French rugby looking forward to 2007

The frost is so thick on the fields of France's swish national rugby centre at Marcoussis that Bernard Laporte's men have to train on a synthetic pitch.

The only surprise is that the hot air circulating around the national game has not thawed out the playing surfaces.

The 2007 World Cup is more than 19 months away, but much of the talk here is of le mondial rather than the Six Nations.

This is not even the last Six Nations before next year's meeting of the global clans, but in some eyes it appears to be viewed as little more than a warm-up.

The French federation would no doubt reject any such suggestion, but the banner that greets players and visitors alike as they enter their headquarters looks ahead not to the next seven weeks but to events beginning on September 7, 2007 at the Stade de France.

The Tricolours are fortunate to have a captain whose feet usually leave the ground only when his 110kg frame is towering above a lineout.

Fabien Pelous is all too aware of the dangers of looking too far ahead, despite the prospect of leading his country into the World Cup on home territory and of easing some of his own painful memories.

Pelous played in both the 1999 final defeat against Australia and in the semifinal surrender to England four years ago.

"People are constantly talking about the World Cup," Pelous says. "It's a good thing in one way, but we have a tournament to prepare for now.

"The best way to prepare for the World Cup is to concentrate on the Six Nations and play well in it. We're only rugby players. We only have small brains. We need to think only about the next match, not what lies beyond."

 

Pelous found his own way of escaping the spotlight when he was suspended for nine weeks after attempting to rearrange Brendan Cannon's features with his elbow while playing Australia at Marseilles in November.

The 32-year-old lock learned his rugby in an era when violence was an accepted - and perhaps encouraged - part of the game, particularly in his native south-west France.

It is no surprise that one of the players with whom he bears the strongest comparison is another international captain who led from the second row by deed rather than word and whose own disciplinary record was far from unblemished.

"Fabien is our Martin Johnson," Jo Maso, France's team manager, says.

 

"He can lead us in the World Cup in the way that Johnson led England. At the same time he knows that if his form drops he will lose his place."

Pelous underlines that point. "I hope I'll be there and that's what I'm aiming at, but a lot can happen between now and the World Cup."

Laporte's side have steadily taken shape over the past 12 months and are full of experience.

Victories over South Africa and Australia confirmed their progress and it is no surprise that France are odds-on favourites to win their fifth Grand Slam in nine years.

Last year they were slow out of their starting blocks and trailed Scotland 9-0 early in the second half in Paris before winning 16-9. Pelous, however, refuses to see this Monday's match as a potential pitfall. "We must make sure that we're never surprised by the opposition. We have to be the team asking the questions." Such as: can the French rugby world contain its excitement for the next 583 days?

- INDEPENDENT