Gerry Thornley On RugbyThey're a funny lot, the French - especially their rugby teams. Words like mercurial and enigmatic seem almost to have been created with Les Bleus in mind. You can rarely predict what kind of mood they might be in come kick-off, particularly away from home, and next Saturday is no different.
Near the denouement of the movie Diva, when the two hit men think they are about to tie up all the loose ends to that wonderfully convoluted plot by murdering Jules, the young man at the centre of it all, one of them expounds the virtues of "order". That's the important thing, he says menacingly, L'Ordre. French teams seem to need the clarity that comes with l'Ordre. A Six Nations/Grand Slam year with nothing else in sight clarifies their mindsets. Championships in World Cup years seem only to cloud their picture. It appears they can't help themselves from holding back a little.
Granted, the 1987 vintage of Les Bleus won a grand slam en route to beating Australia in that memorable semi-final in the inaugural World Cup later that year, before losing to the All Blacks in the decider. But that was a particularly excellent vintage. Even now the names trip off the tongue like a who's who of French greats. Blanco, Sella, Lagisquet, Berbizier, Champ, Dubrocca, Ondarts, Bonival, Mesnel, etc. French rugby looks back on that era wistfully, and wonders how they didn't win the World Cup (and only two Grand Slams in 1981 and '87!).
In 1991 and '95 England won the grand slam as a precursor to the subsequent World Cups (not that it did them much good then). France lost at home to Scotland and were beaten 31-10 at Twickenham in '95, overcoming Wales at home and won in Dublin by 25-7. A 10-9 win in Lansdowne Road was all France had to show for their championship campaign in '99 when they finished with the wooden spoon. But they subsequently went on to reach a second World Cup final, losing to Australia.
Similarly too, the year before they had won the grand slam. It's as if they have been sated by traditional fare, and need to focus on something altogether grander. French journalists have been telling me their team would not be really switched on for the Six Nations, that they would be keeping their best for the World Cup, all the more so after the grand slam was ruled out by their defeat to England.
Even Bernard Laporte's comments that after the first couple of games he would use their remaining Six Nations games as a chance to experiment were hardly designed to have his team at full tilt. Yet, when push came to shove, there has only been one change from the squad on duty against Scotland, and quite likely there will only be one change to the starting team on Saturday. Even that is at least partially forced on them by the dislocated shoulder Fabien Galthie sustained against Scotland, although it was likely Laporte would have had a look at the 22-year-old Biarritz scrumhalf Dimitri Yachvili anyway.
Furthermore, Laporte has elevated Saturday's match with Ireland onto a par with the traditional crunch confrontation with England. "It is a key game," he says, and a truer test of where France stand in World Cup year than the subsequent games against Italy and Wales.
Perhaps the French pack (average age just under 30) have been saving themselves. The French tight five has missed Pieter de Villiers with Paul Honiss incurring the wrath of the cognoscenti with his refusal to allow Jean-Jacques Crenca and Raphael Ibanez to attack Julian White at Twickenham.
Perhaps too, France have been keeping some of their best rugby and their best moves under wraps for the World Cup. Vincent Clerc looks a find and Clement Poitrenaud has been thrilling, but, again, they've missed the leadership of Tony Marsh. There was no penetration of the English white line and handling errors again abounded against the Scots, when Damien Traille had his first decent game this season in Marsh's absence.
However, the biggest debate in French rugby centres around the half-backs and especially the number nine jersey. While Galthie, it is agreed, is the best man to lead France to the World Cup, is he the best scrumhalf? The performance of Yachvili on Saturday will go some way toward answering that.
Alongside him will be the 24-year-old Francois Gelez and the French coach admits he is "very impatient to see this young pair of half-backs facing experienced players in a hostile atmosphere".
Yet it is a big ask of two young half-backs who don't have 10 caps between them and only fleetingly played together for the first time in the last eight minutes against the Scots. What's more they are both left-footed and it is widely assumed a left-footed scrumhalf (though he seems to have a stronger right-sided pass) is not ideal, least of all when it comes to box-kicking off the base of the scrum. Playing for Biarritz this season, Yachvili has often stood back and been fed by the number eight. Admittedly, Traille has a hefty right boot on him and will probably be used again akin to the way Ireland employ Denis Hickie's left boot for long, diagonal kicks.
Half-back has persistently been a problem for the French in World Cup years, with Galthie returning from the cold each time. Indeed, outhalf has often been a problem position for the French. Hence, Jean-Pierre Romeu is their longest-serving number 10 with a mere 33 caps. Then again, with the French, you just never know. Yachvili and Gelez could be fearless and brilliant, so launching a long and enduring partnership.
All the indicators from France are that they expect a major collision up front, and that they are not coming over to play champagne rugby. What's more, they're due a big one.
