Dominant French in warning to Eddie
France second row Jerome Thion under pressure in the lineout against England in Marseille
Monday August 20 2007
The manner of their 22-9 win in Marseille on Saturday night, coming just 48 hours after Brian O’Driscoll had been punched out of Ireland’s first match of the World Cup against Bayonne, will have deepened the furrows on O’Sullivan’s brow.
France, bracketed with Ireland and Argentina in a World Cup pool in which three into two won’t go, looked a significantly improved side.
They were disciplined, focused, quicker and cleverer than England. They had an extra yard or two of pace on their old foes and they looked slicker in possession, willing to try things and showing their potential behind the scrum with a re-vitalised Frederic Michalak back and sparking the threequarter line from outside-half.
Whether coach Bernard Laporte would risk the fragile Michalak in a World Cup semifinal is another matter. But here, he brought invention, the element of unpredictability and cunning to France’s attacking game. Against some leaden footed defending, he gave a sparkling show. England were comprehensively outplayed by the French, a stream of telling statistics revealing the story of the game.
France dominated territory 62 per cent to 38, they had by far the most possession with 58 per cent, and such was the strength of their game and their ability to play going forward for the most part, they forced England to make 122 tackles, against 74.
The sin-binning of lock Simon Shaw for a high tackle compounded England’s difficulties. While he was off, France scored 10 points.
Even England coach Brian Ashton put up his hands to acknowledge French excellence. “I thought the French forwards played better than last week at Twickenham” he said. “They gave the whole French side goforward ball, especially in broken play. France defended extremely well and a lot of the game we played on the back foot. We didn’t do well enough to win the game.”
Much of this should be a clear warning to O’Sullivan’s men. They must aim to match the French up front and turn pressure back onto their opponents by shrewd field positioning in their critical World Cup pool match against them in Paris.
- By Peter Bills
