Irish fail to impress French ace Malzieu

AHEAD of Ireland’s visit to France next Saturday French winger Julien Malzieu says he was “disappointed” with Ireland’s uninspiring win over Italy.

“The tournament is well and truly launched,” said Malzieu. “I saw the Ireland match and they truly disappointed me — they did not succeed in producing a performance. I thought that really they were going to do something else.”

Malzieu has already played against an Irish team this season, when his Clermont Auvergne side edged out Munster in their Heineken Cup clash.

However, the Irish province’s fighting display in France was a huge help to them going through to the knock-out stages of the tournament.

Malzieu was also candid in his remarks about Scotland: “Frankly, I thought that they were going to offer a little more than that, they disappointed me a little.... they were not very dangerous, either they lost the ball, or they returned it by kicking it back to us. I expected more based on what I had seen in the World Cup, but they kept returning the ball to us, which was what we wanted.”

France have rewarded the 22 players who defeated Scotland by naming them all in their match-day squad to face Ireland this weekend. Though Jean-Baptiste Elissalde is carrying a slight ankle knock and faces further medical tests today he is expected to be available to new French coach Marc Lievremont, who is known to favour continuity in his selections.

Elissalde believes France’s embryonic side can get even better following their emphatic opening win under new coach Marc Lievremont.

“The basis of our game was effective, but there was quite a lot of waste, especially in the kicking,” said Elissalde.

Meanwhile Jonny Wilkinson is free to remain part of England’s troubled RBS 6 Nations campaign. The Newcastle fly-half will not face a date with Six Nations disciplinary chiefs following his tackle on Wales flanker Jonathan Thomas at Twickenham.

Thomas, who left the pitch dazed and with blood seeping from his mouth, will continue to undergo tests this week ahead of Wales’ appointment with Scotland in Cardiff next Saturday. Wilkinson though, has not attracted the attention of match citing commissioner John West.

Forwards: J Brugnaut (Dax), L Faure (Sale), N Mas (Perpignan), W Servat (Toulouse), D Szarzewski (Stade Francais), L Jacquet (Clermont-Auvergne), L Nallet (Castres), A Mela (Albi), J Bonnaire (Clermont-Auvergne), T Dusautoir (Toulouse), F Ouedraogo (Montpellier), E Vermeulen (Clermont-Auvergne).

Backs: J-B Elissalde (Toulouse), M Parra (Bourgoin), F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), D Skrela (Stade Francais), D Marty (Perpignan), D Traille (Biarritz), V Clerc (Toulouse), J Malzieu (Clermont-Auvergne), C Heymans (Toulouse), A Rougerie (Clermont-Auvergne).