French getting better all the time

France coach Bernard Laporte is delighted with the progress his team have made since the RBS Six Nations and believes they have shown glimpses of the form he wants as the quarter-finals approach.

France finished third behind England and Ireland in the Six Nations and Laporte believes the subsequent development has been hugely beneficial.

“We are playing a lot better than in the Six Nations because we have been together for three months and so we are playing better together,” said Laporte.

“That has enabled us to play a much more coherent game than in the Six Nations,” he said, before picking out the first-up win over Fiji in Brisbane as the best result.

“Our best game was against Fiji because of the speed of both the ball and the match itself,” he said.

“Against Scotland there were 15 to 20 minutes where we played at that level, but conditions were tough and that made execution very difficult,” he said.

“It was a different game, with scrappy ball and lots of stuff in the tight, but even if the execution was not brilliant the willingness was good.”

“We were never completely content with any of them but that is the way rugby is. We can see the confidence and the collective spirit building within the team.”

The French now face a quarter-final against Ireland and manager Jo Maso knows the knockout phase will be tougher than anything France have faced at the tournament so far.

“As the teams get stronger the defences get more organised and stronger and there are less chances as a result,” said Maso.

“That means there is a need to play more pragmatically and tactically.”

Laporte agreed, saying that could mean less running rugby.

“If after two or three phases we have not destabilised the defence then that is the time to put a kick in behind them,” said Laporte.

“Then they only have the chance to counter-attack from deep.”

Meanwhile, Laporte sounded a note of warning over the refereeing of some areas at the World Cup and the role of substitutes in matches.

“I still find some of the decisions strange, especially in the scrums and rucks,” he said.

“They have lacked a little bit of coherence and that could be very important at a later stage.

“We were penalised three times in the scrums, which in a tight match could have been crucial. If it keeps going like that then scrums could disappear from the game.

“An area of interest is the use of replacements. For example, against Samoa, England brought on three or four players and changed the game,” said Laporte.

“It takes away from the purity and combative nature of the game.”