have reshuffled their backline, with Ben Te’o brought in to start at outside centre, to do a destructive manmarking job on Bastareaud.
Te’o showed in the first Lions Test last year how well he can handle such duties, by smashing Sonny Bill Williams halfway into the following week.
‘There’s a lot riding on this — it’s our opportunity to put right the last game,’ Te’o said. ‘We’re on a long journey to the World Cup. There will be times when there’s a stumbling block and you have to look at yourself and learn.’
England have to avoid back-toback defeats. But if they are going to finish top of the pile again, they will need tries. Despite the presence of a high-octane back three — Watson, Elliot Daly and Jonny May — that task may hinge on more earthy qualities. After a dire Murrayfield show, England’s driving game needs to be more effective against a big French pack.
They also need to guard against a repeat of the breakdown horrors which afflicted them in Scotland, although Les Bleus lack men with the poaching pedigree of John Barclay and Hamish Watson.
What the hosts do have is a magnificent captain in Guilhem Guirado, a dangerous scrum and Bastareaud.
But they lack key men and sufficient fitness to maintain peak intensity for 80 minutes, which means England’s trademark lastquarter surge could prove decisive in their bonus-point win quest.
ENGLAND: Watson, May, Te’o, Farrell, Daly, Ford, Care, Vunipola, George, Cole, Launchbury, Itoje, Lawes, Robshaw, Hughes. Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Marler, Sinckler, Haskell, Simmonds, Wigglesworth, Joseph, Brown.