The Times - UK (2022-03-15)

62 Tuesday March 15 2022 | the times

SportRugby union

England are travelling early to Paris
before their Six Nations finale against
France. The plan is for the team to
experience the rhythms of the city as a
long-range rehearsal for the 2023
World Cup.
They will find the French capital in
buoyant mood, with grand-slam fever
unifying the nation’s sporting public.
Eddie Jones’s mission on Saturday
night is to pull the plug on the party.
France have not won a grand slam —
or even a Six Nations title — since 2010.
In 2013, two years after reaching the
World Cup final, they finished with the
wooden spoon. Their national team
was in a perpetual state of chaos over
those barren years, undermined by pol-
itics and conflicting interests between
the wealthy clubs and the union.
Fabien Galthié, the head coach, has
built since the 2019 World Cup an
ascendant, young team, who are now
only one victory away from ending a
12-year wait for silverware.
“When it comes to the national team
doing well, everyone gets behind it
regardless of their sporting preference;
whether football or rugby, they just dive
in on it,” Joe Worsley, the Castres
defence coach and former England
flanker, told The Times’s Ruck podcast.
“When the French football team do
well, everyone is out in force for them,
and it will be the same for the rugby
team this weekend. The team is being
pushed with this dream about what will
happen in 2023. There is a lot of talk all
the time they meet up, they have been
building up a whole thing around this.
“The players realise the importance
of a successful home team at the World
Cup and what it can do for rugby in
France. The grand slam would be a step
towards where they want to be.”
Jones has been cynical about the love
affair building around France, arguing
that they are too easily branded as spe-
cial when they are yet to win anything.
England defeated Les Bleus at home
with their one impressive performance
in last year’s Six Nations and in the final
of the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup,
although they required extra time to
see off a third-string French team.
Immediately after England’s defeat
by Ireland on Saturday, Jones began
questioning whether France could
handle the pressure of winning the
grand slam and taking that big next
step. Wales made life very difficult for

them on Friday night, dulling their

dangerous cutting edge in attack, shut-

ting down their lineout, and winning

the kicking duel. France held on to win

courtesy of a disciplined, defiant

defensive performance, demonstrating

the tough underbelly that Shaun

Edwards, the defence coach, has

brought to the team.

However, that Wales performance

exposed areas in which England will

look to attack. “Wales were very disci-

plined and kicked and pressured very

well,” Worsley said. “England have got

to do the same thing with the same

quality that Wales did to France and

hope they get opportunities out the

back of it.

“Creating chances through their

attack will be hard because, like Wales,

England lack those powerful ball

carriers. The few chances that come

their way from turnovers or poor kicks,

they have to take every one.”

The Wales lineout put pressure on

Cameron Woki, the France lock, by

using Adam Beard to lift Will Rowlands

in front of him, and France lost one of

their favoured attacking platforms.

Although Charlie Ewels is sus-

pended, Courtney Lawes will remain in

the back row as a third lineout option,

with Joe Launchbury set to start along-

side Maro Itoje. England sorely need a

victory to avoid back-to-back cam-

paigns with just two wins from five and

potentially two fifth-place finishes.

“France are the longest-kicking team

in the world and the highest-kicking

team in the world, so that battle of the

kicks is important,” Jones said.

“They get their field position by

kicking and we’ll need to take that

strength away from them.”

Wales were the first team this Six

Nations to kick more in a game against

France than Les Bleus.

“The lineout battle against France is

an interesting one. They’ve got Woki,

who they depend heavily on,” Jones

said. “They’ve always got at least one

good jumping back rower, which is

either François Cros or Gregory

Alldritt jumps a little bit. It is going to

be a key contest.

“We think Courtney’s best position at

international rugby is No 6. He gives us

a great third-lineout jumping option.

He’s got good running skills, great

defence skills, and he can contest the

breakdown where necessary.”

The England back row is an area of

fascination, with Tom Curry injured.

Sam Simmonds could shift to open-side

flanker, as he did during the games

against Wales and Ireland, with Alex

Dombrandt at No 8.

Jack Willis joined up with the squad

yesterday but he has only played one

80-minute game for Wasps since

suffering a serious knee injury in the Six

Nations game against Italy in February

Return of dangerous Penaud

eases blow of Moefana loss

But Penaud, the Clermont Auvergne

wing, is one of the game’s most danger-

ous broken-field runners, and his

return will give Galthié’s back line a

sharper cutting edge as France aim for

a first Six Nations title and first grand

slam since 2010.

Galthié has not been able to pair

Penaud and Gabin Villière on the wings

since the opening two victories over

Italy and Ireland.

Penaud, 25, returns to the squad

along with Romain Taofifénua, the 31-

year-old lock, who also missed the

game against Wales with Covid. Tani

Vili, 21, the uncapped Clermont centre,

has been called up to the squad as

Moefana’s replacement.

Yoram Moefana has been ruled out of

France’s decisive Six Nations meeting

with England on Saturday after injur-

ing his knee during the 13-9 victory over

Wales on Friday.

But Fabien Galthié’s side will have a

ready replacement in Damian Penaud,

who returns to the squad after recover-

ing from Covid.

Moefana, 21, the versatile Bordeaux

Bègles back, has featured in all four of

France’s victories, at centre, on the

wing or from the bench, scoring his

first international try against Scot-

land and playing a full 80 minutes

in Cardiff.

John Westerby

How England plan to upset France

Alex Lowe

Rugby

Correspondent

IAN COOK/GETTY IMAGES

Inefficient England

Opposition 22 entries per match

Scotland

Ireland

France

England

Wales

Italy

Scotland

Ireland

France

England

Wales

Italy

6.8

12

10.8

8

7. 3


8. 3

2.89

2.83

2.35

1.72

1.59

0.9

Points per opposition 22 entry

Tomos Williams thwarts Antoine Dupont in Cardiff on Friday night, a tight game in which Wales made life very difficult for the grand slam-chasing France team

last year, so a game in Paris feels prema-

ture for the flanker.

Jones declared in the same breath on

Saturday night that Sam Underhill was

not fit enough yet for international

rugby after suffering a concussion, but

he is also in contention to play. Ollie

Chessum and Alfie Barbeary are both

in camp, but neither is an open-side

flanker, although France do play with

three powerful units. The picture will

become clearer tonight when the squad

is trimmed, with 27 players likely to

head for a three-day build-up in Paris.

“My experience of the World Cup,

particularly when you’re playing in dif-

ferent countries, is that the more you go

there and learn how to cope with the

different tempo and rhythm of the

week and the nuances of the culture,

the better prepared you are,” Jones said.

“Preparing in Paris is different to say

Lille, Bordeaux or Nice. This is a golden

opportunity for us.”

My team are improving, insists Jones

he is not, Will Stuart and Joe Heyes will

have to step up at tight-head prop.

Jones will cut his squad back tonight

before England fly to Paris. De-

spite a poor Six Nations — with

defeats by Scotland and Ire-

land — Jones feels his squad

is improving. “I like the way

the team’s developing, I like

the spirit in the team, I like

the combination of some of

the older players,” he said.

“I couldn’t be more

pleased with the way

someone like Jamie

George has come

back. Maro Itoje is

going to another peak.

He climbed Everest as a young player

and he looks like he’s going to climb

another Everest as a maturing player.

Then we’ve got those young guys like

Freddie [Steward], Harry [Randall]

and Marcus [Smith] who are all

coming through nicely.”

Jones challenged his squad

to disrupt France’s grand-

slam bid on Saturday.

“There’s not a team in the

world or in the game’s

history that does not

have chink in their

armour,” he said.

Charlie Ewels, the lock, faces a

six-week ban, before reductions,

when he appears before a

disciplinary panel on Wednes-

day after being sent off against

Ireland.

continued from back

[World Cup] cycle, I knew that would be
more intense. The longer you’re in the
job, the more people probably don’t
want you to be in the job. It’s all part of
the job that we have.”
With the flanker Tom Curry out
having suffered a hamstring tear in the
32-15 defeat by Ireland last Saturday,
Wasps’ Jack Willis has been called up
for the first time since February 2021.
Willis, 25, suffered a horrendous
injury in the Italy match of that Six
Nations rupturing the medial ligament,
tearing the posterior cruciate ligament
and damaging the cartilage in his knee.
Kyle Sinckler is in the training group,
but will go through the return-to-play
protocols having suffered a concussion
against Ireland before he is passed fit. If

Curry tore a hamstring

against Ireland

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