French players know Ireland are better than them now

The psychology of sport is based on preparing better, believing you are better, and being better than the opposition. And at the elite level, possessing a ruthless, clinical instinct to drive home that superiority.

French rugby has lost that intangible in relation to their first Six Nations opponents, Ireland. French players have come to realise that the Irish players are better than them at the moment. That’s a reflection of where French rugby is. They accept that. In the past, they never did.

The French have come to appreciate that in a tight game, Ireland won’t ever give up, or ‘release the win’, as they say in France. Accepting defeat does not happen.