Fixtures
Sat 19 Sep France v Italy, Twickenham Stadium, 8pm
Wed 23 Sep France v Romania, Olympic Stadium, 8pm
Thur 1 Oct France v Canada, Stadium MK, 8pm
Sun 11 Oct France v Ireland, Millennium Stadium 4.45pm
Odds to win World Cup
16/1
Coach
Philippe Saint-André
Captain
Thierry Dusautoir
“The problem is we’re French,” said Morgan Parra after the 25-20 win over England in last month’s warm-up match in Paris. The scrum-half was offering an explanation as to why France had performed so much better in that game than in the previous encounter and could not be relied on to perform at the same level in the next one. The French are all too aware of their inconsistency.
They are sadly conscious, too, of another truism. For France, flair has gone the way of flares, consigned mostly to the past. Professionalism, and the accompanying defensive rigour and gigantism, has left French imagination mangled at the bottom of a ruck. This is why many France fans approach the World Cup with a sense of sadness, as well as pessimism. But hope has not been abandoned completely.
Philippe Saint-André’s record as the head coach is woeful. He took over a team who had reached the World Cup final – albeit an unhappy and somewhat chaotic one riven by in-fighting – and in four campaigns has failed to inspire a finish higher than fourth in the Six Nations. Remarkable really. Bad results have been aggravated by ugly performances and the lack of any clear uplifting identity.
Saint-André, who will be succeeded by Guy Novès after the World Cup, has been insisting for a while he could still finish his reign on a high if given adequate time to prepare players who are relatively young and inexperienced at international level, to embed a more enterprising style and foster cohesion. He has been given that for this World Cup, with the squad being together for the best part of two months. But it would be quite a gamble to bet on his prophesy being fulfilled.
Age 28 Caps 40
Position Wing
Height 6ft 3in Weight 14st 8lb
Debut v Argentina, Montpellier, 20 Nov 2010
Points 35 Tries 7 Photograph: Christophe Ena/AP
The last warm-up match against Scotland, although it ended in victory, made it clear why Parra had not got carried away with the impressive win over England the previous week, as France were so sloppy, unconvincing and indisciplined that L’Equipe lamented “intense mediocrity” under the headline “a great leap backwards”. It would be easy to make light of that mess by saying it was just a case of players wanting to avoid injury so close to the start of the tournament but the fact such displays have been so common in recent years raised fears no progress has really been made, despite earlier signs of improvement.
There are, at least, some certainties about France. Most obviously they have monstrous power, especially in the pack where they dominated England. At No8 Louis Picamoles is as destructive going forward as he is solid in defence but some spots are still up for grabs – captain Thierry Dusautoir, though, has not yet made an altogether compelling case for returning straight to the starting line-up after his long absence with a knee injury.
While France can squash or bash even the best teams, they have found penetration difficult. The Toulouse wing Yoann Huget is their most consistently cutting runner, which is why France were relieved with he escaped a lengthy ban for stamping on Bordeaux’s Jandré Marais in the Top 14 in May. Noa Nakaitaci, the Fiji-born Clermont Auvergne winger, is also capable of brilliance but has been error-prone. Elsewhere in the backs magic is all too rare, especially with Wesley Fofana seemingly out of form. The centre Mathieu Basteraud can make gains thanks to his formidable strength but often lacks the finesse to exploit openings fully.
After seemingly endless chopping and changing at half-back Saint-André looks set to place his trust in a Toulon tandem at fly-half and scrum-half, with Frédéric Michalak being served by Sébastien Tillous-Borde. Although the latter’s kicking sometimes lapses into uselessness he is generally an efficient provider but lacks the unpredictability of Parra, who could still play an important role in the competition, whether off the bench or as a starter.
Michalak, now 32 and at his first World Cup since 2007, is capable of ingenuity but remains inconsistent for France, though defensively he has become admirably sound. His kicking is generally reliable and for shots that are beyond his range France could turn to Scott Spedding, the South Africa-born Clermont full-back. His mighty boot could prove a valuable asset for a team that struggles to score tries.
In the absence of convincing evidence that this side have gelled, no one is quite sure what to expect from France. While most people envisage Pool D being decided by the last match – France v Ireland in Cardiff – with the winner likely to avoid a quarter-final against New Zealand, it is not entirely unthinkable that France could lose their opening game against Italy, although the latter will be missing their injured talisman Sergio Parisse. By the same token, France could beat the All Blacks in the quarter-finals if required – some may even say they would rather face the All Blacks than their bete noire, Argentina.
France’s 31-man World Cup squad
Props Uini Atonio (La Rochelle), Eddy Ben Arous (Racing Métro), Vincent Debaty (Clermont), Nicolas Mas (Montpellier), Rabah Slimani (Stade Français).
Hookers Guilhem Guirado (Toulon), Benjamin Kayser (Clermont), Dimitri Szarzewski (Racing Métro).
Locks Alexandre Flanquart (Stade Français), Yoann Maestri (Toulouse), Pascal Papé (Stade Français).
Back-rows Damien Chouly (Clermont), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse, capt), Bernard Le Roux (Racing Métro), Yannick Nyanga (Toulouse), Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse).
Backs Rory Kockott (Castres), Morgan Parra (Clermont), Sébastien Tillous-Borde (Toulon).
Fly-halves Frédéric Michalak (Toulon), Rémi Talès (Racing Métro).
Centres Mathieu Bastareaud (Toulon), Alexandre Dumoulin (Racing Métro), Gaël Fickou (Toulouse), Wesley Fofana (Clermont).
Wings Sofiane Guitoune (Bordeaux-Begles), Yoann Huget (Toulouse), Noa Nakaitaci (Clermont).
Full-backs Brice Dulin (Racing Métro), Scott Spedding (Clermont)
