French team look on their way to greatness
FRANCE can often be really slow and sloppy early on in a Championship, but they looked together and sharp at the start of this Six Nations by scoring seven tries against Italy last weekend, without ever really moving out of second gear.
However, beating Ireland in Dublin is a different challenge to Italy in Rome, and there is now added pressure on the French because the next World Cup is in their country. Those who have been to the Stade de France will be aware that their crowd is as unforgiving as it gets, and when the French team are not winning, can turn on them in an instant.
The good news for France is that there were no obvious signs of frailty against Italy, with Antoine Dupont showcasing his all-round ability again at scrum-half, while Matthieu Jalibert stepped up at 10 to get the backline moving smoothly. It seems that France are now in the unusual position of all their 9-10 combinations complementing each other, whether it is Dupont or Baptiste Serin at scrum-half, and Romain Ntamack or Jalibert at flyhalf.
French depth was also evident elsewhere in the backline with Arthur Vincent making a very good job of stepping in for Virimi Vakatawa, Gael Fickou looking in great shape, and Teddy Thomas playing with more discipline than before.
When you look at most of the sides that have won the World Cup the importance of having a great scrum-half is often emphasised, but I would say that the same is true of the need to have a skilful, brave, hard-running inside centre. Whether you go back to Tim Horan for the 1991 and 1999 world champion Wallabies, and then on to Ma’a Nonu for the New Zealand double World Cup winners, or Damian de Allende for the current Springbok world champions, the importance of a midfield player who can take that ball short and hard, and create opportunities, is gold dust.
Fickou has the ability to do that for France. He has ducked between centre and wing, and has been around for a long time – but is still only 26. This guy is a unit at 6ft 3ins and 15st 10lb/100kg, but also has great touch, good speed, and plenty of experience. He is what you want at inside centre, because he can pop a ball out of contact, pass accurately – has the power to make dents by clattering into forwards, never mind backs – as well as dummy, and race through the gap. With Fickou there are a lot of strengths and not many weaknesses, so the Irish midfield will have to be on its toes.
Fickou was impressive in a comfortable win over the Italians in which the job was done by the 56th minute, when Thomas scored his second try of the match. It meant that French head coach Fabien Galthie was able to take most of his key men off before the hour, making five subs so that he could look after half-backs Dupont and Jalibert, as well as Fickou and Greg Aldritt, his star-turn at No.8.
means that they will all be reasonably fresh for what promises to be a much sterner test against the Irish, who were edged out by Wales in Cardiff after Peter O’Mahony was sent off for a high clear-out. If they had not been reduced to 14 players, I believe that Ireland would have won.
The Irish were playing the high phase possession game that they are very comfortable with against the Welsh, and were looking for the breaks and mismatches with some success both before and after O’Mahony’s red card. It reached fruition in the try created by Robbie Henshaw evading a couple of tackles when they were a man down, and then Josh van der Flier’s composure in providing the link, and Tadgh Beirne’s pick-up to finish it off.
Unfortunately, we did not get a sense of how good they can be for long enough against Wales, but if Ireland play with that accuracy and intensity with 15 men this afternoon they could beat France, or run them very close.
What they could also do with are some of the big plays that we saw in the Joe Schmidt era, when his trademark was for the Irish to rehearse well-oiled moves from scrum or lineout in minute detail, which regularly led to tries.
It is probably a little early for Paul O’Connell’s influence as the new Irish forwards coach to be felt, but having spent a season coaching at Stade Francais a couple of years ago he will have a good insight into when and why the French lose their discipline.
In the past there was sometimes the sense that it was best to play the French without too much possession, and concentrate on frustrating them, and letting them give away penalties. However, since Shaun Edwards arrived as defence coach, France are different animal. They are team on a mission with a new focus through the Edwards defensive system. Before Paul Gustard’s wolf-pack was developed at Saracens, Edwards had already made a huge impact with Wales – and has now injected that emphasis on lineIt speed and intensity into France.
The measure of a good team is to adapt and make the changes necessary to win a game, with the All Blacks usually the pace-setters. They can change from running everything, to kick-chase, but it is all based on great execution due to the quality of their skill-set.
Accuracy and intensity will be key to the outcome in Dublin, where France arrive as a side which is still unpredictable because of its reliance on individual strengths, but is building and coming together as a team.
The Irish have so much experience, and know each other so well, that they are already a team – but the loss of half-backs Conor Murray (hamstring) and Johnny Sexton through concussion, and his replacement at 10 by Billy Burns, means that they have lost a lot of experience in key positions.
A lot is made of setbacks like Burns kicking the ball dead in the final play against Wales, but Sexton had done the same earlier, and good players just put those things behind them.
In my view if Burns is Ireland’s second choice fly-half it is right that coach Andy Farrell should back him and send him out to do the job against France.
Maybe we are getting carried away with the French, and that Ireland will be able to play with the same cohesion they had against Wales, but for longer periods. They could also benefit from a few of Joe Schmidt’s special plays – although we haven’t seen anything similar yet from Farrell.
Overall, though, I fancy France to continue on their upward curve building towards the 2023 World Cup – and if they win a Grand Slam it won’t do them any harm. They may be going into an era like the 1990s, when they were perennial favourites to win the Championship, because their players at 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are all quality, as is their midfield with players of the ability of Fickou and Vakatawa.
For many years people have talked about England having a huge pool of players, and that we are just waiting for a coach to get selection right, in the way that Geoff Cooke and Clive Woodward did. Now it is France, who appear to have a huge pool of players, and Galthie who is getting his selection right.
This French squad has all-round quality, and with Edwards a great coaching addition, they could be on their way to greatness.
“Since Shaun Edwards arrived as defence coach France are a different animal”