Six Nations:
France out
to defy the odds as confident Wales seek record-equalling
win
27 February 2009
Bookmakers earn their crust by taking hard-earned cash from
enthusiastic punters so when odds of between 8/11 and 8/13
are being offered on Wales to win in Paris tonight it makes
sense to take note.
France
don’t often go down on home turf but Wales – Europe’s
strongest team – will travel confident in the knowledge they
have emerged victors in three of their last five visits to
the French capital.
They
also crossed the Channel buoyed by a run of eight successive
Championship wins and bolstered by the return to their ranks
of IRB International Player of the Year Shane Williams.
Combine
all that with a confusing French selection policy, an
irritated head coach (Marc Lièvremont) and a blood-hungry
press and you have all the ingredients for a Welsh rout.
But that
would be to think in a logical and coherent manner –
something alien to French rugby at its best, which is
renowned equally for its off-the-cuff flair and ability to
confound.
To read
the press this week one could be forgiven for thinking
Lièvremont's mob are destined for such a Friday-night
drubbing that it would be unsuitable viewing for children –
perhaps that was the true reason behind the unbelievably
late kick-off time – but there is enough talent and
international savvy in this team to make the Welsh earn
their spurs tonight.
After
all, this is a French side boasting the outstanding running
skills of players such as Cedric Heymans, Yannick Jauzion
and the exciting Stade Toulousain youngster Maxime Medard –
this time named in his favoured full-back position. Up front
they have brought back wizened veteran Sylvain Marconnet
alongside Fabien Barcella, while everyone’s favourite
‘caveman’ Sebastien Chabal renews acquaintance with skipper
Lionel Nallet in the second row.
A back
row of Imanol Harinordoquy, Fulgence Ouedraogo and Thierry
Dusautoir is also not to be sniffed, and yet… the doubts
remain.
There is
a two-fold reason behind the French media giving Lièvremont
such a hard time that this most equable of men began to
snarl during Wednesday’s press conference.
The first is the disappointing results and
performances of ‘Les Bleus’ in recent months; the second is
a baffling selection policy. The media, not unreasonably,
has linked the latter to the former, and that is why
Lièvremont is now coming under pressure.
The
naming of 20-year-old battering ram Mathieu Bastareaud in
the centres is not the problem – he is an immense talent
(literally) and could cause Wales all sorts of problems
tonight. Rather, it is the continual chopping and changing
of his preferred half-back axis.
Injuries, admittedly, have played their part, but
Lièvremont's decision to play an out-of-form centre at
fly-half (Benoit Baby) together with a novice scrum-half
(Morgan Parra) picked primarily for his supposed
goal-kicking ability has irked many onlookers.
The
biggest winners of this strange selection policy – apart
from France’s opponents – appear to be Stade Toulousain, who
are able to take on Montauban in Saturday’s Top 14 clash
with considerable talents of Jean-Baptiste Elissalde at No 9
and David Skrela at No 10.
Lièvremont's agitation at the continued questioning of his
half-back selections was clear for all when he finally
snapped during Wednesday’s press conference.
“Well,
listen, if we win we’ll be right, and if we loose you can
say that we are incompetent and pass us off as idiots,” he
told the assembled media.
The
problem for Lièvremont, however, is that he is trying to
manage the twin aims of building a team for the next World
Cup – still two years away – while also encouraging his
players to express themselves on the pitch. Results matter,
of course, but it is the performance and the building
process that is more important to him.
Will
anyone really give a damn if France fail to win the 2009 Six
Nations but romp to World Cup victory in New Zealand in
2011?
Unfortunately for Lièvremont, however, patience is an almost
redundant trait in modern-day professional sport and the
sands of time are not running in his favour.
Of course, that will all
be forgotten should France defy the odds and put in a
performance that stuns a team seeking back-to-back Grand
Slams for the first time in 100 years. And no-one likes
baffling the bookies quite like the French do. Just ask the
All Blacks.
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