French stars need to get on the same page

HOW will France respond in Rome after losing to England? I don’t believe that French supporters will be feeling that charitable towards their own team after their defeat at Twickenham, and will want to see the record set straight against Italy this afternoon.

- JEREMY GUSCOTT

The trouble with France is we adore and applaud their attacking flair, ambition, and individual brilliance at times, but then they make schoolboy handling errors. No one typifies the brilliance more than Damian Penaud, who almost always finds a way to get over the line, whether it’s from 90 metres or nine centimetres.

However, France head coach Fabien Galthie has decided to drop Penaud and bring in Theo Attissogbe, who did well against Wales. My take on this is that England was just one game, and ok, Penaud’s missed five tackles, but what he can do in attack is exceptional. He is an absolute try machine at Test level, and it’s unwise to overlook that sort of ability.

France still play more as individuals than they do as a team, but when it all clicks, as it did when they ripped England apart with ease two years ago at Twickenham, they are devastatingly good.

The French have enough depth of talent that they do not have to be at the top of their game to beat good teams, and it’s rare that when they are unstructured they drop as many passes as they did at Twickenham a fortnight ago.

Under Galthie they are also a power team up front, whether it’s at the scrums, lineout drives, or ball-carrying. Everything about them is big, but when you look closely, even though their mauling can be good, the French are often a bit loose – and at crucial times, they don’t have the tightness and control of the Irish. The 7-1 bench split against Italy is all about the French pack overpowering the Italian forwards – but the more layered and structured the Azzurri make their defence, the more likely the French will come unstuck.