Brunel rap for putting Jalibert in harm’s way
“Beauxis’ kicking can help relieve the pressure the Scots will apply early in the game”
Jacques Brunel
It didn’t take long for the club v country rows that have dogged French rugby for years to resume. Just one eleventhhour defeat into new boss Jacques Brunel’s reign and he was under serious attack. What makes it worse is that the man criticising him so severely was employing him as his own team boss at Bordeaux-Begles just a few weeks ago.
Bordeaux president Laurent Marti was scathing in his asssessment that Matthieu Jalibert, his 19-year-old flyhalf prodigy, was still too much of a tenderfoot to be asked to brave the rigours of Six Nations Rugby.
A view coloured, of course, by a serious knee injury in the opening match against Ireland that deprives both club and country of his talent for the rest of the season.
But, if that controversy was soon quashed by the accidental nature of Jalibert’s collision with Bundee Aki, another quickly beckoned for today’s match against Scotland at Murrayfield.
For Brunel reached back into the mists of time to rehabilitate Lionel Beauxis at fly-half, his first contact with the France team for six years.
A choice all the more interesting for Brunel having shown him the door at Bordeaux only one year ago to allow him to join Lyon.
Beauxis, capped 20 times over a five-year period from the age of 21, is known for having a right boot that can kick prodigious distances.
And Brunel says that such an asset plus great experience in the role persuaded him to propel Beauxis from the international wilderness to the heart of the action.
He confessed: “Lionel is not someone we have had in mind for long and he has not always expressed his talent at top level. But his kicking can help relieve the pressure the Scots will apply early in the game.”
At the very least, he will form a tested partnership with Racing scrum-half Maxime Machenaud in the absence of Antoine Dupont, another long-term injury victim.
Brunel had not intended to make many changes to the side that showed such spirited defence against Ireland in the hope they might develop more attacking instincts.
Nathan Hines, the Scottish forwards coach of Montpellier, believes France can do just that tomorrow.
Hines, once assistant to Vern Cotter when he was in charge of Scotland, is again his faithful deputy in the Top 14.
He said: “I am convinced France will attack a lot more this time. I am not saying they are going to do so by getting the ball quickly to the wings. I think they are going to keep the ball close and keep moving forward.
“They do have the power and, if they can keep hold of the ball a bit more, we’ll see. They will need a lot of patience.”
Hines has been able to see at close quarters the re-emergence in recent weeks of Louis Picamoles, whose early season form had dipped so low since his transfer from Northampton that Brunel left him out of his first squad altogether.
But an injury to La Rochelle back rower Kevin Gourdon has given him the chance of a comeback from the bench.
Brunel says he will be a replacement at some stage for Bordeaux’s Marco Tauleigne who had moved ahead in the pecking order.
Despite their heavy defeat in Wales, Scotland can still point to a run of six home matches in which they have averaged 33 points, losing just one of them to the All Blacks by only five.
For France Federation president Bernard Laporte, the match is another test of nerve after his decision to sack previous boss Guy Noves left him exposed.
His position is already threatened by allegations he used it illegally to favour Montpellier president Mohed Altrad. Another defeat, especially a heavy one, would be a serious blow.
Noves had France in third place in the last Six Nations and defeat by the Scots would mean the team would almost certainly be disputing the Wooden Spoon with Italy.
France do have the succour of having won on four of their last five visits to Murrayfield. Former France, Clermont and Montpellier winger Julien Malzieu, says their long search for success stems from a psychological block.
He initiated that sequence of success in Scotland with a 27-6 win. He recalled: “First cap for me, first win, first try. Life was fine!
“Morgan Parra and Francois Trinh-Duc were making their debuts, too. No team orders, no pressure.
“When you see the quality of Top 14 players, you wonder what happens when they get to play for France. They are not the same players.
“They have trouble trying things. They are afraid of playing badly. In the end, it is frustrating for them and for us who watch them.”