Philippe Saint-André was this week eulogising the France scrum-half Morgan Parra, admiring the tactical nous of a player who, at the age of 26, was in his prime. Why then, a reporter asked the head coach of Les Bleus, had three other players worn the No9 jersey since Parra’s last start in Australia nine months ago?
“What is the plan, Philippe?” a headline the following day asked, looking towards Saturday’s match against Wales in Paris. Saint-André had announced five changes, two enforced, from the side that had lost in Dublin, a game that looked to have been beyond France until Parra replaced Rory Kockott. The head coach talked about making strategic choices such as the change of emphasis at scrum-half – Kockott was injured but would have been dropped – and the relegation of the centre Mathieu Bastareaud to the bench, with Rémi Lamerat partnering Wesley Fofana in midfield under orders to create.
Saint-André, perhaps conscious of how England had broken down Wales’s defence in Cardiff this month, does not see brute force as the way of delivering a first victory since 2011 over the men in red, who were vulnerable on the opening night when attackers looked to find ways of getting around the rush defence rather than vainly trying to go through it. Ben Youngs played a key role from scrum-half, often delaying passing the ball a fraction to assess his options and draw tacklers.
France dominated the second half of their matches against Scotland and Ireland in terms of possession and territory, not that it yielded them much in the way of points, as they brought some imposing forwards off the bench – the replacement tight-head prop Uini Atonio is only a few steaks off 25st. But the emphasis now seems on looking to move Wales around rather than trying to flatten them and use Bastareaud and his ilk with 20 minutes to go when opposition legs are tiring.
Wales have said all week they expect France to be more adventurous but a feature of the Saint-André era is that they have not often played with confidence or assurance, never mind elan. Their capitulation in Cardiff last year was not untypical and seven months before the start of the World Cup they are still trying to find themselves.
Perhaps it was ever thus. France were at their most dysfunctional in the last World Cup, losing to Tonga, staging some of the most bizarre media conferences in the professional era and fortunate to emerge from the group stage, yet they came within a favourable refereeing decision of beating the hosts, New Zealand, in the final having very nearly wasted an hour-long man advantage in the semi-final against Wales.
When he was the head coach of Toulon, Saint-André was happy to blow his president’s money on foreign players, a habit he has come to condemn as national coach. He has gone back to his old ways in one sense, if no longer armed with a cheque-book, capping players born overseas who have qualified on the grounds of residency and diluting the French way. Kockott seemed to be chosen ahead of Parra on a whim: the heartbeat of a club is different from that of a country and one of the reasons why Saint-André has come under pressure is that he has been unable to tap into the source that nourished him as a player. He has not harnessed what lies within his players.
A couple of weeks ago it was Wales who were under pressure to perform but an away victory buys time and, if Warren Gatland’s side lacked fluency at Murrayfield and were on the back foot at the end, Wales are a momentum team in the Six Nations: as it builds so they are harder to stop.
There was a time when they tended to save their worst for the French capital but they have a 50% record at the Stade de France and are on the trail of a fourth successive victory over Les Bleus, something they last achieved in the 1950s.
Wales’s game relies in part on set piece possession but the lineout malfunction against England was not properly repaired in Scotland. The hooker Richard Hibbard and the second-row Jake Ball have been dropped and the 6ft 9in lock, Luke Charteris, should be harder to miss. With George North fit again on the wing, Wales will look to get ball off the top for their imposing backs to get over the gainline.
North scored the winning try two years ago, prompting his father to run on to the pitch in celebration. North Sr will be sitting at the back of the stand on Saturday to see his son become, at 22, the youngest player to reach 50 caps (three were for the 2013 Lions) after recovering from two blows to the head he suffered against England.
Sam Warburton will equal Ryan Jones’s record of 33 matches as Wales captain and there is a settled feel to a side containing six players who are, or have been, based in France, with another, Mike Phillips, on the bench. Wales used to be fuelled by emotion but since Gatland became head coach they have become pragmatic and less prone to mood swings.
France have in years past been at their most dangerous when running on passion, possessing the skills to turn exuberance and adventure into profit. They have looked to emulate others, with no discernible benefit. Vive la différence, as they say somewhere.
Saint-André has told his players he expects them to communicate more during a match but direction has to come from the top. While Wales know where they are going, France have been like a driver whose sat-nav speaks in a foreign language. It is time for them to turn it off and trust their homing instinct; otherwise another defeat beckons.
