French players now get the message
He was the best player on the field by a country mile but yet again had little to show for his efforts.
It reminded me of the experiences of so many decent Irish players in the past who would give their all against a superior force but end up pipped at the finishing line — that famous World Cup quarter-final against Australia a case in point. It took a long time for rugby in this country to shed the tag of gallant losers, but it should allow us a brief pause for empathy with the Italians who are trying so hard to make the breakthrough.
While an opening day victory would have worked wonders for them, especially with two further home games to come against Wales and France at the intimate Stadio Flaminio, what would a loss have done to the Irish players? In the light of recent sub-standard performances, it doesn’t bear thinking about. As it is, a points differential of just +2 will make the task of winning the championship that little bit more difficult as I fear England and France will beat them by a much wider margin.
The bottom line is that Ireland should have been comfortable winners in their opening contest. Creating opportunities against the massed defences of the international test arena is now the greatest challenge. The annoying thing from an Irish perspective is that they did produce line breaks and well constructed overlaps but failed to convert them into points due to poor execution.
That is what separates us from the likes of New Zealand and Australia. When they engineer a defensive breach, they close the deal. To use the vernacular, they execute. The surprise on Saturday was that it was the most experienced, cohesive and practiced unit on the field — the midfield of Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy — that was most culpable.
In many respects that is a relief as they have the capacity to recover quickly from the experience and if anything it will drive them on to atone for those lapses against France on Sunday. I certainly would not be in favour of breaking up that midfield partnership which has been so influential for Leinster and Ireland for so long. Against France however, Ireland will need to be far more clinical as every single opportunity to accumulate points, be it from the boot or hand, must be converted. Such is the mental frailty of this French outfit that should they fall behind at any stage they are liable to implode. On the other hand, offer them a licence to play and they’ll fillet Ireland.
I always love watching the French in full flow as they were for large portions of the game against Scotland in Paris last Saturday. It is a chastening experience to be at the receiving end, but when they are in the groove and full of confidence, they are a magnificent sight. Imanol Harinordoquy’s try in the second-half just typified Gallic flair at its best.
It would appear since their humiliation against the Wallabies in November, the French squad have had their own ‘Enfield moment’. I was involved in several squads that reached a point in a season when a warts ‘n all meeting was called for — cards on the table, everything off the chest. Those crisis meetings can go one of two ways, but in my experience are worth the risk.
Post-Australia, the French had one of their own which has resulted in Marc Lievremont becoming more hands on with one clear message being delivered to the team in terms of how they should play. By depowering assistant coaches Emile N’Tamack and Didier Retiere, there are no more mixed messages being delivered to the players and they appear much happier with the set up. We will see on Sunday.
The other thing that has changed since the autumn is that Lievremont is now selecting his best side and picking players in their best positions. After awarding caps to an incredible 81 different players in his three year reign, he has now made just one injury-enforced alteration for Sunday — and even that seems logical with Biarritz powerhouse Damien Traille reverting to a more familiar role in midfield with Toulouse’s eccentric full back Clement Poitrenaud restored to 15. While this represents the 19th different centre partnership Lievremont has fielded, that combination with Poitrenaud at full back did play all but the opening four minutes of the second half last Saturday.
THEIR pack looks gargantuan, especially at scrum time where they made mincemeat of a decent looking Scottish eight. While they struggled somewhat against the Scots in the lineout, I was not particularly surprised as Scotland now boast the most productive lineout in the international game. What France do have is two outstanding lineout practitioners at the tail in Harinordoquy and Julien Bonnaire. Ireland will have to work out how they counter this. In that respect the return of Jamie Heaslip would be most welcome and timely. Once again last weekend France looked vulnerable in defence, conceding eleven tries in their last two outings and there are certainly opportunities for Ireland to exploit. The key is that they are availed of before the visitors have established a lead. Much has been made of the try-scoring exploits of the Scots in the second half, but at that stage the shape of the French side had altered considerably.
By the 55th minute, Lievremont had withdrawn four of his most influential players in the championship — hooker William Servat, tight head assassin Nicolas Mas, his general and scrum half Morgan Parra and mercurial No 8 Harinordoquy. Former captain Lionel Nallet followed minutes later. The French coach had already set his sights on Dublin. Declan Kidney was not afforded such luxuries in Rome.
A third of this French side started for Clermont Auvergne against Leinster at the Aviva Stadium last December and were on the receiving end of a comprehensive hiding. That experience will remove any hint of complacency and help concentrate the minds of Parra, Domingo, Pierre, Bonnaire and Rougerie in particular.
Ireland do have the capacity to beat this French team should circumstances and opportunities go their way. However they have to make those situations happen. I will look at that more closely in Saturday’s sports section.
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