Disquiet over Brute Squad tactic that won it for France

There is an exchange in Rob Reiner's seminal comedy classic The Princess Bride that came to mind while watching France's dismantling of Ireland.

- HARRY LATHAM-COYLE

Peering out from behind a door, Billy Crystal's Miracle Max is trying to turn away Inigo Montoya and the hulking Fezzik, played memorably by Andre the Giant.

“Beat it or I’ll call the Brute Squad,” Max snaps, before Fezzik replies: “I’m on the Brute Squad.”

“You ARE the Brute Squad!” Max yelps, eyes widening as he fully appreciates the sheer stature.

For Fezzik, read lock Emmanuel Meafou; for the Brute Squad, see the bench of behemoths that Fabien Galthie was able to field on Saturday afternoon. The arrival of France rugby’s magnificent seven forward replacements at the Aviva Stadium proved a match-turning moment, with the mighty Meafou an individual star of a collective effort that ranks among Les Bleus’ best in this grand old championship.

What an impact the brutish lock, and his colossal comrades, made. It had been a bold selection call from Galthie, sacrificing backline cover to again favour the beefiest of benches after first deploying the tactic against Italy in round three. Caelan Doris admitted that their arrival helped swing a contest against a strangely ill-disciplined Ireland.

“We started well and thought we could go on to do it,” the Ireland skipper explained. “But that 25-minute period in the middle of the second half was where we just weren’t good enough – our collisions, our discipline.