French star Elissalde makes case for the defence

MARC LIEVREMONT may be looking to restore some of the old flair to his new-look France side, but scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde has stated the case for the defence ahead of today’s clash against Ireland.

Under former head coach Bernard Laporte, France were a solid, compact unit but they often failed to display the dynamism traditional to Les Bleus down the years.

New coach Lievremont has vowed to make his side more enterprising and attacking, but it was France’s defence that was the stand-out success in their opening RBS Six Nations Championship match last weekend.