Le Crunch 2014: France vs England, Sat 1 Feb 5pm; RTE/BBC

thomond2006 · 30-01-2014 10:48am #1

France:
15 Brice Dulin, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Maxime Médard, 10 Jules Plisson, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain,
8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 Yannick Nyanga, 5 Pascal Papé (c), 4 Alexandre Flanquart, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Benjamin Kayser, 1 Thomas Domingo

Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Yannick Forestier, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Yoann Maestri, 20 Antoine Burban, 21 Damien Chouly, 22 Maxime Machenaud, 23 Gael Fickou

England:
15 Mike Brown, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Danny Care,
8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler

Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Dave Attwood, 20 Ben Morgan, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Brad Barritt, 23 Alex Goode

This is set to be a fascinating clash as an under pressure France host their Six Nations bogey opponent in England who have won the last three Six Nations encounters between the sides and the last six out of seven encounters, with France edging out England in 2010 in Paris to win the Grand Slam.

Much of the focus on France's lineup comes at 9 and 10, where Jean-Marc Doussain who many predicted to start at fly-half begins the match at scrum-half ahead of Racing's Maxime Machenaud. Stade Francais youngster Jules Plisson will make his first start for France in the pivotal position, a position where France have failed to find a 'main man' for the last few years.

A key man in the backline for France is Mathieu Bastereaud, who can be an asset or a liability. On a good day Basteraud is a tackling demon as we saw in the Heineken Cup Final and a player who can clean up possession or an attack that isn't looking threatening. On a bad day he can be laboured in possession and a worry from a French perspective surrounds a fear that attacks will die with him and a dangerous back three will be starved of space.

England's pack have routinely been able to match France's and relied on some individual brilliance in order to put them away a la Tom Croft's solo effort try in 2012. Without their tackling talisman Thierry Dusautoir, France will rely heavily on his replacement and Toulouse teammate Yannick Nyanga to impose himself in the tackle and rucks, allowing Louis Picamoles to focus on punching holes in possession. The fact that France have opted for a 6-2 split on the bench without a specialist back three replacement may point to where France fear England.

England's backline has an experimental look about it with Burrell, May and Nowell all making their Six Nations debuts. Stuart Lancaster has never been afraid to try new players since taking over in 2012 and he surely has one eye on the 2015 Rugby World Cup where the pressure to perform will be immense. Billy Vunipola is being hyped as a major prospect for the English side following the November Internationals and he will come up against a proven international in Louis Picamoles.

Prediction:

This represents the chance to get on the path of public redemption for France and Phillipe Saint-Andre. Another loss to England could spell doom for their wavering support, a win would restore confidence. Jules Plisson has done the business at club level and can offer a varied game to keep the English defence guessing. England's new look backline will be under pressure about a France three-quarters that has played a lot together. It should be a cracker. France by 5

.ak · 30-01-2014 10:53am

Draw

I still think England will win the championship, but I think they'll lose this game.

Tox56 · 30-01-2014 10:54am

thomond2006 wrote: »

England:
15 Mike Brown, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Danny Care,
8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler

Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Dave Attwood, 20 Ben Morgan, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Brad Barritt, 23 Alex Goode

A 6'3, 106 KG outside centre?! Maybe a sign that England won't be going for subtlety.. Will be interesting to see how May performs though

former legend · 30-01-2014 10:56am

Delighted to see Plisson start; first time I saw him was against Leinster in the Amlin and I was not impressed but he's come on massively.

And fair play to England for picking Nowell and May; serious gas on the wings, hopefully Farrell will actually get the ball out to them every now and again.

Could be a cracker; I'd go with France by 5 as well.

irishbucsfan · 30-01-2014 10:56am

Tox56 wrote: »

A 6'3, 106 KG outside centre?! Maybe a sign that England won't be going for subtlety.. Will be interesting to see how May performs though

I think it'd be more of an indication if they put him at 12 and someone more direct than Twelvetrees at 13. I. Think they'll play a pretty balanced game really.

.ak · 30-01-2014 10:57am

Draw

Yeah that's a backline not a lot of casual fans will be used to. The same could be said for the French halfbacks. Could be an exciting game.

ionadnapokot · 30-01-2014 11:15am

Draw

Not since the Famous five can i remember the last time three players were making their International debuts in a six nations game.
Burell at 13 though? Surely just there to stop the Bastareaud bosh. Cant see the English back 3 getting much ball.

ionadnapokot · 30-01-2014 11:20am

Draw

Slimani & Burban on the bench are also uncapped!

thomond2006 · 30-01-2014 11:23am

Draw

ionadnapokot wrote: »

Slimani & Burban on the bench are also uncapped!

Slimani is capped, he played in the Autumn.

sydthebeat · 30-01-2014 1:19pm

France

i think frances best hope for profit will come outside on quick ball, the back three of dulin, huget and medard are very dangerous, especially in open play. I only fear for the amount of quick clean ball they will get. PSA is getting them playing almost anti french style rugby and the combination of plisson and doussain are untried at this level.

England will play as much 10 man rugby as they can. what you see is what you get, they have stacked their pack with aggressive, bulky meat machines. i think in tom wood they could have a bolter for player of the championship. he makes the hard dirty yards from one out balls and puts in silly amount of tackles per game.

this is a very hard one to call, but as france frequently need time to warm up in a championship im going for england by one score (less than 5)

shuffol · 30-01-2014 1:31pm

Bastareaud vs Burrell should be interesting.

BoarHunter · 30-01-2014 1:39pm

Draw

sydthebeat wrote: »

i think frances best hope for profit will come outside on quick ball, the back three of dulin, huget and medard are very dangerous, especially in open play. I only fear for the amount of quick clean ball they will get. PSA is getting them playing almost anti french style rugby and the combination of plisson and doussain are untried at this level.

England will play as much 10 man rugby as they can. what you see is what you get, they have stacked their pack with aggressive, bulky meat machines. i think in tom wood they could have a bolter for player of the championship. he makes the hard dirty yards from one out balls and puts in silly amount of tackles per game.

this is a very hard one to call, but as france frequently need time to warm up in a championship im going for england by one score (less than 5)

I think you have the philosophy of this game. I'm hoping the aerial profile of the french pack will provide plenty of ball and turnovers for les bleus. Then I really think we will get the edge upfront from 60 min onwards when you see the benchs. That could well be the decider of this match.

PSA has three full back in his back 3 so we are in theory covered for the high ball and have also dangerous runners from behind.

If Plisson plays cleverly we should harvest a lot of ball in touch. Doussain and basta should be a threat on the close side and fix an extra defender or two to create some space out wide.

About the part in bold, France usually gather only 4-5 days before the first match of the tournament.... This year they had 2 weeks preparation so I believe they will be ready.

stephen_n · 30-01-2014 1:54pm

France

If France win this they could be real contenders, a confident French team that on paper has the personnel to win the tournament, if not a slam. If they lose this match though they could easily nosedive and end up the same as last year, going to be a tough battle up front, can't see there being more than a try in it either way.

sydthebeat · 30-01-2014 2:08pm

France

BoarHunter wrote: »

I think you have the philosophy of this game. I'm hoping the aerial profile of the french pack will provide plenty of ball and turnovers for les bleus. Then I really think we will get the edge upfront from 60 min onwards when you see the benchs. That could well be the decider of this match.

PSA has three full back in his back 3 so we are in theory covered for the high ball and have also dangerous runners from behind.

If Plisson plays cleverly we should harvest a lot of ball in touch. Doussain and basta should be a threat on the close side and fix an extra defender or two to create some space out wide.

About the part in bold, France usually gather only 4-5 days before the first match of the tournament.... This year they had 2 weeks preparation so I believe they will be ready.

hopefully they will, the championship would be at a loss if we had a dis-interested french team for the majority of it.

On the 3 full backs, i dont see farrell putting in much garryowens. i can see him playing my more stragetic kicking game kicking to corners and space rather than bombing for runners. England will keep things tight and will crash crash crash for most of the game.

france will need to be ruthless when the play breaks up though and hopefully we will see plisson pass a lot more than kicking, getting the ball wide as soon as possible.

Agreed that your bench is stronger than englands and hopefully you will have them run all over the pitch at 60mins stage.

My only fear is the lack of full cover across the line. any injury to your wings or full back will leave france out of shape and in trouble.

Grimebox · 30-01-2014 2:10pm

Draw

Paging English_Lurker...

iroced · 30-01-2014 2:43pm

Hard to know what to make of this French team. Despite the defeats there were some improvements in our game in the autumn games.

We go to the crunch with an uncapped 10. Difficult to know how he'll handle the pressure of the national jersey, especially for this very game at home and after maybe our worst ever rugby season. Expectations are huge around him. Too huge IMO...

I can't cope with the idea of only having 2 subs for the backs. Also no outside backs subs. As BoarHunter said we also go to this game with no "real" winger. That tells you what kind of game PSA is willing to play...

... Which brings me to the idea that PSA is living in the past. He obviously wants to win this game from the forwards. He built the bench for that and seems to have the backs set up for counterattacking more than holding possession of the ball and developping a passing game. Lancaster's England though has shown a hell of a lot more flair than Les Bleus over the last 2 years. They're not anymore the clichéd machine destroying you forward, leaving you the possesion of the ball and waiting for your mistakes to kick penalties.

Anyway, the players will be more than fired up for this. This is an absolutely must-win game for us. A home defeat against our nemesis would already end our Tournament...

BoarHunter · 30-01-2014 2:56pm

Draw

I think the team is built to compete heavily in the set piece and get as much ball as possible. Counter the English touch and annoy their pick n go game.
Although Medard and Huget are no beginners on the wing. We have great runners out wide with Dulin, Medard, Fofana. If they can get the ball from the more impacting players like Huget, Bastareaud or Doussain and insure a continuity this can be very efficient. I would have liked to see Burban starting but this line up makes sense to me. The aim is to finish stronger upfront so the bench is designed for this..

iroced · 30-01-2014 4:22pm

Yeah that makes sense. In fairness PSA explanations in his press conference make sense too.

I'm questioning though the fact that we go into this game with plan A only. There's no plan B. There can't be any plan B.

the perfect ten · 30-01-2014 4:45pm

If England do win this match then they have to be favourites for the Championship given that they will us both Wales and ourselves in Twickenham.

With such a young 9/10 combination it is very important for France to get off to a good start.

Allez Les Bleues!!

Swiwi. · 30-01-2014 4:57pm

Draw

I hope France go well. Another insipid 6N from France really makes the tournament less enjoyable. The 6N has the asset of contrasting styles, but bland and ineffective should not be the French contribution.

ionadnapokot · 30-01-2014 7:04pm

Draw

it would be better for Ireland if France lost. The English have crumbled a number of times when on the grand slam trail. Ireland would have a better chance of beating England in Twickenham, then trying to beat a rejuvenated French team still in the championship hunt in the last game.
Ireland do not win in Paris. The last time it took a certain somebody to score a hat trick to change that.

OldRio · 30-01-2014 7:55pm

Useless fact of the day.
Luther Burrell played 7's for the West Indies.

sydthebeat · 30-01-2014 8:36pm

France

OldRio wrote: »

Useless fact of the day.
Luther Burrell played 7's for the West Indies.

Listening to live 5?

OldRio · 30-01-2014 8:39pm

sydthebeat wrote: »

Listening to live 5?

You got me:D

smurfjed · 31-01-2014 11:03am

Yahoo... just got assigned a flight to Paris tomorrow and then succeeded in getting a ticket for the game..... This should be fun.

Grimebox · 31-01-2014 1:22pm

Draw

Where do I go to get assigned a flight to paris?!

smurfjed · 31-01-2014 1:31pm

Where do I go to get assigned a flight to paris?!

Into the front of one of these

Ardillaun · 31-01-2014 1:42pm

Draw

I saw somewhere that Flanquart is 20 kg lighter than Maestri? Anyway, a lot lighter. That's quite the change to make against an English pack.

sydthebeat · 31-01-2014 1:53pm

France

Ardillaun wrote: »

I saw somewhere that Flanquart is 20 kg lighter than Maestri? Anyway, a lot lighter. That's quite the change to make against an English pack.

Yeah he's quite light for a second row. Vahaamahina is over 20 kg heavier than him as well.

thomond2006 · 31-01-2014 2:13pm

Draw

Notwithstanding the fact that I have a bet on him to be top tryscorer, I hope Brice Dulin really pushes on this year. He missed last year's Six Nations through injury and has the in form Hugo Bonneval in competition for the 15 jersey.

01-02-2014 12:22pm

Draw

Surprised how quiet it's gotten.

....eerily quiet.

Rightwing · 01-02-2014 12:35pm

19543261 wrote: »

Surprised how quiet it's gotten.

....eerily quiet.

Yeah, traditionally this is the big match of the tournament, a win here for France will really set them up for the whole tournament.

stephen_n · 01-02-2014 1:02pm

France

In all honesty the England Wales and to a lesser extent probably the England Ireland games, will be more pivotal this year, though having said that, if France win, it could set them up for a good tournament.

thomond2006 · 01-02-2014 4:48pm

Draw

Allez la France!

thomond2006 · 01-02-2014 4:51pm

Draw

Bastereaud: A black John Hayes :pac:

Fireball07 · 01-02-2014 4:51pm

"Bastareaud is a black John Hayes"

I love ROG.

dastardly00 · 01-02-2014 4:52pm

I'm in stitches laughing at ROG's comparison

andymx11 · 01-02-2014 4:52pm

Draw

thomond2006 wrote: »

Bastereaud: A black John Hayes :pac:

What a moment. I love live tv!

Mahatma Geansai · 01-02-2014 4:53pm

ROG is a very good analyst. Replace Hook's throwaway comments with Flannery's and we could have a very insightful and entertaining panel.

Absoluvely · 01-02-2014 4:54pm

Prediction: France 34 - 17 England

Swiwi. · 01-02-2014 4:58pm

Draw

Good luck English Lurker...but I hope France smash you all the same! Aside from seeing how France go, I'll be intrigued to see if the English background can work any magic.