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Six Nations 2014 preview: France

The French take on England in the City of Light. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Roar Guru
8th January, 2014
14

Ahead of the 2014 Six Nations tournament which kicks off on February 14, here is the first of a country-by-country breakdown of each team, beginning with 2013 wooden-spooners France.

France
2013 Six Nations finish: Sixth
Head coach: Philippe Saint-Andre
Captain: Thierry Dusautoir

2013 has certainly been a year France would rather consign to the dustbin, notably the Six Nations.

They lost to Italy in Rome, were defeated by the Welsh and English, struggled to draw against Ireland in Dublin and had to beat Scotland in Paris to avoid the ignominy of being awarded the wooden spoon only to finish bottom anyway.

To make things worse, the summer tour of New Zealand yielded three defeats from three games. In the autumn internationals they managed to beat Tonga but narrowly lost to New Zealand and South Africa.

Moreover, in the domestic scene the French clubs have certainly been devious.

It seemed as if the French clubs in the Top 14 led by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR for short) had agreed with the English to break from the ERC who govern and administrate the Heineken Cup and form their own competition next season – the Rugby Champions Cup.

However, the president of LNR Paul Goze broke ranks with the English and agreed to compete in next season’s Heineken Cup much to the furore of the English and Welsh.

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In addition, Goze’s reasons for breaking rank were certainly galling for the English to stomach.

“The Rugby Champions Cup was not an end in itself, but a means to achieve progress on issues such as meritocracy, financial distribution and governance,” he explained.

“We succeeded in the first two, but governance will take a bit longer. It was a case of being pragmatic and we think we can achieve what we want in another way.

“We want a different structure to run the game, federation style, as happens in football, and we have more than a year to sort it out.”

With the French clubs destined to stay within the ERC they can look to the national game to try and enlist the same sort of cunning Goze used.

When looking at France’s 30 man preliminary training squad you can see Philippe Saint-Andre is looking to inject young talent, as he uses the Six Nations to see what players are raising their hand to be in that World Cup squad come 2015.

Among the 30 man squad are players that came in after their disastrous Six Nations squad for the summer tour to New Zealand and their end-of-year Tests – Perpignan winger Sofiane Guitoune, Castres duo Remi Tales and Brice Dulin (Dulin is Racing Metro bound next season) along with the Stade Francais forwards Rabah Slimani and Alexandre Flanquart.

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However, Saint-Andre brought in four uncapped players to his squad, with 3 of them coming from Stade Francais who are having a barnstorming season in the Top 14 since moving into their new stadium the Stade Jean-Bouin.

Those three players; fly half Jules Plisson, full-back Hugo Bonneval and flanker Antoine Burban have been part of their good season with Saint-Andre rewarding them with a place in his 30 man squad.

The fourth uncapped player is Castres full back Geoffrey Palis who has been in decent form.

The inclusion of Jules Plisson is certainly a surprise, as he was favoured over Francois Trinh-Duc and Frederic Michalak – though Michalak’s lack of playing time hurt his chances.

Though Remi Tales is likely to be France’s first choice it is possible Plisson could get some playing time in the Six Nations, especially with Camille Lopez out for the rest of the season.

Plisson has played well for Stade Francais and shows when you are the club’s first choice fly half ahead of Morne Steyn.

This year’s Six Nations is certainly a chance for players to cement their place in the squad especially as France has a lengthy injury list.

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Morgan Parra’s knee injury that he suffered against the Springboks will keep him out for at least half of France’s Six Nations fixtures.

It will be a blow as he is a wonderful player who marshalled the game well and is a reliable kicker. Though Toulouse’s Jean-Marc Doussain and Racing Metro’s Maxime Machenaud are adequate back ups they cannot compare to the experienced Parra.

Vincent Clerc is coming back from a long-term injury though Maxime Medard and Yoann Huget are more than able to replace Clerc.

In the centres Florian Fritz is out for most of the competition after breaking his arm in a motorcycle accident.

Clermont’s centre Wesley Fofana is locked on to be in their starting XV so vying for the two centre spots in the matchday 23 man squad are Toulouse’s Gael Fickou and Toulon duo Maxime Mermoz and Mathieu Bastareaud.

All three are in decent form though Gael Fickou is the outstanding youth talent who has been earmarked as one for the future.

France’s Six Nations campaign starts with two home games against England and Italy in Paris. Even though they have home advantage the Stade de France can be an imposing place when the fans turn on their own team if things don’t go well.

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England defeated the French last year and the previous year in France so it is an opportunity for France to exact revenge.

It is the same in regards to Italy with Saint-Andre eager to banish memories of their shock defeat against the Azzurri in Rome last year.

Their next two games are on the road with a top of the table clash Friday night clash against Wales on the 21st February. It is possible the winners of this game will determine who will finish top or even who will win the Grand Slam.

Two weeks later the French then travel to Edinburgh to tackle the Scots at Murrayfield where they have been sternly tested in previous years.

Their final game is at home against Ireland, which Saint-Andre will hope be their final step to Six Nations glory.

However, which French team will turn up? The sublime flair of France led by the hardworking Thierry Dusautoir is wonderful to watch when in full flow.

But when they are bad it is a horror show to watch – inconsistent, error-strewn, sometimes uninterested can lead to some embarrassing defeats.

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Losing to Italy twice in the last three years, as well as defeated by Tonga in the 2011 Rugby World Cup are notable examples.

The Six Nations will show Saint-Andre where his team are at with just two years left until the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Having a consistent halves pairing would help though Remi Tales being 29 years old isn’t someone to build your team around for the future while losing Morgan Parra is a blow, as he marshalled the game well.

Player To watch
Wesley Fofana. The Clermont centre is in sparkling form for his club and last season showed why he is one of the top five centres in world rugby.

His excellent try against England in the Six Nations last year a real highlight. With Fofana there are always tries.

Predicted finish
Third.

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