French at ease being `intense underdogs'

Suddenly the French are de rigueur among their fellow Europeans as they carry the continent's flag into this Saturday's World Cup final.

Seemingly every rugby writer Of course, they reminded us all how much we love them last Sunday when beating the All Blacks with such style, which has made them the saviours of the competition and Northern Hemisphere rugby.

And, however much they might like only to look ahead, they were as culpable as anyone for basking in the memory of what happened at Twickenham. As is customary at French press conferences, one of their management begins proceedings with a lengthy opening address.

Their manager, Joe Maso, had barely drawn breath when commenting on "le grand moment dans l'histoire sportif", adding that "to win the match was extraordinary for France."

Pierre Villepreux, the assistant coach, then put his arm around Maso and said he would attempt to translate such poetry into English. "Joe said we are very proud to be in the final and evidently we are pleased with our game last Sunday against one of the best teams in the competition. The Wallabies are also a wonderful team, with wonderful backs, and we'll be there on Saturday to try to stay like we were against the All Blacks; the underdogs who are very intense to play this final."

"The game that we wanted to play for four years is now with us. I want to thank all the people who helped us and supported us. I hope the final will be the winner and also France."

The coach, Jean-Claude Skrela, admitted that the "context had changed", ensuring a "different dynamic" for the final. When asked if France could scale the heights of last Sunday again in the final, Skrela said: "We are capable of doing that. Once it hasn't always been the case." An acknowledgement that the team went off the rails for the bulk of 1999. "If we can do it, and the occasion is there, then it will happen, but one match is never like another."

Yesterday's media hour, and one more on Thursday morning when France's final 22 will be announced, will end the team's media obligations as Skrela seeks to "protect the players before the final. The players are going to be in great demand. They're just going to have to say no to a few things."

This desire is accentuated by having one day less than their final opponents, and the need to "keep our feet on the ground to prepare for the final in the best condition possible."

It sounded almost like a plaintive appeal, although their captain Raphael Ibanez said: "It would not be very difficult. From the beginning of the tournament we have tried to keep our feet on the ground. Because our matches haven't been perfect since the beginning of the tournament so we've tried every match to improve and get better, and as far as the match on Saturday is concerned we're happy to be the challengers and the underdogs and we're going to look forward to the game in that way."

Getting the French right physically would seem a more attainable objective, intensive physiotherapy ensuring encouraging progress is being made with their "two main worries at the moment" namely full back Xavier Garbajosa (shoulder) and number eight Christophe Juillet (sprained knee). Marc Lievremont's strained right thigh is causing less concern, especially after an X-ray "which was very reassuring," according to Skrela.

Nor were the French management and players keen on assuming the baggage that goes with representing the Northern Hemisphere and Europe in Saturday's final, instead giving it a collective Gallic shrug. "More important than representing the Northern Hemisphere and Europe is to appreciate what the team achieved in the last game against New Zealand, and carry on with that achievement."

"I don't think we really realised the impact that this success had on France and French rugby," added Ibanez.

Asked whether the players would again sing La Marseillaise a second time in their team huddle before the kick-off, Ibanez said: "Last time it came naturally and I'm not used to forcing anything. The players have got their own personal motivation. We cannot tell what will happen. Maybe they'll sing it 20 times, maybe they'll sing another song."

The shrugs were now coming in spades, especially from the deadpan Skrela when asked if they would be supporting Australian requests to have the roof closed at the Millennium Stadium for Saturday's final. "Isn't that against the rules?" he responded, seemingly not that interested.

When informed there was no ruling on this matter, Skrela said: "We'll play in the conditions. There's no point in shutting the roof if it's a nice day," he shrugged. "At Twickenham there were two matches in two days, and the next day the pitch was fine. This time there's a day in between so there won't be a problem."

And with that, the management were joined by several players for some interviews, not so much one-on-ones as dozens-on-ones, before inching toward the safety net of the lifts.

By comparison, when the media pack transported themselves from the west of Cardiff across to the east of the city for Australia's media hour, or self-titled "Big Hit", at the David Lloyd tennis centre, the Wallabies conveyed a been-there, seen-it-all air of a squad who had slipped back into Cardiff via the tradesman's entrance.

They even revealed their hand for Saturday's final, with not even a formal press conference, and unsurprisingly they went for an unchanged team, with only the unfortunate late call-up Rod Moore making way from the final 22 for the more experienced Dan Crowley, one of the survivors, along with Tim Horan, John Eales, David Wilson and Jason Little, from the successful 1991 team.

Whereas the French had been travelling and resting up since their Herculean efforts on Sunday, the Australians will only have one more light run-out tomorrow following yesterday's double session. Lunch was calmly taken in front of the media scrum, whereupon the day's second feeding frenzy began.