France the world's 'form' side
INTERVIEW: Australia captain James Slipper said on Friday his side will face world rugby’s “form” team in France in Paris this weekend.
Les Bleus can claim a record 11th straight Test win with victory over the Wallabies, a run stretching back to July last year when they lost to this Saturday’s opponents in Brisbane.
“They haven’t been beaten in a while, they’re the form team in the world at the moment,” Slipper told reporters.
“It’s a team that’s full of confidence.
“Playing here at home they’re going to be hard to beat,” the loosehead prop added.
The Six Nations Grand Slam champions will be captained by World Rugby player of the year Antoine Dupont.
“As a scrumhalf, he’s probably the best player in the world,” 33-year-old Slipper said.
“He’s a class player, he’s really grown in that leadership role and we’ve seen what the French team have done over the past 15 months, it’s been quite incredible.
“They’re playing really good rugby, they did well in the Six Nations,” he added.
Scrumhalf Dupont said claiming the annual tournament earlier this year has given his side further motivation.
“Having won, it’s given us confidence and the desire to continue doing what we’ve done and to continue to win,” Dupont said.
“We have to put the ingredients in place and we know when you get to the top, the hardest thing is to stay there.
“I think the desire, the enthusiasm and the drive the whole squad have has even been lifted compared to the Six Nations, but that needs to be shown on the field,” the 25-year-old added.
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‘Patient’
Lining up opposite Dupont at the Stade de France will be 57-Test scrumhalf Nic White, who spent two seasons with Top 14 club Montpellier.
“We rubbed shoulders with him when he was with Montpellier,” Dupont said.
“He’s a player that takes a lot of responsibility on the field, who’s at ease technically, who can be a danger for us, he’s someone to keep an eye on,” he added.
On the Wallabies’ bench will be 145kg La Rochelle lock Will Skelton, who is into his third campaign on the Atlantic coast.
“We’re starting to know him,” Toulouse’s Dupont said.
“We’ve played against him a lot for La Rochelle but I hope it will be more the forwards who will face him.
“He likes catching the scrumhalves around the rucks. We know the physical power he has on the field and how he can bother the defence and attack. That’s the quality of the player,” he added.
In less than 10 months’ time, Dupont’s France will be one of the favourites for the World Cup on home soil, four years after former scrum-half Fabien Galthié took over as head coach.
“I think we have to continue what we’ve been doing since the start of Fabien and his staff’s era,” Dupont said.
“I don’t think we need to revolutionise anything over the next year, we feel the event fast approaching, be it with us or around us. There’s a lot of expectation around the event including us.
“We have to be patient, evolve, continue to grow and it will come when it comes,” he added.
