French changes target lineout returns

FRANCE COACH Philippe Saint-Andre has identified a deficiency out of touch and a lack of aggression up front in the wake of the victory over Italy in making four changes to his side for Saturday’s Six Nations Championship match against Ireland at the Stade de France.

The alterations are all in the pack with Dimitri Szarzewski replacing William Servat at hooker, Jean-Baptiste Poux, noted for his ability in the scrum, promoted from the bench with Vincent Debaty heading in the opposite direction. Yoann Maestri is preferred to Lionel Nallet in the secondrow while Imanol Harinordoquy is chosen to start in the number seven jersey.

Saint-Andre was dissatisfied with one or two aspects of the French performance in their 30-12 victory over the Italians pointing out in the aftermath: “On the negative side we should have gained more possession and we lacked aggression, especially at the beginning. It’s good to win but there is a lot of room for improvement. We will have to play at another level against Ireland.”

His primary concern appears to be the lineout. The official statistics from the match against Italy state that France lost two of their 10 lineouts but there was also an issue with regard to the quality of possession won.

Harinordoquy is superb in this aspect of the game, while the more athletic Maestri should provide a mobile threat on the throw offensively and defensively.

The French coach explained: “I wanted to bring in some freshness since maybe we worked too much last week. It was logical to bring Imanol (Harinordoquy) in for the lineouts. We failed in the first half against Italy, particularly in the quality of clearing out.”

His preference for Szarzewski over Servat at hooker seems to contradict his desire to improve the return out of touch as the latter is noted to be a more accurate thrower. Saint-Andre rejected the suggestion it was a demotion for the Toulouse man saying “that he had never told the player he would be playing against Ireland”. He then articulated his thought process behind the introduction of Maestri and the rebalancing of the backrow.

“He (Maestri) has made great progress in terms of discipline. When he was introduced last Saturday, he was very accurate in everything he did. He regularly broke the defensive line in terms of his ball carrying. He has all the qualities to make a great secondrow and he will play against two of the best in that position.”

The inclusion of Harinordoquy might have come at the expense of number eight Louis Picamoles rather than Julien Bonnaire but Saint-Andre explained: “(Louis) Picamoles’ performance, defensively and offensively, was great. He made a lot of tackles and he managed to destroy the Italian rucks. At some point we could end up (on Saturday) with a backrow of Harinordoquy, Dusautoir and Bonnaire.”

The French coach could hardly quibble with the input from his three-quarter line of Julien Malzieu, Wesley Fofana, Aurelien Rougerie and Vincent Clerc, all of whom contributed a try apiece. “We wanted continuity (in terms of selection). When we got quick ball we were dangerous. Morgan Parra brought speed and fluidity when he was introduced (at scrumhalf) but we wanted to retain the same three quarter line.”

He also spoke positively of the new midfield partnership of debutant, Fofana and Rougerie, both try scorers, but warned they would face a more rigorous test this weekend. Saint-Andre said: “Ireland possesses a cultured midfield and even though O’Driscoll is injured, they (the French axis) will have two very good players opposing them. The Irish will cause different problems. Italy were direct, relying on power. Ireland can do that too but are also capable of playing the wide-wide game.”