It seemed a little weird. French coach Bernard Laporte espousing the virtues of Irish back play; it certainly constituted a first. Laporte has noted a change in Ireland's approach and yesterday in the Merrion Hotel articulated his thoughts on the new Ireland. "For the last four years (Warren) Gatland has tried to bring home the players from abroad. The success of that venture can be seen in the performances of Irish teams in the European Cup. We now consider Ireland to be a complete rugby team in terms of their style.
"The fact that players are together in the provincial sides doing well, gives confidence, especially for the backs. They have one of the best backlines in the world, both individually and collectively."
It was a theme adopted by French captain Fabien Pelous who believes the change in style will in no way diminish traditional values.
"Ireland has a tradition of very powerful forwards and even if they change the way they play, they have not changed the spirit." He added that the French had undergone changes themselves since last season. "We showed that in losing to Ireland last year we didn't have the perfect team and we had to make changes to progress."
The remarks of French team manager Jo Maso - he insisted earlier in the week France were bent on revenge for last season - also received an airing. Laporte smiled: "What Jo Maso is saying is the truth. When you lose a game then the next time you face that team you want to win."
Laporte was reluctant to attach any importance to the fact the game is being played at Lansdowne Road where the French have not lost since 1983. "It doesn't really mean anything because last year Ireland came to Paris and won which they hadn't done for a long time. There is no point in looking at history as a reference point for this match. (Brian) O'Driscoll wasn't playing for the last 20 plus years."
Meanwhile Ireland left-wing Tyrone Howe trained with the Ireland team at Greystones yesterday morning and was passed fit to play against France. Howe missed training on Wednesday because of a fever.
The Irish Students will take on their French counterparts at the Mardyke tonight (7.30) while Ireland will take on France in the women's international at Castle Avenue also tonight (7.0).
