Coach Philippe Saint-André has welcomed France's underdog status in Saturday's Six Nations clash with England, saying it could work in their favour.
The pre-tournament favourites have had their worst start to the championship since 1982, but Saint-André reckons his players will thrive in their role as outsiders.
"The English will start favourites," he said.
"We will have to show all our qualities of being French on Saturday - that means being brave, daring, unpredictable and to take the fight to them.
"When we are able to do that, we are able to pose problems for any team in the world.
"To be honest, it's always a good thing when we French have our backs to the wall. That forces us to regroup and to better prepare individually for what will be a bruising contest.
"Often, the French rugby team has proved to be better when labelled as outsiders rather than favourites."
There are eight changes to the Bleus side that lost to Wales in Paris, notably in the half-backs where Morgan Parra and François Trinh-Duc replacing Maxime Machenaud and Frederic Michalak.
"After two defeats in the tournament, we wanted competition and freshness in the squad," said Saint-André said.
"We have to have the freshness and enthusiasm. We will be prepared to fight a lot in Twickenham.
"We are making logical preparations for the next World Cup," added the 45-year-old.
"And we cannot go to a World Cup with a single half-back pairing.
"We really wanted to see Francois Trinh-Duc at the start and it was not possible. In addition, they know each other well, he and Morgan Parra.
"Frederic has played a lot. He played the last six matches. It is normal that he lacks freshness. But the week of rest served him well and we will need everyone. We also wanted to take off some of the pressure."
Comments
ArmchairGeneral says...
"We will have to show all our qualities of being French on Saturday - that means being brave, daring, unpredictable and to take the fight to them." ...
Posted 13:04 22nd February 2013
Iyhel says...
For the French-reading, there an interesting letter from Wayne Smith to Pierre Villepreux on rugbyrama's website.
In brief, Smith was really disappointed of the level of the France-Wales game (who wasn't?) and believes that the much vaunted French flair has become a fairy tale of the past, essentially because of the conscious selection of back players with no creativity, creativity which is not any more nurtured. And the players with some creative potential (Michalak or Fofana) didn't get any ball due to restrictive tactics anyway.
Posted 10:42 22nd February 2013
rugby_rockstar says...
I'm getting nostalgic with all this fighting talk from the opposition. I've missed it. For ten years, its been kinda bland interviews from sides knowing they'll stuff England or have a decent chance of beating us, but this year, teams have sat up and taken notice an they are a little scared of England. They know they have to be at their best, but they are not sure if that will be enough to stop England if we play our best. England are in for a fight but they should also know if they get the application right then the result will follow. Look after your own performance England and make France earn the win with a superlative performance. If they are good enough then well done France. That'll be a talking point the pub for the rest of the year. We'll see on Saturday though. Bring it on.
Posted 10:08 22nd February 2013
froggy73 says...
"France better as underdogs": there is nothing to be proud of, Mr PSA. If you had been smart enough, or should I say not silly enough, we might have had 2 wins so far instead of 2 deserved losses.
Posted 07:55 22nd February 2013
melkdave says...
I for one dont think France are underdogs,unpridictable maybe but IF and its always a IF with France they play to their potential.They can beat anyone and everyone I suspect that if they had played the ABs in the aurtum ,they most probily would have won that aswell,they played that well..Maybe its hubris ,they play well and think they are unbeatable,then come a cropper ,i just dont know,and i expect niether do most posters or french fans .One thing is for sure,after losing their 2 games so far,they will be hurting,and wanting to show just how good they are.Going to be a hell of a hard game this weekend ,hopefully a cracker But France underdogs ,i dont think so.
Posted 20:41 21st February 2013
Egbert says...
France to win by 30 points
Posted 19:47 21st February 2013