Nallet feeling the pressure

France captain Lionel Nallet admits his position in Les Bleus’ starting XV is under threat heading into Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations match against Scotland in Paris.

The Castres lock, who took over as France skipper after the 2007 World Cup despite not being a regular fixture in the team, was one of his country’s best players in last season’s Six Nations.

However his form has dipped over the last few months, starting in the November Tests, and his performance in last weekend’s Six Nations defeat to Ireland has been criticised.

There were some calls for him to be dropped for this weekend, but head coach Marc Lievremont lent his full backing to Nallet, selecting him in the second row for the 12th successive match and claiming he had never envisaged changing captain.

Nallet, though, is not so sure of his place in the team.

“I do feel threatened,” he said.

“In any case I have never considered myself a definite starter, captain or not captain.

“But if I felt I was lacking something in the autumn, now I feel good.

“I was not exceptional (against Ireland) but I think I got round the pitch a lot and put in a great deal of work at the breakdown.

“It’s true that I wasn’t seen too much with the ball in hand and I think it’s for that reason that people are reacting.

“I am conscious that I haven’t put in a perfect performance. But honestly, it is better than this autumn. This match did me some good in terms of intensity and got me back involved.

“We will see this weekend.”

Nallet was not helped by Sebastien Chabal, his partner at lock against Ireland, going walkabout for large parts of last Saturday’s match.

The Sale Sharks star may have produced a couple of thrilling gallops down the left wing in the first half but his presence was missing at the breakdown.

Statistics show that Nallet competed in 35 rucks and mauls, while Chabal – a number eight by trade – was there for 14 of them.

Chabal has been dropped to the bench for the Scotland game, with Toulouse’s Romain Millo-Chluski coming in at lock, and that is sure to relieve some of the burden off Nallet’s shoulders.

Nallet is a respected and popular figure in French rugby but he is still relatively new to international captaincy.

And he admitted his orders were not followed against the Irish, who opportunistically picked off an ambitious French side at Croke Park.

“Until now, there hasn’t been a problem with communication,” the 32-year-old said.

“But there we were lacking. We went missing in this department. I don’t know why the messages weren’t getting through.

“I asked for us to play a little less in our own 22 because we were putting ourselves in danger and we were having problems at the breakdown.

“That wasn’t followed too well because we were chasing the scoreboard and we wanted to keep the ball in hand to score. But we should have been trying to kick the ball clear.”

Lievremont, meanwhile, insists Nallet is the right man to take France forward and wants other players in the team to follow the lock’s example.

“I am very satisfied because he is rediscovering his rhythm,” Lievremont said.

“After an enormous (2007/08) season, he got injured. But he gave us some satisfaction in November and that is still the case today.

“He is a player who is extremely consistent and present and he is exemplary in battle.

“He is also exemplary in daily life and in training. It is up to us to make the half-backs and other players like Yannick Jauzion more responsible.”