Cup revenge the spur for French
That is the message from hooker Dimitri Szarzewski as France face a rematch with England, barely four months after Brian Ashton’s men destroyed Les Bleus’ World Cup dream.
Szarzewski said: “There is always a special rivalry between the French and the English.
“Moreover, we will have a spirit of revenge with us because of the semi-final defeat in the World Cup.
“You don’t forget a defeat as important as that.
“We have to advance and not let that stop us, even though it will remain at the back of our minds.
“This is a new adventure — a new set of staff, a new system of playing.
“But above all, we want to continue on our push that we’ve had since the beginning of the tournament.”
England’s revered forward power built the platform on which host nation France made a painful World Cup exit.
Stade Francais star Szarzewski knows the physical threat is something France must combat in the quest to preserve an eight-year unbeaten home Six Nations record against England.
“England are a huge team,” he said.
“We know England’s strong points. They will put a lot of pressure on us in the scrum, in the places where they can win.
“They have massive, strong and powerful players.
“It is up to us to stand up to them in this area but also to answer them with a game to ruffle them, score tries and win.
“It is a good test, but all the games are tests.”
Szarzewski’s battle with England hooker Mark Regan could prove a feisty contest, because neither player is noted for taking a backward step.
Szarzewski has hardly been in a mood to dampen things down between them, adding: “I won’t pay much attention to him.
“He is unbearable because of his behaviour.
“We know him; he talks a lot, and he needs to do something with that.
“He has talked to me a lot, but it is okay because I don’t understand English well — so I let it go.
“Whatever happens, we have to ignore it; we cannot allow the team to be punished by losing our cool. I hope to punish them [England] within the limits of the game.”
Meanwhile, England head coach Brian Ashton accepts England’s RBS 6 Nations title hopes are on the line tonight.
Having lost at home to Wales, then struggled past Italy in Rome, England cannot afford another defeat as they target a first Six Nations crown since 2003.
Ashton said: “We’ve never used the word knockout in a Six Nations tournament, but the players are not daft. They will be aware that if they want to win the Six Nations tournament what they have got to do, which is not lose another game.
“The players are well aware of the importance of this game.”
Ashton has identified the fixture’s importance in the long as well as short term. It is not because it is England versus France, not because it is the third game of the Six Nations, but because we really need to see signs now for 80 minutes that the team is starting to move in a different direction,” he added.
“If we get in front, we have got to be more ruthless.
“The first-half performances (against Wales and Italy) have been okay. I have been disappointed in the second-half performances, obviously.
“The captain (Phil Vickery) made a statement yesterday that the players have got to take ownership and responsibility on the field.”
But Ashton is set to field the team he announced earlier this week, after arriving in Paris Thursday.
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