French are betting their shirt on beating Ireland

MARCOUSSIS, PARIS — I’ve put a dateline on today’s piece for context. I’m doing my coaching badge studies this week at the home of the French rugby federation. As a vox pop to tee up Sunday’s World Cup game against Ireland, it’s proved instructive.

It’s a very impressive set-up and they’ve been detailing France’s long-term rugby strategies for us — the succession stakes, their talent identity programmes. When you are talking about a country of 64 million people, the depth of the next generation player pool is as broad as it is deep.

France has got its act together big time, and they’re going to be scary in a few years time. They will have a potent mix of race of different genetics and with such a explosive cocktail, it’s difficult to see anything but success.