French forward pack to take it to the Scots

France’s forward pack is planning to give Scotland a torrid time in their opening World Cup match at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.

Les Tricolores coach John Monie said the French would not be taking the Bravehearts lightly despite being strong favourites.

“We’ve got a pretty good, big pack and they’re very mobile,” Monie said.

“If there’s opportunities down the middle, we’ve got players that are good enough to take those opportunities.”

For both teams it’s a rare opportunity to play international football in front of a crowd accustomed to league rather than the round-ball game.

French skipper Jerome Guisset said the return of the World Cup was vitally important for the fringe of the code’s international community.

“There hasn’t been a World Cup for eight years. It’s as big as you can get,” Guisset said.

“We’ve got a few Aussie boys in the team so they know what to expect, but we’re playing against guys who were used to playing in the regular season so we’re expecting a tough game,” Guisset said.

The captain didn’t seem to think there was any problem with motivation but Monie admitted to being less than impressed with the squad when it arrived in Canberra from a training camp in Queensland.

“I thought they were a little bit flat when we first came down,” he said.

“I had to raise my voice a little bit and get up a couple of players.”

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