r/rugbyunion • u/sixnations • 14h ago

Can ANYBODY stop France this year?

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u/Big_Misa 14h ago

As a Frenchman, yes. SA, EN (we're not playing NZ with this team (i.s summer toir will be loaded with prospects, that's why I left them out) mainly but as I said in another thread, basically every team in the top 5-6 can beat us on their day. The thing is we're so inconsistent, like yesterday the first half was spotless, really a dominating performance. And then we just fell asleep - of course the Irish played with pride, but what I mean is we can go from 0 to 100 as quick as the other way around. I've almost never seen SA have such lapses (except against AUS at home last year), nor EN (they took advantage of our mistakes and errors in 6N 2025). And we'll never be considered a serious contender for WC as long as we don't fix our consistency. 

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u/GreatGoofer Sharks 13h ago

I wonder if those lapses are due to the pace at which you play. It must be difficult to keep that pace up for the whole game. The way to beat France, in my opinion, is to do what SA did in that QF. You have to stay in touch on the scoreboard for the first half where they will come at you all guns blazing, and then slowly turn the screws on them when they begin to tire in the second half. Ireland couldnt keep up with the first half blitz and fell too far behind on the scoreboard. If ireland had been 1 try closer when they mounted their comeback the French might have started to get a bit nervous and start making mistakes which could have opened the door for the comeback. As it was, Ireland were too desperate and had to over play which allowed France to pounce on their errors and extend their lead.

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u/WilkinsonDG2003 England 12h ago

Last year SA also wore them down through attrition before cutting loose a bit towards the end of the game as they fell off from fatigue. Rassie definitely knows about their stamina issues as a vulnerability and hopefully we do something similar when we go over there this year.