Liberated Howley set to test France

It is time for the real France to stand up today in Cardiff (kick-off, 4.0) and, in the view of the Welsh supporters, high time for Rob Howley to stand on its head the strait-jacketed approach that captaincy seemed to impose on his scrum-half play last year.

France may have made the World Cup final but they have really played only 40 minutes of rugby in the past year. Admittedly it was some half and some rugby, overturning a 24-10 deficit against New Zealand in the World Cup semi-final, but a few months earlier they had slipped to a wretched defeat against Tonga after collecting the last Five Nations wooden spoon.

They were a team in turmoil last year. The regime of JeanClaude Skrela and Pierre Villepreux, which gave the players a great deal of freedom on and off the pitch, degenerated amid claims of excess.

Their Southern Hemisphere tour last summer was treated as a holiday by many players, according to the then captain Raphael Ibanez, while France's World Cup campaign was marred by accusations of violence, in particular eye-gouging.

"There is more harmony in the squad now than there was last year," said Thomas Castaignede, the out-half who will be at full back today.

"The players are more focused. France can be very good or very bad but I think you will see a lot more of the former now."

The arrival of Bernard Laporte as coach after Skrela's resignation has concentrated minds. The 35-year-old, who is often called the Kaiser - though not by his players, says Castaignede, as "it is a more emotive word in France than in England" - and guided Stade Francais from the third division to the French championship, has a reputation as a disciplinarian.

With the sin-bin making its championship debut today, and an English referee for good measure, France will need to be more disciplined than ever if they are not to find themselves regularly at a one-man disadvantage.

"Rugby is about conviction," Laporte said. "I have a burning desire inside me to teach what is true. Rugby is my life. We are in this tournament to win it but each country is capable of beating any other.

"We have to get our game right. It has been said we have deliberately chosen a big pack but I have merely picked the best players in their positions. Size is not an issue and anyway Wales have a good scrum.

"It is about imposing our gameplan on them and maintaining our discipline. We have to live up to the fact that we made the World Cup final."

Wales also have something to prove. Their 10-game winning streak flattered to deceive last summer when they lost against Samoa and Australia in successive World Cup games. Here, the loss of Scott Gibbs will weaken their midfield and the absence of Craig Quinnell will detract from their scrum and lineout defence.

Wales won several matches last year by narrow margins, thanks to Neil Jenkins's boot. But there was a price: Howley became unrecognisable as the player who had won his first cap four years earlier.

With the law changes set to increase the time the ball is in play, Wales must show more imagination behind the pack and utilise the counter-attacking instincts of their full back Shane Howarth. Above all, perhaps, they need to see the real, newly-liberated, Howley.

And the scrum-half star has predicted potentially dire consequences if Wales allow France any leeway.

"We have to meet the challenge head-on, or we won't have a chance," he said.

"We must be organised and cannot show any naivety, and when we've got the ball, we have to be controlled and disciplined in everything we do."

While Howley's fellow Lion David Young will deliver the final team lecture, Wales are looking for arguably their best player to do his talking on the pitch.

It was why Wales coach Graham Henry took what he called the captaincy "burden" away from him, despite Howley masterminding an impressive 15 wins from 22 Tests as leader. And given Henry's extraordinary ability to get most decisions spot-on, it will be no surprise if Howley runs the Millennium Stadium show this afternoon.

WALES: S Howarth (Newport); G Thomas (Cardiff), M Taylor (Swansea), J Jones- Hughes (Newport), D James (Llanelli); N Jenkins (Cardiff), R Howley (Cardiff); P Rogers (Newport), G Jenkins (Swansea), D Young (Cardiff, capt), I Gough (Pontypridd), C Wyatt (Llanelli), C Charvis (Swansea), B Sinkinson (Neath), S Quinnell (Llanelli). Replacements: S Williams (Neath), S Jones (Llanelli), R Smith (Ebbw Vale), G Lewis (Pontypridd), M Voyle (Cardiff), S John (Cardiff), B Williams (Bristol).

FRANCE: T Castaignede (Castres); E Ntamack (Toulouse), T Lombard (Stade Francais), R Dourthe (Dax), C Dominici (Stade Francais); C Lamaison (Brive), F Galthie (Colomiers); C Califano (Toulouse), M Dal Maso (Colomiers), F Tournaire (Toulouse), L Matiu (Biarritz), O Brouzet (Begles-Bordeaux), A Benazzi (Agen), O Magne (Montferrand), F Pelous (Toulouse, capt). Replacements: D Venditti (Brive), A Penaud (Toulouse), C Laussucq (Stade Francais), S Betsen (Biarritz), T Lievremont (Perpignan), P De Villiers (Stade Francais), R Ibanez (Perpignan).

Referee: C White (England).