Warren Gatland highlights what could backfire for France in Six Nations opener against Wales
France scrum-half Antoine Dupont and Wales head coach Warren Gatland.
Wales head coach Warren Gatland believes being overwhelming underdogs ahead of Friday’s Six Nations opener with France in Paris could work in his team’s favour.
Gatland’s troops have their backs against the proverbial wall as they face a daunting task against Les Bleus, who will be brimming with confidence in front of their fervent home fans at the Stade de France.
Wales will be in a desperate mood as they last tasted success at Test level at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France having lost 12 successive internationals since then.
By contrast, France will be favourites to get their Six Nations campaign off to a winning start as they have won their last six encounters against the Welsh.
Despite that statistic, Gatland is quietly confident his charges can cause an upset against Les Bleus.
‘There is probably more pressure and expectation on them’
“We’ve spoken about the fact that ironically there is probably more pressure and expectation on them (France),” he said. “There is expectation from their fans.
“They expect their team to throw the ball around and score tries.”
Wales have been boosted by the return of veteran backline duo Liam Williams and Josh Adams as well as captain and star back-row Jac Morgan with the trio missing large chunks of 2024’s international season due to injuries.
“From experience and my point of view, teams can try a bit too much early on and throw the ball around and that gives you opportunities,” added Gatland.
“We haven’t spoken about the negativity. You try to create a little bit of your own siege mentality where you build that up in your own environment… We want to go out there and play some good rugby.
“We want to go out there and do some things that potentially France aren’t going to expect us to do.”
Gatland singled out France captain Antoine Dupont for special praise and said he has “huge” respect for the 28-year-old who he rates as one of the best scrum-halves to ever play the game.
“He’s definitely up there in terms of that position (scrum-half),” he revealed. “The influence he has on a game, whether he is playing for France or Toulouse, or even with France in the sevens, you can see the impact that he has.
‘He’s got great vision’
“He’s not the biggest person in the world when you are standing next to him, but he’s incredibly quick and he’s powerful, he’s got great vision.
“We’ve spoken about him a little bit, but our whole focus can’t be on him. He’s excellent in terms of staying on his feet and getting the ball away in contact.
“You don’t see him get tackled a huge amount of times, unless he’s potentially in those wider channels.
“He’s got an excellent kicking game, kicks off both feet, so we’ve got a huge amount of respect for him as a player and as a captain.”
Apart from Dupont’s excellence as a rugby player, Gatland also highlighted a key attribute which has helped the player to gain success.
“One of the things I admire about him is just how humble he is as well,” he explained.
“He’s one of those guys who comes from a village… and got recruited by Toulouse, but I think his upbringing sort of defines him as a person.”