Wednesday, February 10, 2010
IF DECLAN KIDNEY is keen to present fresh challenges to his high-achieving national squad, then Saturday’s crunch clash against France fits the bill perfectly. With just a solitary win in the French capital in the past 38 years, conquering the Stade de France this weekend is a potential fast-track to glory.
Ten years on from Ireland’s last triumph in Paris only John Hayes, Ronan O’Gara and hat-trick man, Brian O’Driscoll survive. This trio have been at the receiving end of French flair enough times in the interim to appreciate more than anyone the challenge on offer this weekend.
The noughties have been an exceptional time in Irish rugby but for some reason, 2000 apart, trips to Paris have remained as traumatic as the dreadful 1990s. Even in the comparatively good times that characterised the 1980s (two outright championship wins and a share with the French in 1983), trips to the Parc des Princes carried a government health warning — travel at your peril.
On five occasions between 1982 and 1990, I sampled the delights of that magnificent old stadium but after every outing travelled home battered and bruised with little to show for my efforts. That is what made the win in 2000 so special for me.
Now it is time that this gifted generation sampled those delights once more.
Ireland face the biggest test of Declan Kidney’s reign to date with an equally demanding trip to Twickenham following their Parisian adventure. At least they will have a two-week window to prepare for that one. They will also benefit from an extra day’s turnaround, with France playing at Murrayfield on Sunday.
It is incredible to think that France have scored an average of 35 points a game against Ireland in Paris since 2000. In their last two Six Nations outings in 2006 and 2008 Ireland handed the mercurial French runners a licence to thrill early on and while Ireland showed great character in clawing back big leads in both of those games, the damage had already been done.
One hopes that the lessons of those recent expeditions have been learned and that Ireland stand up to the inevitable onslaught that will characterise the opening 20 minutes.
Mentally Ireland should be in a far better place for this trip than two years ago, when they were still suffering the aftershock of the disastrous World Cup campaign only months earlier.
For a number of Irish players, this could be their last Six Nations visit to the Stade de France as the 2012 meeting will be post the World Cup in New Zealand — that could be the cut off point for some of our greatest ever players.
IF Ireland were cagey against Italy then France revealed precious little either in their opening game against Scotland. Both teams seemed happy to take a win and move on. What we did learn is that France, even with the handicap of losing their excellent loose head prop Fabien Barcella, remain formidable in the scrum. Despite Ireland’s excellent showing in this department against Italy, it will form their first point of attack.
In fact if the opening halves of the wins in 2006 and 2008 were characterised by traditional French flair, on this occasion, they will opt for more brute force and naked physicality. That is the approach they brought to the table against South Africa last November and I would be surprised if that blueprint was not replicated on this occasion.
For that reason Stephen Ferris will be a monumental loss if he fails to pass a fitness test tomorrow morning. He was outstanding in the corresponding fixture in Dublin last season as he repelled a tide of French ball carriers with ease. It may only have been the opening day of the Championship, but he secured his seat on the plane for the Lions tour that day.
In the circumstances, I can fully appreciate just why Kidney is prepared to wait until just prior to the team departure to see if the explosive Ulster man will make the cut. Ireland’s prospects could well depend on it. Despite the excellence of Leo Cullen last Saturday, I felt the return of Donncha O’Callaghan was also inevitable because of the attritional nature of his play. Unfortunately he has failed to recover in time and will be a loss.
As expected Ronan O’Gara will once again direct traffic from out half.
While France will not confirm their side until today, for once Marc Lièvremont is keen to keep faith in his squad from Edinburgh. I thought he may have been tempted to recall Sebastian Chabal and Romain Millo-Clusky, both of whom had to be withdrawn because of injury. For a man who made nine changes from the team that pummelled the Springboks, three due to injury and one suspended for the Scotland game, this is a rare show of faith. Lièvremont does, however, continue to make some strange decisions, the latest being the selection of Brive winger Alexis Palisson ahead of the bang in-form Julien Malzieu for the injured Aurelien Rougerie. And that’s not to mention Maxime Medard or Cedric Heymans.
Unfortunately it means a probable recall to the starting side of Ireland’s tormentor-in-chief Vincent Clerc. When last Sunday’s debutant, Benjamin Fall was forced to cry off yesterday, Lièvremont eventually saw the light and included Malzieu. Ironically it means France now have two better finishers on the wing at their disposal than last week — that is not good news.
The French have been targeting this game for some time. Despite all the chopping and changing, many in the squad experienced what it was like to beat New Zealand on their patch last summer, and that has provided new found confidence.
That is just about the last thing you want a French side to have in Paris.
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