Ponderous French crack Canucks as Ireland loom

France 41 Canada 18: Another comfortable margin on the scoreboard for France, but doubts hang over Philippe Saint-Andre’s side ahead of their final Pool D encounter with Ireland on Sunday week after a workmanlike defeat of Canada in stadium:mk last night.

As against Italy and Romania, the French huffed and puffed, this time in front of a stadium record crowd of 28,145, before superior fitness levels and skills finally began to generate some momentum and a dominant last quarter.

Three games in to this tournament, and four years into Saint-Andre’s tenure, it is still impossible to work out just what exactly is the team’s strategy. Unlike Joe Schmidt’s Ireland, there is little in the way of shape or tactics either.