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).