Sun shines for flamboyant French

The sun is shining on French rugby at present and captain Fabien Galthie today forecasted the bright conditions will hover over the squad’s base on Bondi beach right through until the World Cup final on November 22.

In short, Galthie backed France to beat England in Sunday’s semi-final because, when Les Bleus are in this mood, there are few who can stop them.

The 34-year-old scrum-half, who will once again forge his creative partnership with star fly-half Frederic Michalak, has been playing Test rugby for 12 years.

He has experienced as many lows as he has highlights for France, ranging from the sensational semi-final victory over New Zealand in 1999, to the toothless display against Australia a week later.

In 2002, Galthie was the lynchpin in France’s Grand Slam-winning side. This year he was injured two games into the campaign and they finished third.

The summer tour appeared to be nothing less than a disaster as France lost twice to Argentina and were beaten by New Zealand.

The French then finished distinctly worse off after two warm-up matches with England, beating their B selection by just one point before being over-run 45-14 at Twickenham a week later.

And yet, here they are, preparing for a World Cup semi-final and, in many quarters, favoured to turn England over.

“The French team is like the weather,” said Galthie today.

“Sometimes the weather is good and sunny. Sometimes the weather is bad and raining. Sometimes it is raining on our team – but at the moment it is sunny.

“I hope the forecast for Sunday is not too windy and it stays sunny.

“We are happy to be here, we want to do the best. We don’t speak about pressure. We want to play our best rugby and for us that is the most important objective.”

France have developed something of a reputation for one sensational performance each World Cup, with the semi-finals in 1987 and 1999 prime examples.

On each occasion, France defied the odds to beat the highly-fancied Australia and New Zealand respectively.

The French were in devastating form in last weekend’s World Cup quarter-final, beating Ireland with a sensational display of total rugby.

The back row trio of Imanol Harinordoquy, Serge Betsen and Olivier Magne stated their case as the finest in the world at present, while Michalak directed a flamboyant back line.

Defensively, Ireland were strangled out of the game as the French closed them down quickly and heaped on the pressure and Harinordoquy revealed they have a plan in place to ensure that was no one-off performance.

“Last Sunday we put a lot of pressure on (Ronan) O’Gara and I think it will be the same on Sunday,” he said.

“We will try to put a lot of pressure on (Jonny) Wilkinson. We will have a very high defence.”

They are tactics the English will be expecting, given it was that rapid defence which formed the basis of France’s victory in 2002 and coach Bernard Laporte is wary that England remain a deadly force.

“I don’t think that England have dropped away in terms of their form. In fact, I think the complete opposite,” said Laporte after naming an unchanged starting XV.

“They have come through some tough matches, and won the games. I still think England are the favourites for the tournament.

“I have got a lot of respect for Clive Woodward, who has turned England into the best team in the world. England have come here with big World Cup ambitions, but that is more about confidence, rather than arrogance.”

The only changes from the Ireland game are on the bench, with full-back Clement Poitrenaud, centre Damien Traille and back-row forward Christian Labit all summoned for replacement duty.

Lock Olivier Brouzet flew home today with a shoulder injury, while utility back Pepito Elhorga has also left the camp following the death of his father.