John Hayes: French no longer intimidating
“Paris is no longer a place where Ireland have to go and be intimidated,” said Alan Quinlan. “That has changed the last ten years or so. Think back to Drico’s three tries over there, that was a very important moment for all of that mindset.
The evaporation of France’s own joie de vivre has also played its part in recent Irish bullishness.
“The French have under-achieved; no doubt about it, they have very talented players but the momentum that they used to be able to get going appears to be missing.”
“And the French have struggled to adapt when they’re not on the front foot, which they’re not always any more. They have become a bit more vulnerable.”
John Hayes, with 105 caps banked, had mixed experiences against the French.
“There were good days, bad days, but what has happened to our (Ireland’s) benefit has been the exposure to playing French teams in what was the Heineken Cup. We were able to see them as humans, not mythical figures like Serge Blanco. We saw his likes only once a year in the old days, the untouchables that you weren’t allowed to or able to tackle.
“But if you had him in Thomond Park on a nice soft, wet Friday evening in the Heineken Cup then maybe we would have seen a different side of him.
“The French can be beaten if they’re upset or if things are not going their way but nowadays they don’t get everything their own way, and European (club) rugby helped Ireland deal a lot better than they had been used to. Once we (Irish provinces) started to beat them, you got to see that they could be beaten, that they were not super human.”
Quinlan believes Ireland’s showing in the draw with Wales contained many more positives than France mustered in their narrow squeak over Italy.
“The disappointment about the Irish outcome against Wales was more in the result than in the performance on the basis that Wales had a very good and settled team out on the field and that Ireland were missing a lot of key figures.”
“When you analyse the Irish performance they showed a lot of character and resilience, they were really efficient and resourceful at the breakdown. We struggled a little bit in the last two performances against Wales, but this was different. Stander (CJ) was outstanding, Heaslip (Jamie) and O’Donnell (Tommy) too.”
“Looking at the stats afterwards we should probably have won the game but France really shouldn’t have won their match with Italy. As regards intensity and quality of rugby, I thought Ireland looked more impressive, if they can replicate that intensity and efficiency at the breakdown and maybe improve control and anticipation in line breaks then they can win in Paris.”
That’s despite the efforts of Guy Noves, the former Toulouse coach, to return some of the flair into French rugby.
“He (Noves) will see them as a side that will take a little time to develop,” Quinlan feels. “He won’t restrict them for sure; that can work for or against them and if some of their offloads stick it could spell trouble for Ireland. But Ireland will want to bring a real intensity to it. A lot of the guys have won in Paris and the mindset should be OK.”
Hayes suspects the French have some way to go before restoring the faith of what used to be a passionate support base.
“The stadium there last week wasn’t full, that place was always a cauldron and it didn’t seem that way last week, and in that sense it wasn’t as intimidating as it used to be.”
John Hayes has been travelling with the RBS 6 Nations trophies as part of the annual Ulster Bank Trophy Tour. Ulster Bank recently announced that their longstanding support of rugby in Ireland will continue as they remain the title sponsors of the All-Ireland League until 2018 as well as Official Community Rugby Partner to the IRFU.
The French have struggled to adapt when they’re not on the front foot, which they’re not always any more
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
