Grand
Slam-chasing France have made just one change for their
weekend clash with England, recalling rested centre Mathieu
Bastareaud in place of David Marty.
Perpignan's Marty did nothing wrong as he ran in two tries
against Italy in Sunday's 46-20 demolition, but coach Marc
Lièvremont was always going to turn to Bastareaud as 'Les
Bleus' push for their first Grand Slam since 2004.
The
Stade Francais youngster has been one of the players of the
tournament so far and only sat out the Italy match as a
precaution ahead of the England game.
His
bulk, power and speed combine to make him a near unstoppable
man-mountain in the centres, where he is already building up
an excellent rapport with Stade Toulousain's Yannick
Jauzion.
The
21-year-old cousin of Arsenal footballer William Gallas has
seemingly put behind him the summer troubles that brought
shame and media scrutiny to his door, preferring now to let
his unquestioned rugby talents do his talking for him.
He was
hugely impressive in France's opening three victories -
against Scotland, Ireland and Wales - and should be suitably
refreshed for the England showdown as Lièvremont's team seek
the twin goals of avenging last year's 34-10 humiliation, as
well as completing the hallowed Grand Slam.
The
France coach has belied his previous reputation for
tinkering by retaining the remainder of the side which
triumphed over Italy, meaning a second start for diminutive
Castres winger Marc Andreu, and only a place on the subs'
bench for national icon Sébastien Chabal.
"It's
our belief that this France team has the weapons to beat
England even if we can have no certainty of success,"
explained the 39-year-old coach.
His
caution stems from last year's Twickenham humbling, a defeat
which prompted wide-scale calls for his replacement and left
massive scares within the French camp. It was, in many ways,
a freakish result, with England gaining massive confidence
from Mark Cueto's
opening try after just 69 seconds, while France simply
failed to turn up.
'Les
Bleus' have grown considerably in stature and self-belief
since then, with Lièvremont finally settling on a squad of
players that has bought into his idea of mixing pragmatism
with flair: Beat them up in the forwards and run them ragged
out wide. Even with so many first-choice players still
absent with injuries (or suspended in Julien Dupuy's case)
he has been able to introduce his carefully chosen
replacements without upsetting the team dynamic.
For
instance, France may have been tipped for the Grand Slam
before the tournament began but who would have thought their
wingers in the decisive match would be Brive's Alexis
Palisson and Castres' Andreu. Indeed, there has been a
subtle yet decisive change in the squad and team dynamic
over the past 12 months as the traditional red and black
Stade Toulousain influence has been gently eased aside in
favour of the yellow and blue of Clermont Auvergne.
Vern
Cotter's "Jaunards" now out-number their Stade Toulousain
counterparts by six to five in in the match-day 22, with
Lièvremont currently ignoring the claims of Vincent Clerc,
Cedric Heymans, Louis Picamoles, Yann David and Maxime
Médard. Any or all of them could yet force their way into
next year's World Cup squad, but perhaps the former France
flanker - who won the Grand Slam himself in 1988 - better
understands the need for team harmony than a year ago.
Star players are one thing, but a star team
is far more preferable.
Clerc
and Heymans, for their part, are only recently on the
comeback trail after injuries - along with Perpignan's
Maxime Mermoz - but however it has been achieved Lièvremont
has now settled on a winning formula. It began with a drawn
summer Test series in New Zealand, continued with a highly
impressive home win against South Africa in the autumn, and
has now been carried forward the Six Nations with aplomb.
France
are rightly overwhelming favourites to triumph over Martin
Johnson's faltering England on Saturday, and yet Lièvremont
remains wary of over-confidence after last season's 34-10
drubbing by the Red Rose.
"That marked us
hugely," he admitted. "England
is not a team like any other and
a France v England match is not
like the others," he reasoned.
"There are so
many motivating factors for this
match: the Grand Slam, it is
France v England, an English
side that treated us badly last
year and that is certainly my
biggest disappointment in the
two years I have been coach of
the team.
"They also
beat us two years ago at the
Stade de France, which was our
first defeat as a unit together;
they also had beaten us in the
2007 World Cup semi-final on our
home soil and also in the 2007
Six Nations. That is four
successive defeats in
competitive matches."
So, the whiff
of revenge will permeate the
Paris air as both sides take to
the Stade de France on Saturday,
but whether England and Toulon
fly-half Jonny Wilkinson will be
among the 30 starters is yet to
be decided.
The
30-year-old went off dazed and
confused after taking a bang to
the cranium against Saturday, a
description that might aptly be
accorded his fellow team-mates
too. England appear uncertain,
timid and lacking confidence -
three phrases that certainly
can't be levelled at their
French counterparts.
Johnson has
sent for Sale's Charlie Hodgson
as cover for Wilkinson and also
has concerns about captain Steve
Borthwick after an old knee
injury flared up in training. He
will name his starting XV on
Wednesday, but has already tried
to lift the psychological
pressure off his under-siege
team.
“They
[France]
have been
the form
team of the
tournament
and that is
not mind
games,” he
said this
week. “But
we are an
international
team playing
for England
and we want
to perform.
“They have
got a lot to
lose in
terms of not
winning a
Grand Slam.
We have got
a lot to
lose every
time we play
for England.
Frustration
was the
buzzword
around on
Saturday
within our
group and
not much has
changed.
“The
perception
that the
team is
shackled and
inhibited is
wrong. We
tried to do
the right
thing most
of time but
the mistakes
really,
really hurt
us,” added
Johnson.
Similar
mistakes against the rampant
French could lead to another
afternoon of ball-chasing, and
leave England nursing a
championship record of just two
wins from five.
France starting XV to play England:
Clément Poitrenaud (Stade Toulousain), Marc Andreu
(Castres), Mathieu Bastareaud (Stade Francais), Yannick
Jauzion (Stade Toulousain), Alexis Palisson (Brive),
Francois Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Morgan Parra (Clermont
Auvergne), Thomas Domingo (Clermont Auvergne), William
Servat (Stade Toulousain), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Lionel
Nallet (Racing-Métro 92), Julien Pierre (Clermont Auvergne),
Thierry Dusautoir (Stade Toulousain, Captain), Julien
Bonnaire (Clermont Auvergne), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz)
Substitutes: Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Francais),
Jean-Baptiste Poux (Stade Toulousain), Sébastien Chabal
(Racing Métro 92), Alexandre Lapandry (Clermont Auvergne),
Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), David Marty (Perpignan), Julien
Malzieu (Clermont Auvergne)
