Payback time for Paris – city of Irish graves

Joe Schmidt hadn’t a word of French when he pitched up in the Massif Central town of Clermont-Ferrand back in 2007, but the Kiwi coach was a quick learner and he’s still known for dropping the odd peu de Francais into his vocabulary on those weeks when the opposition is of a Gallic flavour.

Last Saturday the Ireland head honcho was at it again, dipping the phrase ‘pensée de parasite’ into the conversation after the defeat of Italy at the Aviva Stadium when talk in the post-match press conference drifted from the offerings just gone to those to come.

Schmidt mentioned it in relation to Ireland’s woeful record in Paris.