Stacey Flood: 'It's such an Irish thing to shy away from being confident'

But Flood is certain that Ireland have the respect of France ahead of their Six Nations round three tie.

FLOOD THE BARRIER: Stacey Flood poses for a portrait during an Ireland Women's Rugby media conference at the IRFU High Performance Centre. Pic: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile.

Melun. Paris. Toulouse. Saint-Gretien and Blois. Pau twice in three years. Perpignan in 2016. Another pair of 'L's in Toulouse. Le Mans last time round. Ireland's women have played eleven times in France and they’ve yet to win.

There have been bad days and there have been worse days. Three times when they were kept scoreless. Seven losses by double digits. The worst day maybe was a 35-point drubbing just four years ago. But this relationship is changing.

The 38-17 defeat two years ago was digested as a signal of a team reborn after the low of missing out on a World Cup played in 2022. The disappointment of a 12-point loss in Belfast last year was in itself evidence of progress, on the pitch and between the ears.

And then France edged a World Cup quarter-final late last year.

All of this sets things up beautifully for this weekend’s game at the superb Stade Marcel Michelin in Clermont. Team captain Erin King has already voiced the desire for revenge for the last loss in Exter’s Sandy Park. Aoife Wafer says Ireland owe them one.

Stacey Flood isn’t one for shying away from the fighting talk either.

“We want to be breaking into the top two in the Six Nations this year, we want to be in the top four in the world. It's such an Irish thing to shy away from being confident, and we just have to trust and believe and be brave in what we want to put out on the field.

“And it's not that we're over-confident or whatever, it's that we trust in what we're doing. And I don't mind being an underdog, I don't mind going into a game where you're the favourite.

“We're the underdog in this, but do we feel like that? I wouldn't say we've really focused on it a whole lot, but we know that we can take confidence in what we've done in the last two weeks and the last bit of a training block that we've had.”

Ireland are in good nick physically as they face into a third game in as many weeks following the opening loss to England in Twickenham and an impressive, and big, win over Italy at the Dexcom Stadium last time out. Only scrum-half Aoibheann Reilly remains unavailable.

Little change is expected to the XV and 23 when head coach Scott Bemand names his squad on Thursday. France, already without the retired wing Marine Menanger, are now without both their first-choice centres in Joanna Grisez and Gabrielle Vernier through injury.

Flood is one of half-a-dozen on this Irish team that played in front of enormous crowds during the Olympic sevens in Stade de France two years ago. Twickenham and the Dexcom were huge occasions too. So was every World Cup game in England.

These are players who are now well accustomed to big crowds and big days. The expectation after the convincing defeat of Italy is that they will put it up to France in a way that they failed to do when away to England at the start of this tournament.

“I'd be worried if I was them,” said Flood.

Ireland have never broken the 20-point barrier in all their visits to France. It’s hard to see them winning at this attempt unless they can test that glass ceiling so scoring nine tries in Galway was a reassuring warm-up for what’s ahead.

“Yeah, the first game we didn't get as much ball and we were defending for a lot of that game, so it was nice to get on the ball a bit more in the Italy game. I think it'll be a mixture between both now for the French game.

“They're quite a full defence, so knowing that we'll have to go through them before we go around them is important. When we get our chances to get on ball, knowing that we can go around them and do something special with it.”

If the World Cup meeting still leaves a bitter taste in the mouth then so does that reversal to the French in Ravenhill months before it. That was a day when an Irish side buoyed by a brilliant showing at the WXV1s in Canada months before shot themselves in the foot.

Similar self-inflicted wounds scuppered their chances of making England sweat a fortnight ago. So, there have been frustrations to overcome even as progress has been made, but Flood is certain that Ireland have the respect of the French ahead of this round three tie.

“I think they always respected us. If I was them, I'd respect us a little bit more [now] as well, just watching the sort of game we're putting out there. It's not just forwards, it's not just backs, it's a mixture and it makes it harder to defend against and play against.”