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France are in no better shape going into the 2015 Rugby World Cup than they were going into the last one.
Philippe Saint-André has proven to be an awful appointment as head coach. His lack of anything even resembling competency is evident in his inconsistent selections, apparent lack of a coherent game plan, as well as his players’ poor execution of skills and lack of motivation.
His inconsistent selections have meant that France have no ‘base’ group of players to build a squad around. Tactically, they are playing the wrong game.
Saint-André has indicated in several interviews that he places emphasis on winning games through dominance up front, and it is obvious by what his team are doing on the pitch that they have very little in their tactical armoury.
During the 2014 Six Nations Championship, their entire game plan was based on sticking it up the jumper and looking to run over the opposition, either in-close through Louis Picamoles, or out wide through Mathieu Bastareaud.
The problem with this approach to the game from a French point of view is that there has been a drop in the quality of the forwards that are at Saint-André’s disposal in comparison to those which were available to Marc Lièvremont at the last World Cup, at least in some positions.
William Servat was a level above both Dimitri Szarzewski and Benjamin Kayser in terms of subtlety and class, as well as being superior to both in the technical aspects of hooker play. Lionel Nallet had better skill and aggression levels than the overrated Yoann Maestri, despite the latter’s advantage in terms of height and bulk.
Yannick Nyanga, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Bernard Le Roux, and Alexandre Lapandry are decent Test-level flankers, but they don’t have the international pedigree of Julien Bonnaire. Thierry Dusautoir’s fitness going into the World Cup is crucial for France.
As for No. 8, there is no comparison between the 2011 Imanol Harinordoquy and either Picamoles or Damien Chouly. Chouly is a decent all-rounder who performs consistently well at club level, but Harinordoqoy was in another league to him.
Picamoles is a destructive ball-carrier in close to the ruck, but in most games he tends to make a big carry, and then disappear for a significant portion of the game, before getting onto the ball again.
One of Harinordoquy’s best qualities was his ability to be everywhere in games even at the highest level. And while Picamoles is a good carrier, he is inferior to Harinordoquy in terms of lineout ability (Picamoles is quite heavy to lift whereas Harinordoquy is one of the best lineout back rowers of his generation).
He also loses out when controlling the ball at the back of the scrum, and tackling (Harinordoquy’s tackles are more frequent and significantly more influential despite him being lighter than Picamoles).
When it comes to ruck time, Harinordoquy is a skilful enough scavenger to warrant selection at openside flanker in some of his previous games at Test level, whereas Picamoles is largely anonymous in this facet of the game.
Instead of just looking to bash teams up front, France should be trying to play a back line oriented game with an incorporation of traditional French flair, as this is the area of the game where they have an edge over most teams.
They are not helped in this department by Saint-André’s revolving-door selection policy, especially at halfback. France’s back line (injury permitting) should be as follows.
9. Maxime Machenaud, 10. Rémi Talès, 11. Maxime Médard, 12. Wesley Fofana, 13. Gaël Fickou, 14. Yoann Huget, 15. Brice Dulin.
France are hindered by the number of foreign out-halves plying their trade in the Top 14 for lucrative contracts, but Talès appears to be the best all-round No. 10 that they have at the moment. He is probably the only out-half in France who is a consistent, competent game-manager and tactical kicker, and his ability to stand flat to the gain line is crucial to getting France’s back play going.
However, Camille Lopez has performed well in his recent outings for Clermont Auvergne and France, and could well overtake Talès if his good form continues.
Aside from being the form scrumhalf in France, Machenaud showed in the France-Ireland game in the 2014 Six Nations that he has quite a good understanding of Talès’ game despite the two not playing together at club level.
Fofana and Fickou are two of the most naturally gifted, skilful centres playing the game. Maxime Mermoz is a quality player, but he looks for contact far too often, and he doesn’t have the game-changing ability of Fofana or Fickou.
Despite being an excellent tackle-breaker, Bastareaud needs to be dropped from the French squad. His ability to make line breaks is offset by his poor passing skills and lack of awareness of those around him, both of which usually result in any momentum he creates being lost.
As for the back three, Médard and Huget complement each other well on the wings. Médard being a traditional winger with electric pace in the mould of the great counter-attacking backs of French rugby’s golden generation, while Huget is a more physical player with excellent footwork and aerial skills.
Dulin was one of the form fullbacks of the 2014 Six Nations, which is impressive considering the competition he faced in Luke McLean, Leigh Halfpenny, Stuart Hogg, Rob Kearney and Mike Brown.
Overall, the French players’ fitness levels are well short of what is required at Test level, which can be attributed to the attritional nature and packed schedule of the Top 14.
Poor fitness, allied with incompetent coaching, is the reason why France cannot retain structure over several phases, with tight forwards ending up in the out-half position once they get to the fourth or fifth phase.
Their woeful inconsistency was best characterised by their performances in the most recent November series, where they dismantled Fiji, beat Australia with an energetic performance where they displayed both power up front and flair out wide.
Yet that was followed up with a tactical implosion against Argentina a week later, where they were second best in terms of decision-making and implementation of the basic skills of the game.
Despite this, France usually perform better in the November series than they do in the Six Nations as the effects of Top 14 fatigue take more of a toll on their players as the season progresses.
From a World Cup point of view, this means that they will be rested after having the summer off, so their performances should be closer to what they produce in the November series rather than what they produce in the Six Nations.
The other factor that works in France’s favour is their puzzling ability to click and play brilliantly no matter what their previous form has been like. When they are in this mood, they raise their physicality to a completely different level.
Combinations that were previously awful suddenly look in sync, and all of their players seem to have a telepathic understanding of all of their teammates. They up the pace of the game, start throwing brilliant offloads, and it seems like there is no end to their supply of support runners.
If they are going to play like this during the pool stages, it will most likely be against Ireland, a team who they never seem to have a problem performing well against.
However, the confidence of the French team may be damaged badly if they do not raise their game sufficiently for next year’s Six Nations Championship, which includes difficult away games to England and Ireland.
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.