Benjamin Kayser claims England are “static” and France have a golden opportunity to end their miserable run at Twickenham.
The Grand Slam-chasing French last won a Six Nations match in London 16 years ago and their recent momentum has been stalled by a Covid outbreak sidelining them for a month.
But former Les Bleus star Kayser backs the visitors to shrug off internal discord over where the virus blame lies and avenge last October's Nations Cup final defeat to Eddie Jones’ team.
“In the French mentality what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” said the BBC pundit. “We will feed off any adversity, any story.
“A French camp that is completely storm-less and doesn’t have a little bit of fire in it worries me more than when there is fire in the week.
“As long as they stick tight together and are ready to perform, as long as there is nothing broken between coach Fabien Galthie and his staff and players, it’s ideal.”
France have lost the last eight editions of Le Crunch at Twickenham, but Kayser says: “England are static at the moment. They’re not showing any improvement.
“France are the team on form, the team on the rise. They have got all their guys back and they are hungry.
“With people dreading that another lockdown in France may be on the way, they are leading by example in putting a smile on faces. They are the nation’s rainbow at the moment, our little ray of sunshine.
“But, and it is a big but, England were World Cup finalists. Never forget that if they wake up they will be a serious, serious side. And there’s never a better time to wake up than against your historical enemy.
“If these guys switch back to the levels they hit in Japan it’ll make for fireworks. France have to give respect to how good England used to be, can be and I’m sure will be soon.”
Watch the Six Nations Scotland v Ireland game on BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Sunday 14 March from 2.20pm
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