KEY POINTS:
MARCOUSSIS - Defence coach Dave Ellis is the Englishman in France's ranks who helped outwit the All Blacks in the rugby World Cup quarterfinals.
Now he has turned his defensive radar on England for the World Cup semifinal on Sunday (NZT).
The French team mustered up a staggering 178 tackles in the shock 20-18 win in Cardiff over tournament favourites New Zealand, part of a defensive effort that stymied the exciting All Blacks backline and outplayed their acclaimed back row.
"The planning in terms of everything worked out - defence, and attack as well," Ellis said of the All Blacks game.
"We had a three-month buildup, and it was successful. A lot of credit has to go the players.
"We knew the All Blacks would want to play a very quick game, with support play for their attackers.
"We had to have a good kicking strategy so they couldn't play in the areas they wanted to," Ellis said, admitting that he had picked up some invaluable insider information after spending two weeks with New Zealand to plot the downfall of the British and Irish Lions in 2005.
The choice of Damien Traille at fullback, for the first time, for France's win over the All Blacks raised a few eyebrows, but his tactical kicking, along with that of teammates Lionel Beauxis and Cedric Heymans, played a crucial role in pegging the New Zealanders back away from the French half.
France coach Bernard Laporte named an unchanged team for the semifinal, and Ellis saw the game as an opportune time to make the English feel some pain.
"I'm probably the most motivated person in the whole France camp when it comes to playing games against England," Ellis said.
"The 2003 semifinal (when England beat France 24-7) was disappointing, and we've got to make sure England feel that same disappointment this time around.
"The France team is much more complete now than it was in the last World Cup. There's no real weakness in the team, which has evolved itself.
"Beauxis has thoroughly deserved his place at outside half, Traille at fullback. They're two key players who performed exceptionally well last week."
But Ellis added that England's surge into the semifinal at the expense of Australia in a 12-10 upset was not unexpected for him.
"Their victory over Australia was not a surprise to me," said Ellis, whose mobile telephone ring tone is "La Marseillaise", the French national anthem.
"I tipped them to win through. I knew they'd get better and better. If they'd played the All Blacks it would have been a different story, but they played Australia and England took advantage of their weak scrum.
"We have to make sure they don't progress any further."
Ellis pinpointed first five-eighth Jonny Wilkinson as England's "get-out clause".
"I know all their players and coaches, and we pretty much know what strategies they have," he said.
"Jonny Wilkinson is back on top form. He's finally got a halfback who can pass to him in Andy Gomarsall. He's putting the ball into the right areas of the field and that will keep the forwards happy."
Ellis, one of the longest-serving defence coaches in world rugby but whose contract with the French Rugby Federation runs out at the end of the World Cup, said it had been a "clash of cultures" for him working with the France team.
"We've tried to instil discipline along with defence," he said of his goals for the squad.
"It's taken a long period of time. You can't change things overnight. But slowly but surely, everyone's got on the same wavelength.
"If we defend well and at times turn over ball, then the French flair will come into play," he predicted.
Ellis, a former rugby league player, said the passion for rugby in his adopted homeland was much greater than in England.
"There is far more passion here from the players and supporters. That's no disrespect for English players and supporters, but it's just another culture."
- AFP
