[2013 EOYT] France

[Big Ewis]

Here's our schedule, to refresh our (failing) memories:
- November 9th: New Zealand
- November 16th: Tonga
- November 23rd: South Africa

We're on a losing streak against all 3, and they all represent an opportunity for redemption.
* NZ: despite the 30-0 game where we were just that '13 6N team that couldn't do anything right despite good pieces on paper throughout (except at 10 !), from the 2011 Final til now we've shown some way-above-average resistance in those last 4 tests. We may not win this, but I do think it'll be a tight game again...but we start off against them, so that's a little bit of a challenge in itself...

* Tonga: should be a fun game. But this time, we should punish them tbh, though I know they've come a long way since a few years ago. Maybe a great 40, even 60min from them but the score really shouldn't look tight at the end.

* South Africa: the 2000's decade has been near perfect for us against them, but to start off the new decade in 2010 they inflicted a 42-17 on us in Cape. Again I can't see a thrashing in this one if SA do win, but they seem to have regained that formidable potency once again (because they were utterly unimpressive in 2012).

It will be very interesting to pay close attention to the Top14 this year, as I feel there are more potential selections waiting to happen in a wide-open hunt than other seasons where some guys basically were already handed their test number before the Tours.
It will be especially interesting to see what Saint-André does for the entire backs section and half-backs. Inject all that new blood (Fall, Dulin, Butin, Nakaitaci, Fickou, and Tales/Lopez...) or go old school with Clerc, Huget...and, yikes, Michalak at 10 ?....

 

[BasqueBete]

France will beat the all AIgs,

If they don't beat them, at least put your house on any plus cap the bookies offer

Le revanche.....

 

[BasqueBete]

The dish is cold enough now...time to be served

Assiette de charcuterie..

 

[Big Ewis]

The dish is cold enough now...time to be served

Assiette de charcuterie..

lol, wth is going on here ?!

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Here's our schedule, to refresh our (failing) memories:
- November 9th: New Zealand
- November 16th: Tonga
- November 23rd: South Africa

We're on a losing streak against all 3, and they all represent an opportunity for redemption.
* NZ: despite the 30-0 game where we were just that '13 6N team that couldn't do anything right despite good pieces on paper throughout (except at 10 !), from the 2011 Final til now we've shown some way-above-average resistance in those last 4 tests. We may not win this, but I do think it'll be a tight game again...but we start off against them, so that's a little bit of a challenge in itself...

* Tonga: should be a fun game. But this time, we should punish them tbh, though I know they've come a long way since a few years ago. Maybe a great 40, even 60min from them but the score really shouldn't look tight at the end.

* South Africa: the 2000's decade has been near perfect for us against them, but to start off the new decade in 2010 they inflicted a 42-17 on us in Cape. Again I can't see a thrashing in this one if SA do win, but they seem to have regained that formidable potency once again (because they were utterly unimpressive in 2012).

It will be very interesting to pay close attention to the Top14 this year, as I feel there are more potential selections waiting to happen in a wide-open hunt than other seasons where some guys basically were already handed their test number before the Tours.
It will be especially interesting to see what Saint-André does for the entire backs section and half-backs. Inject all that new blood (Fall, Dulin, Butin, Nakaitaci, Fickou, and Tales/Lopez...) or go old school with Clerc, Huget...and, yikes, Michalak at 10 ?....

Whats your predicted or strongest 23 then for the AI's?

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

A home game for half of the SA team.

TBH I have no idea what to expect between SA and France in France though I do expect a narrow inning margin (which team though?).

 

[Big Ewis]

Whats your predicted or strongest 23 then for the AI's?

ugghhh....that's a lot of work man ! That question you're asking me...
I've got most the team in mind, with some hesitation here and there, but I honestly don't know yet for certain positions like I said in that original post: go old school or try the young bloods. Is Fickou ripe enough yet ? Can we use Christopher Tolofua at hooker yet, or does Szar pay off with his huge experience ?...

Our loose forwards selection will be an interesting discussion: Picamoles at no.8, no doubt. But then, we've got Ouedraogo, Nyanga, Dusautoir of course. Guys like Claassen from Castres, or Chouly may show a good season this year...each with his own faults and qualities..

And I'm not sure what combination is safe really at half-back..I'd like Para+Tales, but do they fit ?

And Debatty is fantastic off the bench as a running prop, guy sits opponents down with them fends. But it's a gamble. Shouldn't we have a Yannick Forestier in his stead perhaps ?

 

[BasqueBete]

Revenge is a dish best served cold...

Like a plate of cold meats...

 

[Big Ewis]

Revenge is a dish best served cold...

Like a plate of cold meats...

right...lol, now it makes sense.
Well we won't lose all 3, that's for sure. But will we beat any of NZ or SA, not so sure....we may very well come close both times but simply, just, NOT win.

I mean we're still a highly experimental int'l side. We haven't had a stable lineup since the World Cup. But if all goes according to what I'd imagine, I'd predict 2 of 3.

We haven't played the Boers since 2010, so this is a long time coming, will be a very tasty, 'exotic' match-up....












and I hope we beat the crap out of them : p

 

[Big Ewis]

Two new faces for France: Slimani at prop and Guitoune at FB.

Forwards: Vincent Debaty, Thomas Domingo, Benjamin Kayser, Dimitri Szarzewski, Nicolas Mas, Rabah Slimani, Alexandre Flanquart, Yoann Maestri, Pascal Papé, Sébastien Vahaamahina, Yannick Nyanga, Fulgence Ouedraogo, Louis Picamoles, Damien Chouly, Thierry Dusautoir, Bernard Le Roux


Backs: Jean-Marc Doussain, Maxime Machenaud, Morgan Parra, Camille Lopez, Rémi Tales, Mathieu Bastareaud, Gaël Fickou, Wesley Fofana, Florian Fritz, Maxime Mermoz, Maxime Médard, Sofiane Guitoune, Brice Dulin, Yoann Huget.

Maybe Buttin (from ASM) should be here at FB...dude's got some serious attacking mentality and physical ability, and he can off-load. Honestly dunno about him under the high ball...but boy's got some legs.
But they're giving Guitoune the nod...ok, let's see..

P.S.: glad to see Fritz picked again. He's often under-rated, and doesn't look like it as he's not physically intimidating, but he's tough as nails and will break through every so often.

 

[welshglory]

Good to see that Trinh-duc has been dropped as well. He's way over hyped by the English speaking media.

Some good options coming out of France at 10 imo, probably the best we've seen yet.

Lopez is one of the most complete flyhalves i've seen from France. Probably needs to work on his defence and attack at international level. But his composure and kicking game is excellent.
Plisson has looked great for Stade Francais so far as well, too early for him to be the starting 10 but he'll grow. There's no better player to learn from about game management than Morne Steyn, so having him mentor him will be a great thing.

 

[ZeFrenchy]

Surprises (for me at least) are Slimani and Plisson (his absence, in this case). Maybe PSA is moving on from Ducalcon? Also Flanquart and Vahaamahina are preferred to Taofifenua, while Pierre Jacquet and Millo-Chluski are probably never coming back. I don't know in which of those two groups I'd put Suta (I think his call-up was a mistake...)

Also, I think it's interesting the way it is presented. It suggests that Ouedraogo/Nyanga and Dusautoir/Le Roux are either/or, while Medard is seen more as a winger while Huget more as a FB.

Maybe I'm reading a bit too much into it

 

[ratsapprentice]

Slimani benefiting from the new scrum?

I like his name... he sounds like a villain from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

 

[ZeFrenchy]

He was quite good last year too, he has benefited from specializing at tighthead and from PSA wanting to try something else, after an unsatisfactory cameo by Kotze and losing his patience vis-a-vis Ducalcon.

 

[Big Ewis]

Surprises (for me at least) are Slimani and Plisson (his absence, in this case). Maybe PSA is moving on from Ducalcon? Also Flanquart and Vahaamahina are preferred to Taofifenua, while Pierre Jacquet and Millo-Chluski are probably never coming back. I don't know in which of those two groups I'd put Suta (I think his call-up was a mistake...)

Also, I think it's interesting the way it is presented. It suggests that Ouedraogo/Nyanga and Dusautoir/Le Roux are either/or, while Medard is seen more as a winger while Huget more as a FB.

Maybe I'm reading a bit too much into it

no, you may not. I do believe they see Huget as a FB int'lly for some reason. Wing at Toulouse, and then systematically a FB for the Bleus shirt...in defense of this, he WAS one of the rare positive elements (as a 15) in our last 6N.
Médard as a winger definitely.
I do believe Suta was really a trial...never understood the selection too much, but it's not like a lock can destroy a game for you, so I'm just not sure...I know I don't see him much in Toulon even, but they're more loaded than the actual XV de France, so that's no reference !

And I'm personally a bit relieved not seeing Ducalcon's name in there..

Slimani benefiting from the new scrum?

I like his name... he sounds like a villain from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

: p

Good to see that Trinh-duc has been dropped as well. He's way over hyped by the English speaking media.

Some good options coming out of France at 10 imo, probably the best we've seen yet.

Lopez is one of the most complete flyhalves i've seen from France. Probably needs to work on his defence and attack at international level. But his composure and kicking game is excellent.
Plisson has looked great for Stade Francais so far as well, too early for him to be the starting 10 but he'll grow. There's no better player to learn from about game management than Morne Steyn, so having him mentor him will be a great thing.

yes, the 10 position definitely looks a lot less bleak right now. We can finally retire Michalak metaphorically and start thinking ahead and developing the skills of those bright and talented young options. I'm also glad the 15 position is replenishing for us, where we've actually got a choice to pick from this time, as opposed to moving a couple of natural wingers to that position by default !! (Huget, Medard)
And what you're saying about Morné: maybe one of the rare positive elements of such an int'l league we have in France...our guys benefiting from on-the-field and off-the-field tutoring and mentoring of int'l stars and experienced veterans (as opposed to just the french ones..).
Can ONLY enrich our youngsters, can't go wrong there..

Finally: is Trinh-Duc that hyped across the Channel ?? It's funny because he's been consistently "under-selected", esp. during PSAndré's time and currently..I thought he could have brought some good dynamics in NZ last summer, he sure did the last time in 2009 (that insane individual try on like 5 AB's being the prime example of that).


NO.10: from what I've seen, I like Tales and Lopez..

EDIT: P.S.:
I think we're gradually (and pretty fast actually) moving to a stable, truly strong French side finally. I think November 2012 was a prelude for things to come as it's shown we could consistently win and keep a high level of play.
The 6N were this pathetic survival of absolutely ZERO TACTIC and all defense and scrum almost (except the SCO game).
Right now, our holes are filling up, with abundance in fact. We're still in a TOTALLY experimental stage at this point, the half-backs and full-back being especially essential to a game's flow.
But eventually, we'll start scoring tries again, we've just too much talent to remain that 2013 6N side - eventually our game-plan will come to maturity, as will our players, and hopefully our roster can finally cement itself and we'll have strong chemistry with a solid nucleus with new blood injected in as well.

 

[psychic duck]

Good to see that Trinh-duc has been dropped as well. He's way over hyped by the English speaking media.

Some good options coming out of France at 10 imo, probably the best we've seen yet.

Lopez is one of the most complete flyhalves i've seen from France. Probably needs to work on his defence and attack at international level. But his composure and kicking game is excellent.
Plisson has looked great for Stade Francais so far as well, too early for him to be the starting 10 but he'll grow. There's no better player to learn from about game management than Morne Steyn, so having him mentor him will be a great thing.

Agreed on this. He has shown glimpses of brilliance, but has had plenty of chances can't control a game too well and is inadequate behind when the pack doesn't get on the front foot. His reputation benefited from not playing whilst Michalak was struggling. Michalak's performances were put under far more scrutiny and criticism than Trinh-Duc's ever have.

Interesting to see quite a multicultural France squad now, lots of players from different cultures involved.

Vahaamahina - New Caledonia
Dusautoir - Ivory Coast
Nyanga - DR Congo
Ouedraogo - Burkina Faso
Bastareaud - Guadeloupe
Fofana - Mali
Guitoune,Mermoz - Algeria
Fickou - Senegal
Huget - Brazil
Debaty - Belgium
le Roux - South Africa

There's Ben Arous (Nigeria/Tunisia), Nakaitaici (Fiji), Ducalcon (Martinique) from recent squads as well.

 

[Big Ewis]

Interesting to see quite a multicultural France squad now, lots of players from different cultures involved.

Vahaamahina - New Caledonia
Dusautoir - Ivory Coast
Nyanga - DR Congo
Ouedraogo - Burkina Faso
Bastareaud - Guadeloupe
Fofana - Mali
Guitoune,Mermoz - Algeria
Fickou - Senegal
Huget - Brazil
Debaty - Belgium
le Roux - South Africa

There's Ben Arous (Nigeria/Tunisia), Nakaitaici (Fiji), Ducalcon (Martinique) from recent squads as well.

One of the extremely rare positive consequences of having a powerful colonial empire once upon a time ! : p
...the rest though...I'd have gladly done with franco-french players only and closed borders ! (actually, closed to certain people)

Vive la France, while I'm at it, and let's start beating some teams goddamn it !!

 

[Croket66]

But they're giving Guitoune the nod...ok, let's see..

His first three games v Castres, Stade Français and Grenoble

 

[Big Ewis]

^ 1:45 ooooooooooooh dat side-step !!
Is the chick on that chorus on her death bed or just.....well.....mentally retarded ?
Alright, knew he was athletic but the young man's got some moves....granted. Excited to see what he can manage against the big boys in the real spotlight.

oh hey, I was just watching this right now, no arrogance meant, just, enjoy the rugby in this if you will, nice mix guys:



the ol' classics..

 

[Big Ewis]

(not a double-post)

Aight yall:

Piliers (props):
Debaty (Clermont), Domingo (Clermont), Mas (Montpellier), Slimani (Paris)

Talonneurs (*****es):
Kayser (Clermont), Szarzewski (Racing-Métro 92)

Deuxièmes ligne (locks) :
Flanquart (Paris), Maestri (Toulouse), Papé (Paris), Vahaamahina (Perpignan)

Troisièmes ligne (loose forwards):
Chouly (Clermont), Dusautoir (Toulouse), Le Roux (Racing-Métro 92), Nyanga (Toulouse), Ouedraogo (Montpellier), Picamoles (Toulouse)

Demis de mêlée (Scrum halves):
Doussain (Toulouse), Machenaud (Racing-Métro 92), Parra (Clermont)

Demis d'ouverture (fly halves):
Lopez (Perpignan), Tales (Castres)

Centres (ehh....'centers'):
Bastareaud (Toulon), Fickou (Toulouse), Fofana (Clermont), Fritz (Toulouse), Mermoz (Toulon)

Ailiers (teh wing people):
Guitoune (Perpignan), Médard (Toulouse)

Arrières (fullbacks) :
Dulin (Castres) , Huget (Toulouse)


And I.......DISAGREE with the FB. We should give them youngsters some time, make em a stable part of our 23 before the Cup. Happy to see Dulin back though, and Huget has shown he's actually int'l level wearing 15..but Butin !.....