MAYBE we’d been getting too comfortable with that idea that Ireland had picked the right time and the right place to have drawn France at the World Cup. Very little that Joe Schmidt saw at the Stade de France last night was designed for comfort.
Some, of course, grew up in an era when this fixture was defined only by the margin of defeat rather than the result. For Ireland to be all of five places ahead of France in the world rankings feels like a distortion of nature.
Remarkably, France have gone an entire World Cup cycle without having beaten opponents they used to treat with barely a speck of respect. Their results under Philippe Saint-Andre are a cause for embarrassment – 15 wins out of 38,a win percentage of 42.
Their recent Tests against Ireland have been impossibly tight, however. Consider that the average gap between the sides in their past seven meetings is barely over three points a match. On top of that, France have a strong track record at World Cups, having made the last four in all but one of the seven to date.
Last night will have fuelled their confidence considerably, even allowing for England’s late rally. Having out-scrummed England’s second-choice pack in Twickenham last weekend, this time they overpowered Stuart Lancaster’s best in every phase for a win that changes the landscape in Pool D considerably.
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Schmidt knows all about French physicality, knows how Saint-Andre likes to beat opponents up and then introduce even bigger men around the 55-minute mark to beat them more. This France side look fitter than normal, however, sharper — epitomised by the slimmed-down Louis Picamoles, who was immense for the second week running.
What’s more, France had shape and direction, thanks to their half-back pairing of Sebastien Tillous-Borde and Fred Michalak, who now look inked in as starters for the first pool game against Italy at Twickenham. Watching them, it’s almost laughable that Saint-Andre has tested 13 different combinations.
Saint-Andre was surely praying for a display of authority and assurance from France’s most capped No 10. Those are qualities we have rarely seen in him. Ephemeral? Charming? Talented? Undoubtedly all of those. Just not someone you’d entrust to steer you through a World Cup campaign.
We saw Michalak’s brilliance and his frailty at his first World Cup, 12 years ago in Australia. Against Ireland in the quarter-final, he cross-kicked delightfully to Imanol Harinordoquy for the opening try and landed nine shots at goal out of nine. Against England in a rain-soaked semi-final a week later, he had a nightmare. He went through the same extremes in the knockout stages of the Champions Cup last season.
Last night he was the cocky, self-assured Michalak. Behind a rampant pack, and playing outside the supremely effective Tillous-Borde, he had time to look up and survey his options. Generally he got his decisions right.
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His kicking from the hand can be horribly wild but most of the time he found grass. Only once did he miscue, but the rebound fell safely, from a French perspective. One restart flew long but this was rare. His place-kicking was sound, too. His solitary miss was from right on the edge of his range. With his second kick, he broke Christophe Lamaison’s record for most Test points by a Frenchman.
He looked relaxed but, of course, this was the original armchair ride. The French forwards obliterated their English counterparts in the set-pieces and in the loose. Eddy Ben Arous may have been penalised at a couple of scrums but he made life uncomfortable for Dan Cole. Rabah Slimani, the bullet-headed tight-head, gave Joe Marler a grilling.
England made more than twice as many tackles as France in that first half but when the French were forced to defend in the second quarter, their tackles were offensive, with Bernard le Roux, Mathieu Bastareaud and their pals doling out the pain, flattening England’s so-called weapons, Billy Vunipola and Courtney Lawes.
To cap it off, Michalak sent Huget over with a delicious inside pass just after the break, for the score that put France 22-6 ahead. England scraped some credit back at the end but France, and Michalak, were smiling last night.