Clerc wary of Ireland threat

France winger Vincent Clerc believes Ireland will be looking to exact revenge when they take on Les Bleus in the pivotal World Cup Pool D showdown at the Stade de France on Friday.

Toulouse flyer Clerc was the player who scored the last-gasp try to seal a memorable Six Nations Championship win for the French over Eddie O’Sullivan’s men at Croke Park in February.

But it is a World Cup match four years ago that the Irish will have on their minds when they take the field in Paris, according to Clerc.

In the 2003 tournament in Australia, Les Bleus crushed Ireland 43-21 in a quarter-final match in Melbourne, after taking a 27-0 lead into half-time.

Ireland were blown away by some spellbinding rugby by the mercurial French that day, and Clerc believes they will be looking for pay-back on Friday.

“The World Cup is a different competition to the Six Nations entirely, and they will have memories of the last World Cup, when they completely imploded against the French,” said the 26-year-old.

“It is especially for that reason that they will be seeking revenge.

“It was a great moment when we beat them then. They will have been disappointed with that and are going to want to rebel.”

Ireland have more problems this time round and they will not make it to the knockout stages if they continue to play the way they are.

After a poor display in the 32-17 win over Namibia, they followed it by edging nervously past Georgia 14-10 at the weekend.

O’Sullivan admits it has got to a “crisis” point for the Irish, but Clerc is expecting a reaction.

When asked if it was a good time to play Ireland, Clerc said: “I am not convinced.

“It is clear Ireland are not in the best of form but perhaps they will turn it around in this match.

“They have changed several players. They are proud and need to put in a huge performance on Friday.

“They will be different to what we saw from their first two matches.

“When you drop a player like Peter Stringer, that says something. I think they will be back on a stronger footing for this match.”

The axing of scrum-half Stringer in favour of Wasps star Eoin Reddan is one of three changes made by O’Sullivan for the game.

France are also expected to make alterations from the team that routed Namibia 87-10 on Sunday.

But a number of the players who starred at the weekend – like Clerc, Thierry Dusautoir, Clement Poitrenaud, Lionel Nallet, Frederic Michalak and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde – could find themselves staying in Bernard Laporte’s starting XV and playing their second game in five days.

The team will be announced early tomorrow morning.

“It is a very short turnaround, and we are following a recovery programme in order to be fresh for Friday,” said Clerc, who scored a hat-trick of tries against the Namibians.

“We will have two or three training sessions, no more. All the hard work is behind us. We are ready.

“There is just some strategic details to sort out. We know where we are going and what we want to do.”

The 17-12 defeat to Argentina on the opening night will be a dim and distant memory if Les Bleus beat Ireland on Friday.

They will have to do it without lock Fabien Pelous, who hurt his knee against Namibia, so Nallet is expected to partner Jerome Thion in the second row.

Imanol Harinordoquy (thumb) and Raphael Ibanez (throat) are also nursing injuries but they should be available.

David Skrela (Achilles) is still missing so Michalak should continue at fly-half, with Lionel Beauxis again on the bench.