THE DAILY sports paper in France yesterday had a despairing, resigned plea as it ruminated on the latest of a series of left-field selections by the national coach, Marc Lievremont, for tonight’s match against the champions, Wales, at the Stade de France. ‘Help’ marked the end of a headline that questioned the wisdom of going into a defining game without a specialist outside-half or proven goal-kicker.

Help to counter the threat of a Wales team which has come to resemble France sides of yore, capable of combining beauty with brawn, or the increasingly erratic selections of Lievremont who, despite only being in charge of Les Bleus for 13 months, is already on his ninth set of half-backs?

“We feel the pressure from the media,” said the scrumhalf, Morgan Parra, who made his debut against England a year ago. “Nobody is expecting anything from us so we might just produce the performance of the tournament.”

It was not that long ago that Wales hoped while France expected, but the roles have been reversed and Les Bleus have come to resemble a large firework that flickers and fizzles before going phut at the expected moment of detonation.

Yet opponents remain braced for the explosion. “You never know with the French,” said the Wales outhalf, Stephen Jones. “If we played France every week our analysts would be out of a job, there would be no point in studying a side that is so different from one match to the next both in its composition and its style of play.”

Only six of France’s side started the opening two championship matches and injuries have not helped Lievremont. France have never been more dangerous than when their obituary has been posted nor Wales more vulnerable when burdened with expectation, but the Welsh have been favourites in their victories over Scotland and England without discomfort, even if there were periods when they surrendered the initiative.

Wales have missed the balance Gavin Henson brings to their midfield, together with the pick-pocketing skills of the outhalf, James Hook, who remained on the bench against England, but they are harder-nosed than the team which staged a spirited second-half revival at the Stade de France four years ago on the way to a first Grand Slam since the 1970s.

If Lievremont has been a fret of indecision, his Wales opposite number, Warren Gatland, has been driven as if by destiny. He inherited a talented group of players capable of being both sublime and shocking. They responded to his regimen of discipline and selflessness but the self-destructive qualities re-emerged after the victory over England when some players went bar-hopping in Cardiff.

Tonight marks a critical stage in Gatland’s reign. Wales may have risen to fourth in the world rankings, but if they are to threaten the top three they need to show they can operate on a looser rein. While they proved they can now win an arm-wrestle with a physical side like England, there were disconcerting signs for Gatland that day, such as his players’ failure to respond to the deployment of a flanker, Joe Worsley, on a man-to-man detail on the giant centre, Jamie Roberts.

It was only after the half-time team talk that Wales moved Roberts one out to stretch Worsley and he gave his marker the slip. “We feel we have the ability to play any game we want to, from exciting to grinding,” said Gatland. The excitement is mostly confined to the bench where Hook, Henson and Dwayne Peel will tonight lurk, although Shane Williams will make a difference after returning from injury.

“I will be labelled either a genius or a fool,” said Lievremont about his team choices. In the words of the song: “You’re either standing in the shoes of a genius or a fool; one is talking Einstein, the other is clearly babble.”

Venue:Stade de France Kick-off:8pm TV: RTÉ 2, BBC2

Guardian Service

France v Wales

Maxime Medard (Toulouse)

Julien Malzieu (Clermont)

Mathieu Bastareaud (St Francais) Yannick Jauzion (Toulouse)

Cedric Heymans (Toulouse)

Benoit Baby (Clermont)

Morgan Parra (Bourgoin)

Fabien Barcella (Biarritz)

Dmitri Szarzewski (St Francais)

Sylvain Marconnet (St Francais)

Lionel Nallet (Castres) capt

Sebastien Chabal (Sale Sharks)

Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse)

Fulgence Ouedraogo (Montpellier)

Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz)

Replacements:Benjamin Kayser (Leicester), Thomas Domingo (Clermont), Romain Millo- Chluski (Toulouse), Louis Picamoles (Montpellier), Sebastien Tillous-Borde (Castres), Francois Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Clement Poitrenaud (Toulouse).

Lee Byrne (Ospreys)

Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues)

Tom Shanklin (Cardiff Blues)

Jamie Roberts (Cardif Blues)

Shane Williams (Ospreys)

Stephen Jones (Scarlets)

Michael Phillips (Ospreys)

Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues)

Matthew Rees (Scarlets)

Adam Jones (Ospreys)

Ian Gough (Ospreys)

Alun-Wyn Jones (Ospreys)

Ryan Jones (Ospreys) capt

Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues)

Andy Powell (Cardiff Blues)

Replacements:Huw Bennett (Ospreys), John Yapp (Cardiff Blues), Luke Charteris (Newport Gwent Dragons), Dafydd Jones (Scarlets), Dwayne Peel (Sale Sharks), James Hook (Ospreys), Gavin Henson (Ospreys).

Referee:Mark Lawrence (South Africa).