Ireland 'in for long night' if they fail to disrupt French set-piece, says Philippe Saint-André
Ireland will need to be strong in the set piece says Saint-André. Pic: Ben Brady/Inpho
Ireland could be in for a long night against France in Paris on Thursday night, Philippe Saint-André has warned, if Andy Farrell’s team fail to disrupt the Guinness Six Nations champions’ set-piece.
The former Sale, Toulon and France head coach believes Ireland are not the force they were two years ago when they stunned the French in the opening round of the 2024 championship with a 38-17 victory at Marseille’s Velodrome.
Saint-Andre, France’s record try scorer with 32 in 69 Tests between 1990-97 until overtaken by Vincent Clerc in 2012, pointed to Leinster and Munster’s Champions Cup pool campaigns, a front-row injury crisis and question marks at fly-half following the retirement of Johnny Sexton in October 2023 have all contributed to Ireland’s fall from previous highs.
Add the return of talismanic captain and scrum-half Antoine Dupont from a long-term knee injury to the French ranks and he feels Les Bleus will be in prime position to kick off their title defence in winning fashion at Stade de France.
“I make them strong favourites. And also for the competition, because they won last year with just two games at home,” Saint-André, speaing at the Six Nations launch in Edinburgh last week, said.
"And this year, they play Ireland at home, they play England at home, they play Italy.
"We respect, but the Welsh team are quite struggling.
"And Antoine Dupont, he's such a big player for the French team, so important. But not just about what he does, but what he brings to the squad. About confidence, about belief.
"It's funny, but you speak also with players from Toulouse, they feel that when he's here, they have the feeling that they will win. I think he brings so many things. At fly half, probably, it will be (Mathieu) Jalibert, but he's doing very well with Bordeaux.”
Yet for all the flair of Dupont, Jalibert, and an electrifying backline outside them, Saint-André, now in charge at Provence, believes Ireland will have to contain a heavyweight French pack if they are to make it a successful night in Paris.
"You need to be very good on the set-piece. If you are struggling in the set-piece against France, in Stade de France, when they have the momentum, and if you give two or three seconds for Antoine Dupont to make the right decision... if it's close to the right, he will take, if not, he will do a chistera (out the back pass). If you are tight, he will do a cross-kick for the winger.
"So I think the key will be, if you disturb the set-piece of the French team I think you can win. If you are not, it can be a long night."
Saint-André compared Farrell’s current squad unfavourably to the team which won in Marseille in 2024 but the former French captain also outlined the potential unpredictability of the 2026 Six Nations campaign.
"I think they are not as good as two years ago. I think you can see in the European Cup, you know, Munster are struggling. I didn't see Munster like this for a long, long time.
"Leinster, they still win, but they don't play like before.
"Very often, the year after the Lions tour, the Irish team and the English team normally are struggling with key players.
"You never know. You are so good and normally you are all the time ready for the Six Nations. It shows that you have a lot of injuries with loosehead, it's a problem.
"Fly-half, you have a choice, but you didn't find the fly-half that you had before.
"To start on a Thursday night in Stade de France, it's not the best way to start.
"I think for the Irish team, the first game will be very important. If you do it... I think the beauty of the Six Nations is that our competition is very old, but it's still very fashionable.
"Scotland, I think, and when you see Glasgow, they play very well. Scotland can be good this year. England, they had a fantastic year in 2025. Italy, they beat Australia in November, I would say.
"Just the Welsh team at the moment are quite struggling.
"But after, I think the five other teams, they can beat any team on the day.
"And I think this is the beauty of the Six Nations."
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