Disciplined French could go all the way

By CHRIS LAIDLAW

European rugby is awaiting tomorrow morning's match between France and Ireland with much more than usual interest.

In many ways, it will be the defining match of the year.

The French say it's Grand Slam time. The Irish, very capable giantkillers whom nobody underestimates, are up against a French team that critics in Paris are saying are the best for a decade.

They are saying more than that. France is now convinced that it has a squad who can finally take on the behemoths of the Southern Hemisphere and win, no matter where. They may be right.

There is certainly a new, grim confidence about this French team.

The way that France strangled the life out of their initially more fancied English rivals was evidence enough of a new sense of will and of higher levels of concentration that French teams have not been noted for in the past.

Much of it can be attributed to the professionalism of the players and the cleverness of the coaching. Guy Laporte is an enormously talented coach. He is creative and he is technically very astute.

Against England, he had his loose forwards adopt different lines of defence specifically for that match, involving a pincer effect being created around the English inside backs.

That left halfback Fabien Galthie, himself a surrogate loose forward, as a primary ball retriever at the breakdown.

It worked a treat. The English backs rarely got across the gain line and finished up trying to attack from ever-deeper positions, something that is very hard to do if you lack exceptional natural talent.

The French pack is exceptionally mobile and there is a consensus in French rugby circles that the front row is probably the best they have had since the 1970s and the days of Paparemborde. It has been in the front row that French superiority has been established this season.

Hooker Rafael Ibanez is back. He is bigger, much bigger than before, and he is playing phenomenally well.

Olivier Magne, who burst into prominence against the All Blacks a couple of years ago, is now approaching the peak of his powers and there isn't a single critic in Europe who doesn't now rank him as the best openside flanker in the business.

With an abundance of big, athletic locks and with backs who make few mistakes and know instinctively when to launch destructive counter-attacks, this French team is unquestionably building up for a World Cup campaign that could finally win them the big prize. Even in Australia.

As for the Irish, they know what they are up against. Winning in Paris is not a habit that any of the other Six Nations teams have ever really been able to develop.

French President Jacques Chirac, an avid rugby enthusiast, may be watching his last big match from the presidential box as he has an election coming up this month.

He has asked to meet the players beforehand and you can bet that he will be injecting plenty of adrenalin into this already supercharged sporting machine.