Gerry Thornley: Formidable France fully prepared for what they see as key test

Imagine, for a moment, that the most powerful person in the IRFU (although there is no real overlord) had been forced to resign at the behest of the Minister for Sport after being found guilty of corruption. And, as events unfolded, Andy Farrell had threatened to step down if this came to pass.

Of course, such a sequence of events is unimaginable. But not in French rugby. Eight days before the start of the 2023 Six Nations, Bernard Laporte resigned from his position as the all-powerful president of the French Federation after being convicted of corruption.

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“I can confirm that Bernard Laporte has resigned,” the minister for sport Amelie Oudea-Castera told reporters, after previously calling for Laporte to step down, last Friday week.

Laporte, who coached Les Bleus when they hosted the World Cup in 2007 and were beaten in the semi-finals by England, received a two-year suspended prison sentence in December. A court had found Laporte had shown favouritism in awarding a shirt sponsorship contract for the French side to Mohed Altrad, the billionaire owner of Top 14 champions Montpellier.

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The two men had successfully spearheaded the French bid to host the 2023 World Cup ahead of Ireland and South Africa.

Laporte’s close friend, Fabien Galthié, had threatened to resign as head coach of France if Laporte was forced out.

However, unsurprisingly, given France are the reigning Grand Slam champions and he has been building toward the ultimate prize of winning the World Cup on home soil later this year, Galthié has not stepped down from his estimated €400,000 per year role.

Nor, typically, has Laporte faded into the distance. The former French Federation president met Galthié and the players while visiting the French squad during their two-week preparatory camp for the Six Nations in Capbreton.

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Akin to the Irish squad, Galthié and manager Raphael Ibanez decided to move their pre-Six Nations camp from the squad’s normal base in Marcoussis outside Paris to the south-west of the country.

Nine players who had been capped by Les Bleus in 2022 were injured and missing from the initial 42-man squad which assembled on the Atlantic coast. There is also a widespread feeling that France’s frontline players are overplayed and that some look a little weary.

They were fortunate to beat Italy last Sunday in Rome. Their body language suggested a certain fatigue or weariness as well.

My French media colleagues have been telling me that, akin to last year, Galthié and co had been “beasting” their players in Capbreton before taking the Italian game on the run, so to speak, and then having a light, relaxed week in the Eternal City before travelling to Dublin on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Gaël Fickou, the outside centre whose performance belied his undistinguished form with Racing 92 this season, explained: “By staying in Rome, we were able to focus on recovery, rest times, and also going for a walk on Monday.

“It feels good to be able to recover like this and think a little about something else. We had a big preparation in Capbreton with a lot of bodybuilding sessions and training to try to have a peak of form against Ireland.

“So it was important to regenerate this week, especially since we have one day less than the Irish to prepare for this second match. We had to ‘faire du gaz’ [make gas] to hope to have some on Saturday. You don’t have to question everything.”

Fickou is captain of the Shaun Edwards-designed defence and played his 40th Six Nations game last weekend, 10 years after his debut in the tournament at 18.

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He also revealed that much of their video reviews had focused on the concession of 18 penalties in the Stadio Olimpico, with the help of former referee Jérôme Garcès, a full-time part of their backroom team.

“We also talked a lot with the staff and with Jérôme, of course. The staff also had an exchange with Joël Jutge,” he added in reference to World Rugby’s refereeing supremo.

Their starting XV is unchanged from last week, with the fit-again duo of François Cros and Baptiste Couilloud restored to the bench and, ultimately, for all their injury woes, France will field 11 of last year’s starting line-up from their round two win over Ireland.

Only Cameron Woki, centre Jonathan Danty and left winger Gabin Villière are missing from a notional first-choice XV.

Villière has been replaced by Ethan Dumortier, the rangy, dangerous broken field runner who has scored 11 tries in 14 games for Lyon this season and marked his French debut last Sunday with a try.

They also still found a way of beating Italy – their fifth one-score win in their last six games – and will pitch up in the Aviva on the back of a French record run of 14 successive wins.

And they have clearly targeted this round two meeting with Ireland, who should be wary of a supposedly off-colour France.