France win but fail to impress

IF there were smiles in the French changing rooms after the game at the Parc des Princes on Saturday, they were short lived as the tricolors gradually learnt of the score from Dublin. And of the gap which now separates them from England as possible contenders for the Five Nations crown.

Laurent Leflamand, the winger from Bourgoin who was called in last week to replace the injured Emile Ntamack, was, nevertheless, content to savour victory and bathe in the temporary glory of scoring two fries in his second international for France. Puffing on the inevitable cigarette, he acknowledged that France had more than their share of luck and that his second fry in particular, which took France to 27-17 with 15 minutes to play, was one of the great swindles of all time.

"It wasn't exactly the sort of fry a wing three quarter dreams of. Almost everything went wrong. First, there was a missed drop goal, then a lucky bounce to beat the Welsh fullback, followed by a pass that went behind me. I thought it was forward but the referee was waving his hands, saying to play on, so I turned, picked it up and went over to score.

The 29 year old, who only won his first cap against South Africa last November, wept openly, his face contorted with passion during the singing of La Marseilles before kick off.

With Ntamack still unavailable in two weeks time, the flammable Leflamand is certain to find himself in even more nerve racking circumstances at Twickenham. Especially as, with the shoulder injury to Richard Dourthe necessitating at least six weeks' rest, the French line up will be even further weakened against England. Going on Saturday's performance, however, the prime concern for coaches Jean Claude Skreln and Pierre Villeprux must be to tighten up their defence and eliminate the incessant errors and poor ball conservation which are preventing the French from generating any real continuity in their game.

The Welsh centres repeatedly punched holes in the French defence, while Gareth Thomas's first half fry from a five metre scrum showed an alarming defensive naivety and lack of organisation around the scrum.

More important still, despite all their good intentions, the French are, as yet, incapable of putting into practice the ambitious game plan proposed by Villeprux. They looked clumsy and, at times, inept in their handling of the ball. And even though there were occasionally promising passages of high speed close interpassing, their ability to stretch a defensive alignment as robust as England looks decidedly limited.

"I thought the game was interesting because both teams had the manifest intention and desire to create play," says Villepreux. "But, if you are asking whether we are able to realise efficiently our objectives, the answer is non!" For Villeprux, however, who only a couple of years ago was regularly called upon to advise the English XV, there is no turning back and the numerous handling errors resulting in turnovers are more a problem of poor team work and sloppy support play than of individual technique.

"The players are still frying to adapt to a new style of game and it is only once they have totally assimilated it mentally that things will begin to fall into place. Just because we weren't impressive against Wales, does not mean we are going to stop there."