Yoann Huget wary of ‘ferocious’ Irish

If the French camp is anything to go by, then hope really does eternal spring, says Barney Spender.

From coach Philippe Saint-Andre, through each of the players and into the press and the supporters, no one is talking confidently about winning in Dublin. Not after their scrappy opening win over Scotland. But everyone is hoping. Not least the Toulouse winger Yoann Huget.

“We need to be very humble,” says Huget, fittingly enough for a man whose native town of Pamiers can also claim Pope Benedict XII (the third of the Avignon popes).

“We hope to win. We are going to Dublin to try and win. But it is very difficult to beat the Irish. They are a very good side and are very confident at the moment.

“We have to be very much on our guard for the first 20 minutes because when the Irish come out in Dublin it is like letting a lion out of a cage; they are very ferocious.”

Huget has also been known to let out his inner lion.

He was France’s outstanding performer during the dismal wooden spoon campaign of 2013 while his grab-and-go effort 30 seconds into last year’s opener against England set France up for a squeaky win.

Humility, though, is a less familiar animal, at least to those who remember Huget’s exclusion from the 2011 World Cup squad because of repeated missed doping tests.

“I can see why people might think I am a bit of a maverick, given the World Cup of 2011,” he admits.

“The problem was that the system in place was a bit complicated. France was very rigorous in anti-doping measures but they came straight to the house and not to the club.

“So you have to give your whereabouts three months in advance. In January you had to say where you would be in April.

“I was a kid and I was here, there and everywhere. In Toulouse, in Paris, in Bayonne where I was playing. Things were moving fast. So I wasn’t there when they called.

“It was a hard lesson especially when I saw the team playing in the New Zealand without me. But now I know my career is my career and I make sure that I am in charge of my life and nobody else.”

Then their was his bizarre behaviour last month when he tried to get Horacio Agulla penalised during the Champions Cup match against Bath by clutching his face and going to ground like a dog struck down with distemper.

Huget quickly offered an apology through Twitter. He regrets his dive but insists he isn’t the only one guilty of such gamesmanship.

“It was inexcusable to do this in rugby but it’s not just me,” he says. “There are plenty of similar actions in the game today.

“It is regrettable but there are a large number of simulations in the game. Perhaps they are less visible than mine but there are a few in every match. When you take a punch you stay on the ground; when you take a high tackle you stay down. It is nothing.

“Every rugby player knows that.

“High tackles are illegal so it’s not a simulation like mine. Mine is not excusable.”

When he isn’t causing the wrong sort of headlines, Huget has been establishing himself as a key member of the French backline. It has taken some time, just as it did at Toulouse.

When he was plucked from Pamiers (“rugby is the heart and lifeblood of the town”) as a teenager, it was to a club that already had Cedric Haymans, Vincent Clerc and Clement Poitrenaud.

He was sent off to second division Agen and then Bayonne to learn his trade.

Now, he is looking for a first French win in Dublin since 2011.

“It is always good to play in Dublin, there is always a great atmosphere in the city. The spectators are very generous, they are a bit like us in that they don’t like the English much.

“They have a very strong back three and it is going to be a real test for us up against Bowe, Zebo and Kearney. It is a very good triangle. They are all strong individually and they work well togethe as a unit.

“We can’t afford to lose concentration because these Irish are sharp. If you drop your guard for a minute then they will profit from it.

“To win the tournoi is going to be very complicated as we have three matches away from home. So we have to be as pragmatic as possible and just do better than last year.”

Pragmatic and humble? Are you sure he is French?