Schmidt: Irish players ‘too good’ not to raise game for Les Bleus

FRENCH tails are up, Irish heads are down.

On the face of it, then, hardly the best time to host last year’s Grand Slam champions in Dublin, but not according to Joe Schmidt.

The Leinster coach should know something of the mindset in both camps given his current portfolio and the three years he spent immersed in the Top 14 with Clermont Auvergne. And he can see last weekend’s events standing to the Irish.