Six Nations, France v Wales: Attacking rugby, said France manager Jo Maso this week, is "a jigsaw puzzle where you gather the pieces together, bit by bit, until finally you end up with a work of art".
Today's encounter with a buoyant, potent Wales could well show whether Maso and his coach Bernard Laporte are still scrabbling through the box, let alone worrying about how the pieces slot into place.
Both sides are undefeated so far, with France looking for a third Grand Slam in four years, whereas Wales are resolutely playing down their chances of taking the championship to a decider in Cardiff against Ireland on March 19th.
"This is a game on which the championship can turn, not only because it is the third match, but because it may allow us to eliminate another possible winner," said Laporte.
The France coach insists he and his side are not under pressure having just taken their first win at Twickenham in eight years, but Wales, or at least their captain Gareth Thomas, see it differently. The fullback, who plays his club rugby at Toulouse, has said that French supporters have told him they would prefer Wales to win this afternoon because they dislike France's disjointed, unambitious style, which has seen them score only two tries in their last four outings.
The Stade de France crowd responded viciously to the poor performance as they scrambled to victory over Scotland in their championship opener. "The French will be under huge pressure on Saturday, especially from the public," said Thomas. "One of our aims will be to hit them hard in the first 20 minutes so that we can turn the French spectators against their own team."
Four changes this week to the France side that beat England at Twickenham confirmed that however satisfying that victory might have been, the way in which it was achieved was less than convincing. As the wing Christophe Dominici put it: "If we are the shop-window of French rugby, we need a good spring clean."
The fluid Yannick Jauzion returns in the centre and should give the wings better service than the lumbering Brian Liebenberg, and for counter-attacks from deep France will look to the most unpredictable full back in the French championnat, Julien Laharrague, who wins his first cap at 26.
"With the bit of creative madness we know he has, we're hoping he will pepper up our game," said Maso.
"He can make the odd cock-up, but it doesn't matter."
Aurelien Rougerie comes in on the wing and there is also an injection of zip in the back row, where the rapid Zaire-born flanker Yannick Nyanga starts his first Six Nations game after two promising appearances as a substitute against Scotland and England.
The Beziers captain, aged just 21, is selected ahead of Imanol Harinordoquy, who is expected to come on early in the second half. Having seen second-half replacements such as Frederic Michalak and William Servat galvanise his side against England, Laporte may repeat the process today. "We want to play stylishly, but that depends on the quality of the ball," said Laporte.
Wales have no illusions about the battle that awaits them. "If we get stuffed in the front five our backs have had it," said the prop Adam Jones yesterday.
The Wales coach Mike Ruddock has merely tweaked the team that put six tries past Italy. On the wing Kevin Morgan comes in for the injured Hal Luscombe to start his first international since October 2003, and the powerful flanker Ryan Jones replaces Jonathan Thomas, on the assumption that the French will look to shut down the Welsh.
As Ruddock put it: "We felt we might not be afforded the open spaces out wide we were able to exploit against Italy, so an extra big ball-carrier in the back row is necessary."
Guardian Service
