Break the French rhythm

IN the early 1980s I had the pleasure of playing two seasons with Bagneres in the French Championship. Pierre Villepreux was the coach of the Toulouse side. His assistant was the current French coach, Jean Claude Skrela, who also played. Between them they laid the foundations which have since made Toulouse the dominant club in a very competitive French championship. Their philosophy has always been based on "total rugby", with the entire team required to run with the ball, pass and support.

They also demand that the game be played at a great pace, and endeavour to create momentum from kick offs, scrums and line outs. They were the chief critics of the Fouroux approach, which, although it brought much success to the French, was not always to the liking of their supporters, based as it was on the physical domination of the opposition by a monstrous pack, with little flair or risk.

Both Villepreux and Skrela made their views known at that time and consequently fell out of favour with the establishment, in particular, with the president of the French Federation, Albert Ferasse. It was said at that time that neither would ever be involved with a French team, and indeed when Villepreux helped the English side with their back play some years ago, such strong "words as "traitor" were used by prominent members of the federation.

The wheel has turned full circle and now they are in charge of the French team and Fouroux is persona non grata. There is no doubt that Skrela is largely responsible for the introduction of Villepreux to the coaching panel. Their relationship has always been extremely close and many of Skrela's views were formed under the tutelage of his former coach and colleague.

The side which they have picked to play Ireland is definitely geared for attack. Sadourny is one of the most exciting full backs in the world, who will always be remembered for the famous try, which won the test against the All Blacks in New Zealand. N'tamack did terrible damage to Ireland in Dublin two years ago, and even though he has not been fully fit recently presents a huge threat.

The new winger, Venditte, has played a major part in the campaign to win the European Championship by his club Brive. He is, by all accounts, extremely quick. Castaignede, in the centre, is an extremely good footballer. There must be a question, however, over his defence.

Penaud has had a mixed relationship with the French selectors, but his liking for the running game has probably earned him his selection.

The selection of, Galthie at scrum half is interesting. He is big and strong and was a quality sprinter before concentrating on rugby. Although he has been out of favour for some time, he plays his club rugby with Colomiers, where Skrela coached prior to taking on the French job. It is well known that the French game plan is generally orchestrated by the scrum half. Skrela probably feels that his ideas and plans will be best executed by Galthie.

Their pack is big and mobile. They have a strong scrummaging front row who also run well with the ball. They have avoided the temptation to leave out Merle for a more mobile second row, but the French have always had a great belief that the second row represents the hard core of the team and that is usually where their, toughest elements are to be found.

The most interesting selection is that of Benazzi at blind side. This is, I think, an indication that they intend to run the back row at the Irish defence. He is an extremely, powerful runner, who I know dislikes the limitations that playing in the second row puts on his running game.

There is no doubt that their scrum will be solid, they should win their line out ball, but it will be in mauls and the loose that they will present the greatest test to their counterparts.

It is not unusual for an Irish team to go into the first match of the Championship following a string of defects. It has happened in the past and Irish teams have, bounced back to surprise everybody. I do have great sympathy, however, for the players, to find themselves without their coach less than two weeks before the game. Brian Ashton has a tremendous reputation, but for this game he is dealing with a side in whose selection he could not have had much influence.

There has been mention of resurrecting the passion in the Irish side. I do not think that this will present much difficulty, but the game has changed somewhat in that passion, while an essential ingredient, does not of itself win matches anymore. We have nothing to fear from the French in regard to our scrum, and we will certainly get our own line out ball with probably a slight edge in this area.

However, the big question for the Irish side will be what to do with the ball that we do get, because so far this season that has been the problem. I do not have any difficulty with the Irish team conceding 30 points provided they score more than that themselves. In the wake of recent defects, the selectors seem to have decided to batten down the hatches and improve our defence, whereas in reality our greatest failing is that we were not scoring ourselves when we have the ball.

I have no doubt that early on there will be a fair amount of up and unders from both Irish halfbacks, but there has to be more to our game plan than that. I think we should concentrate our attack on the French midfield at every opportunity. We should also try to play a rucking game against them, because they do not have a recognised ground player in their back row. French players do not like being on the ground for two reasons. As anyone who has played French rugby will tell you, it is not a very safe place to be, and secondly you are out of the game for too long.

Den is McBride, however, is an excellent ground player, who with his colleagues may have an edge in this area. I think there is little to be gained by driving at the French forwards close to rucks and mauls, and indeed the more we can move the French pack around, the better.

Eric Elwood has had an excellent season to date and is capable of far more than he has been given credit for recently. I believe he is the right man for the job and should have been there from the start of the season. He is certainly the best defensive number 10 we have, and, given the opportunity, can show that his attacking game has expanded enormously from when he first wore the green jersey. His half back colleague, Niall Hogan, will also want to prove that his return to the team is not temporary.

There is no doubt that there is a huge task facing the Irish side. I think the match will be very close for about an hour and the result will largely depend on the performance of both sides in the last 20 minutes. The Irish side should take comfort from the fact that the French have always been slow starters in the Championship and everyone prefers to get them in the first game, away from home.

The Toulouse team are perhaps a microcosm of the French side. They can be brilliant at home, as Munster learned when they were hammered in the European Cup, but terrible away from home, as they showed when being beaten by Leicester and, more particularly, when embarrassed by Wasps.

The one weakness that I would suggest there is in the Skrela/ Villepreux method is that the players are possibly over coached in their routines. If Ireland can upset their rhythm the machine might simply never get going. We do not want to kick the ball to touch, except from penalties when we are sure that the throw is ours.

Therefore, we have to run at them, again and again, or kick to spaces, forcing them to find the touch. Loose kicking will be punished by the French, as will any failure to chase in numbers. Overall, the Irish have nothing to lose. The sweetest surprises are the least expected.

(In an interview with Johnny Watterson)

. Former South African captain Francois Pienaar's hopes of playing for England have all but been dashed by a new eligibility ruling announced by the International, Board yesterday.