Philippe Saint-André talks to the press ahead of France’s clash with England at Twickenham.
We brought eight changes to the starting lineup. After two defeats, we needed to inject a dose of competition and fuel in the team, to go to Twickenham with a lot of envy, conviction and enthusiasm.
This is a lot of change. Is it a deliberate risk you’re taking, given that some of the new players haven’t played a lot in recent weeks? I disagree on this point, they’ve had some time on the field. Domingo is back, Kayser was with us in November and started against Samoa. We’re preparing for the next World cup and can’t put our faith in only one hooker. Christophe Samson is here, mainly because we wanted more height in the lineout, since the English have 4 or 5 great jumpers. Christophe can also cover a lot of ground as well, we’ve seen him in Argentina last year. Yannick Nyanga is back with us in replacement of Fulgence Ouedraogo, but played all three games in November. Fred Michalak started our last 6 games but is going through a rougher patch right now, although this is not a sanction. But we would like to see François Trinh-Duc as flyhalf, it’s only logical to bring back Morgan Parra as well, who’s a high class kicker. Vincent Clerc being back we thought we’d give Wesley Fofana a go in midfield. This is just normal competition among the squad after two losses. As I said before, we win and lose as a group. The English are favorites, and we will need to “French up” on Saturday, be brave, bold, unpredictable and put up a big fight. We’ll have to win individual confrontations, get momentum. If we do, everything will be easier.
It looks like you’re giving up on Maxime Machenaud and Fred Michalak… Not at all! Maxime and Fred are in the squad and have been in the squad since last June and the Argentinian tour. We have think about performance, but also about preparing the next World Cup. And you can’t go into such a competition with only one scrumhalf and flyhalf. Moreover, François is not a kicker and is depending on Morgan, therefore can’t play with Maxime. We may have Maxime and Fred on the field for the end of the game in England. Fred is playing two seasons in a row without a breather, in South Africa then in France. He might not be as fit and mentally fresh as he was a few months ago. But a had a break last week-end and is already starting to feel better. We will need everyone. We want to see François in the number 10 jersey. We had to adjust to injuries during our last games and he had to play fullback, and he might actually finish the game in fullback… But he will at least start it at flyhalf.
You said you wanted to be brave and unpredictable… Don’t you think this is too big a risk when you have as little collective certainty as you do? I don’t think you’ve played a lot of rugby… We had convictions in November. We got three wins, and the content of those games was also very good as well. With the same team in Italy, our collective foundations were good for 55 minutes before they exploded. Our defense was solid against Wales, as well as our set piece… We were disciplined. All of this makes for a good base. But we do need to win games. It’s in hardships that we’ll see if we really have high class players.
You had to modify your third row in the absence of Ouedraogo. Can’t you give us details about the complementarity between the loose forwards? Yannick will take Fulgence’s place in the team, being the connection between the forwards and the backline, bringing support if we have some open play as we’re hoping for. Thierry is the hard tackler, agressive at the breakdown, even if we’d like to see more players contest for the ball in the rucks. Louis is the powerful player who has to put us on the front foot. The good thing is to have Antonie Claasen on the bench, who can play flanker and number 8.
You seem to have a lot of choice in the midfield. Is everyone back on an equal ground after Mathieu Bastareaud’s return at full pace? Mathieu was one of the few satisfactions against Wales. He was one of the few to win his duels, in defense and in attack. We now have a lot of choice in the midfield, with powerful players able to break tackles and give the team some momentum. I hope that we’ll be more daring, that we’ll move the ball around and finally play some rugby. The more ball Wesley gets the better. It’s up to us to take advantage of our players in the midfield, and their different profiles, to give our wingers some good munitions. But first, the forwards will have to do the job, get some quick ball. But I really want to see something else, open play, rhythm…
Don’t you think it’s what the English are expecting? And what do you expect of them? As a general rule, they tend to be more daring when the play on their home ground, as we saw them do against Scotland a few weeks ago and in November. They use the boot very often, putting pressure under high ball. But they can also keep the ball in hand thanks to a very mobile pack. There will be a great deal of intensity. They usually use the boot a lot during the first 20 minutes of the game, then try to wear you down with their power. We’ll have to compete from the start and keep up with them.
What difference can Morgan Parra and François Trinh-Duc make? They have a lot of experience together in the blue jersey. We know Morgan’s qualities as a leader of the pack, as well as a world class kicker. François is great as a leader of the backline, and a very skillful ball carrier. As I said, I want to see them feed the backline with good munitions. Rugby is about finding a balance, between kicking, carrying… They know our systems and we want to see them play a good, serious game, and especially keep a clear head. After our first two games, and having talked to each player individually, it made sense to change. Fred had started the last 6 games with us, we wanted to take some pressure off him. We have faith in him, he was brilliant in November… It could be an interesting option to see him come on the field for the last 20 minutes against England. François deserves to start this game, he’s showing great implication in practice. He hasn’t started in the 10 jersey since June, and it will be good for him to get a new opportunity to show what he’s capable of.
How are you hoping to contain Owen Farrell? He’s just one of the many important players in the English system. If you look closely, the scrumhalf has a lot of responsibilities, he’s the one who breaks the defensive line more often. Farrell plays further from the gain line, usually asking for the ball after 3 or 4 phases, when the forwards have put the team on the front foot. Our objective will then be to perform defensively, to win the collisions on the gain line and prevnt them from gaining momentum on their first phases.
Where are you between the fear of another severe defeat and the hunger for a good, full game of rugby? Fear has always been the friend of French rugby in my opinion. Fear has always helped creating strong bonds among the French team. There is fear, but again, it’s about finding a balance between that fear and our desire to move the ball around, to play a daring game. When you do this, anything is possible.
