Six Nations: Stringer aims to silence French fans

Peter Stringer is looking forward to taking on the French crowd as much as their players as Ireland prepare for Saturday’s Lloyds TSB Six Nations finale at the Stade de France.

The 27-25 victory over the French in the same stadium two years ago is still very fresh in the memory for Ireland’s scrum-half, who was making just his third international appearance when the French were overturned on home turf.

And while he is expecting to face the most passionate crowd in world rugby on Saturday, he believes that if you can frustrate those fervent fans then you have gone a long way to beating their beloved team.

Stringer said: ‘‘It’s an arena that’s so noisy and if the French are on a roll it can be very difficult.

‘‘But I think if we get on top of them and start spoiling things and get in their faces, then it’s a place that turns fairly quickly against their own players.

‘‘That can be a big help to us and a real frustration to them. It happened two years ago when things didn’t happen as quickly for them as it should have and the fans were getting on their back.

‘‘I’m looking forward to it because of the memories of the last time. It’s a great occasion, a great arena to play in and it will give the guys a great lift to go out there in front of 85,000 people.

‘‘So it’s a match to look forward to, especially when you see you’re up against big names. It’s the place to raise your game.’’

An Ireland victory would destroy French hopes of the Grand Slam and in all probability hand old enemies England the championship on points difference.

But Stringer insists there is still plenty of incentive for his side.

‘‘There’s definitely something to go for in Paris,’’ he said. ‘‘We’ve won three games at home, we won four games out of five last year and we’ll be looking to do the same this year.

‘‘It’s a very important game for us. We had a tough game against Italy and didn’t perform as well as we would have hoped so our aim is to put in a good performance this Saturday.’’