Rugby/ Six Nations Championship: Somewhat ominously, it feels like springtime in Paris. The sun is shining from clear blue skies and the World Cup seems like an aeon ago.
Although Irish accents could be heard outside cafes and bars - as Parisians come to terms with their smoking ban - there is nothing like the swathes of blue and green or the bunting that prevailed during the Coupe du Monde. France, at any rate, has moved on, and therein lies the rub.
Whereas the Stade de France crowd optimistically awaits la nouvelle ère, Ireland are still searching for their form of last year's Six Nations. Although Gordon D'Arcy's injury and Simon Easterby's demotion reduce to 10 the number of the present team who started the 25-3 defeat here in the World Cup, last week's performance against Italy - despite several good individual efforts - did little to lift the gloom among the public or the pressure on this team to move on.
Entering his seventh Six Nations as head coach, and ninth as part of the set-up, Eddie O'Sullivan faces what is assuredly the most demanding examination of his long tenure.
"I don't think my self-belief has wavered," he maintained yesterday. "When things don't go well, you want to address them and fix them. As a coach you have got to take responsibility . . . When things are going wrong, you want to apply yourself even more."
Then there's the credibility of France's apparent renaissance in a 27-6 victory over a Scottish side that collectively shot itself in the foot. Put in a nutshell, the essence of this game can be summed up in two questions: is the French revolution/rejuvenation for real? And which Ireland will turn up - one resembling the team that destroyed England last season or the one that has looked increasingly anxious in the failures ever since to produce one 80-minute performance?
If it's the former, as some good judges out there seem to expect, Ireland might well have every chance. For that to happen, Bernard Jackman needs an accurate first Six Nations start with his darts and the pack will have to seriously up the work-rate at maul time. Jackman's selection, along with that of Jamie Heaslip, should at least give the pack more ball-carrying momentum, but even though Eoin Reddan's emergence has given Ireland another weapon around the base, the back line has lost its cutting edge.
The lack of depth hasn't helped Ireland's dynamism on to the ball and in collisions, contributing also to poor support of line breaks and clearing out at the breakdown.
"We got very flat, particularly against the type of defence Italy played," admitted Brian O'Driscoll yesterday. "We do have to have another yard of depth and give ourselves time on the ball and not limit our options."
Critically too, Scotland's kick-and-chase game hardly discouraged the Toulouse twosome, Cedric Heymans and Vincent Clerc, to counterattack. In Ronan O'Gara, Ireland certainly have the first part of the equation and one hopes they also ape the performance of 2000 and defend in French faces all day.
"The way they played was a bit of a throwback to the style they played in the early '90s," said O'Driscoll of France in Scotland, "when they were given more scope to throw the ball around and play what they see in front of them. It can work very much in their favour but if you can get in their faces and deny them the ball it can work against them."
Were things to develop along those lines, the French bench has a mere 23 caps in total, 17 belonging to William Servat. Then again the Irish bench wouldn't appear to be brimming with impact potential, and the presence of the Perpignan bull Nicolas Mas and hooker Dimitri Szarzewski along with Julien Bonnaire will hardly harm French set-pieces.
And, oh yeah, some bloke by the name of Vincent, in vintage form, is playing after all. One suspects, too, the home crowd will be more supportive of Marc Lièvremont's team than they were of Bernard Laporte's.
By ringing the changes, six from last week, while relying on the same 22 save for two injuries, the French have probably ensured a real squad ethos as well as infused freshness.
The statistics are not exactly encouraging for Ireland. In fact, they're positively daunting. That O'Driscoll-inspired 27-25 result in this ground eight years ago remains Ireland's only win in Paris since 1972. Ireland have lost the last six meetings and conceded an average of almost 37 points in their four treks to Paris under O'Sullivan.
Rivers have passed under the bridge since that win eight years ago, and all in all, the evidence of the last few years, months and weeks does not augur well.
On admittedly flimsy if exciting evidence, France are playing with more ambition, pace, precision, skill and confidence, and simply look to be enjoying themselves more.
Overall head-to-head: Played - 83. France 50 wins, Ireland 28 wins, 5 draws. Biggest wins: France - 44-5 (2002, Stade de France). Ireland - 24-0 (1913, Cork).
Highest scores: France - 45-10 (1996, Parc des Princes). Ireland - 31-43 (2006, Stade de France).
Last five meetings: (2007) (RWC) France 25 Ireland 3 (Stade de France); Ireland 17 France 20 (Croke Park); (2006) France 43 Ireland 31 (Stade de France); (2005) Ireland 19 France 26 (Lansdowne Road); (2004) France 35 Ireland 17 (Stade de France).
Betting(Paddy Power): 1/8 France, 25/1 Draw, 9/2 Ireland. Handicap odds (= Ireland +13 pts) 10/11 France, 25/1 Draw, 10/11 Ireland.
Forecast: France to win.
