Kiss expects France to bring ‘A game’ for Paris showdown

The pundits may have written off France but Ireland will definitely not do likewise ahead off their RBS 6 Nations title decider in Paris on Saturday.

Widely derided as one of the worst French sides in memory, Philippe Saint-Andre’s outfit have looked rudderless in attack, disorganised at the set-piece and defensively in disarray during 2014. Yet the 2011 World Cup finalists can still win the championship if England lose in Italy and they win at the Stade de France on Saturday evening.

So while they may have squeaked home against Scotland, Ireland will be expecting a France side intent on bringing its “A game”, as defence coach Les Kiss put it yesterday.

“It might sound like I’m just saying this but I’m going to counter that [criticism of the French] with the fact they can win the championship,” Kiss said. “There’s three teams in with a chance of winning the championship.

“I remember the World Cup when everybody wrote them off and continued to write them off for the whole tournament and they kept winning.

“Sometimes this game is just about winning, winning tournaments, getting through, getting to the next phase. They may not be as pretty as they would have liked probably, but I would say that when you look at it as forensically as we have there are some concerns.

“We expect that being back on their home turf — they came back well in that first game against England — they’ll be very, very driven to make sure they win at home.

“They are going to bring their A game, we can’t afford the luxury of thinking that way, we have to be very, very disciplined on how we approach this.”

Ireland should have beaten France in Paris two years ago when two tries from Tommy Bowe gave the visitors a 17-6 interval lead, only to fail to score again and draw. It was the same again last year in Dublin when France trailed 13-3 at the break but fought back to draw 13-13 and Kiss knows this weekend’s resumption will be no easy fixture.

“I can’t see anything other than a committed performance from them. We played them there last time and it was a draw. The previous time we were beaten, I’ve been beaten there twice and drawn once — so I know it’s a tough gig.

“I would not be, none of us are, approaching this as if it was anything other than a tough day at the office. I have no doubt they’ll bring their A game for us.”

Kiss is also confident the emotion of last Saturday’s 46-7 victory over Italy, when Brian O’Driscoll played his world record 140th Test in his final home game for Ireland, is firmly out of the system.

O’Driscoll received a standing ovation at Aviva Stadium when he was replaced by Fergus McFadden in the 53rd minute following a man-of-the-match performance and another when he took his final bow with daughter Sadie in his arms after the final whistle.

“I think [the emotion] ran its course on that day and that night and to tell you the truth it has not been mentioned at all in any major sense, except maybe a few cracks at Drico here or there,” Kiss said.

“I thought with the actual occasion and Brian having his own walk off... that part at the end with Sadie out on the pitch with a full house 10 minutes after a match, which is unbelievable, the Italians showing their respect, the after-match function and even before that in the dressing room afterwards when Brian did his rendition for us, his song.

“To the dinner, where he was presented with a cap, to his speech and the speeches around it, I think the whole occasion was pretty special. But I think the key was that it was delivered in the way we would have liked it to be delivered and the rest was cream on top, and Brian is not one to be playing on it any further. He’s already onto the next business.”

Kiss suggested O’Driscoll’s rendition of Barry Manilow’s Copacabana may have had something to do with dampening the mood.

“We all joined in to help him out, let’s put it that way,” the coach joked.