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I watched a lot of rugby living in Paris, and saw some fine club games, and, now and then, some great performances from the national rugby team, also called Les Tricolores and sometimes Les Glandeurs (lazy good-for-nothings) by the French tragics.
And that was the politest of the nicknames!
I came to regard the French team as somewhat akin to the bread I’d buy every day at our local bakery in Porte de la Chapelle. When the owner baked a baguette, it had a crunchy crust and a perfect, chewy middle.
But when the owner was drunk, which was often, the assistant baked and the result was a saggy crust with a mushy middle.
You never knew which loaf you’d get until you arrived at the bakery. Which is why Les Bleus remind me of bread from that bakery – you didn’t know what the team was going to be like until you got to the stadium.
We’d all stand and sing La Marseillaise, which gives a dire warning of fearsome soldiers coming to cut throats, and exhorts the citizens of France to rise up and spill impure blood.
I always took that to mean the foreign opposition planned to go for our team’s jugular, and in response our team was to punch noses.
It was always a stirring moment, and with an anthem like that we’d all see nothing but victory ahead. Then the game would begin and we’d quickly find out whether the owner or the assistant was in charge.
Sometimes the team was crisp and crunchy, other times soggy in the middle. And I never met anybody in France who could explain why.
On Saturday, the French play Ireland in Dublin. We know their names and we know where they’re playing. What we don’t know is what kind of baguettes they’ll be taking to Lansdowne Road.
Here’s the team that’s due to start:
15. Clement Poitrenaud
14. Yoann Huget
13. Aurelien Rougerie
12. Damien Traille
11. Maxime Medard
10. Francois Trinh-Duc
9. Morgan Parra
1. Thomas Domingo
2. William Servat
3. Nicolas Mas
4. Julien Pierre
5. Lionel Nallet
6. Thierry Dusautoir (capt)
7. Julien Bonnaire
8. Imanol Harinordoquy.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.