6N Preview: France v England
It’s more than just a rugby match, France versus England, in Franglais Le Crunch. It is a rugby match and it is also a clash of history and culture between two countries just across the widest narrow strip of water in the world, just 34 km from Calais to Dover but keeping two countries worlds apart.
There is history going back to Agincourt and exacerbated by Waterloo.
There are two distinct languages. The English cannot understand for the life of them why the Frogs can’t talk English and the French believe that English is just badly pronounced French. The English mock the French for their cowardice in battle and strut about the Riviera with a disdainful air, believing that ‘Wogs begin at Calais’.
The French are disdainful of the English for their lack of taste bordering on barbarism. And there is only a narrow strip of salt water between them!
At rugby the French and the English, above all in recent times, have vied for the championship title in the Five/Six Nations.
In the last 20 years they have each won it eight times. This year neither can achieve a Grand Slam. This year France are slightly closer than England to winning the championship with a draw to England’s defeat in three matches each. Both have tough matches after this – England against Ireland at Twickenham, France against Wales in Cardiff.
Neither side has performed particularly well in this year’s Six Nations, the French surprisingly lethargic for much of the match but then able to show greater intent.
The crunch within Le Crunch may well in the tight five, and there France seem to have the upper hand with an excellent pair of energetic locks and battle-hardened props.
Tough matches are often decided there and what happens there often decides what loose forwards can do with a ripple effect on to the wings.
Players to Watch:
For France: The new centre, Wesley Fofana – lightning fast with three tries from three Six Nations matches. He has just turned 24 and lest anybody think he is import of sorts, he was born in Paris. He expresses the hope that French backs will move from muscle to speed. Watch Julien Malzieu, the big, fast, adventurous runner on the left wing who so nearly won last week’s match with Ireland in the last minute. In the forwards man to watch is the silent assassin Thierry Dusautoir. At lock, let’s see if young Yoann Maestri can build on the impressive force he showed against Ireland’s warhorses, Paul O’ Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan.
For England: Backs Ben Foden, though not quite the electric fullback he was a while back, and muscular Manu Tuilagi are the most obvious. And a man to watch among the forwards is burly, aggressive Ben Morgan.
Head to Head: The clash between the two sets of centres – the speed and dazzle of Wesley Fofana against the strength and determination of Brad Barrett, and young bull Manu Tuilagi against the fading power of Aurélien Rougerie. Amongst the forwards we have tall Tom Croft against tall Imanol Harinordoquy and the potential battle between two combative hookers, Dylan Hartley and Dimitri Szarzewski. Kicking will count and both sides have flyhalves with good boots, France probably longer and more powerful, and then France have the added benefit of a scrumhalf with an effective foot.
Recent results:
2011: France won 19-12, Auckland (World Cup quarterfinal)
2011: England won 17-9, London
2010: France won 12-10, Paris
2009: England won 34-10, London
2008: England won 24-13, Paris
2007: England won 14-9, Paris (World Cup semifinal)
2007: France won 22-9, Marseille
2007: France won 21-15, London
2007: England won 26-18, London
2006: France won 31-6, Paris
Prediction: Either side could win but going down man for man and unit for unit we think that France will win by more than 10 points.
The teams:
France: 15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Julien Dupuy, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Imanol Harinordoquy, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Pascal Papé, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 William Servat, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Lionel Nallet, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 François Trinh-Duc, 22 Maxime Mermoz.
England: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Charlie Sharples, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (captain), 6 Tom Croft, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Tom Palmer, 19 Phil Dowson, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Charlie Hodgson, 22 Mike Brown.
Date: Sunday, March 11
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Kick-off: 16.00 (15.00 GMT)
Expected weather: 70 percent chance of rain with a high of 18°C and a low of 12°C
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), John Lacey (Ireland)
TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland)
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