Drico wants good start

THE two surprises in the French team for tonight’s game see David Marty preferred to Yannick Jauzion in the centre and Sebastian Chabal’s selection in the second-row.

Jauzion and Irish skipper Brian O’Driscoll have been sparring partners at international level and in the Heineken Cup for several years so O’Driscoll was a little coy when asked if he was surprised the Toulouse hero wasn’t starting.

“Of all their selections, it was probably the most surprising but Bernard Laporte appears to be picking on form”, the Leinster star commented. “Damien Traille seemed to play well in the last game and I’m sure at some stage we’ll see Yannick as well. He’s not finished in this World Cup. All we can do is play against the players who are put out in front of us and Darce and myself will enjoy taking on Traille and Marty.”

Tonight, in the electrifying atmosphere that more than 82,000 French and Irish fans will generate in the Stade de France, he has his opportunity to prove to the world he is the game’s finest centre three-quarter.

“I always enjoy playing on the biggest stages because there’s the most pressure on you, the highest level of expectation from yourself and your peers and the public in general”, he says.

“They’re the days to really perform and to make a name for yourself. Anyone can play well when there’s no pressure on them. It’s the real players who step up to the plate when it’s asked of them.

“A good start against any French team is very important because if you let them play, they grow in confidence”, said O’Driscoll.

“With regard to the crowd, the earlier we can silence them, the better. That would add to the extra tension that some of their players will be feeling. But we can’t worry about that too much.”

Ireland are quietly enjoying the role of underdog. When a French journalist asked O’Driscoll which team merited favouritism, he simply replied: “We don’t concern ourselves with tags of whether we’re favourites or underdogs. We’ve been in so many situations over the past years, some as favourites, some as underdogs.”