France will be keen to put on a show in front of their home fans in Marseille tonight as they take on Namibia. It’s two wins from two so far at the Rugby World Cup for Les Blues, their bid for glory on home soil firmly on track, and there is little chance of it being derailed here.
After a less than convincing win over Uruguay last time out, France have named what is close to a full-strength side tonight. The likes of Antoine Dupont, Thomas Ramos and Damian Penaud return, the full focus very much on Namibia with a fortnight break to come before the final Pool A fixture against Italy.
Namibia have lost all 24 of their World Cup matches and have already been heavily beaten New Zealand and Italy at this tournament. A long night looks to be in store for the African side, who will do well to keep the scoreline respectable.
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Dupont: We are now ready
Antoine Dupont is confident a rested French side can produce their best rugby tonight.
Les Blues made 12 changes for an unconvincing win over Uruguay, but will be hoping the return of their stars brings a return to top-form.
“I’m happy to play. We were several players who needed to recuperate (after the New Zealand game) and we are now ready to deliver, in terms of result and performance,” Dupont said.
One-way traffic…
Two defeats for Namibia so far at the tournamennt – two heavy defeats.
They were beaten 52-8 by Italy, before New Zealand eased to a 71-3 victory last time out.
Now, Namibia, who have made nine changes themselves, come up against what is close to a full-strength French side.
Ominous.
Last night in Pool A…
Italy recovered from a first-half scare as they scored 31 unanswered second-half points to overwhelm Uruguay 38-17 in their Rugby World Cup Pool A game on Wednesday and claim a second consecutive bonus-point win.
Uruguay led 17-7 at the break and were dreaming of a huge upset after a remarkable first half that began well for Italy with a try by Lorenzo Pani but then went badly wrong.
After a penalty try and yellow cards for Niccolo Cannone and Danilo Fischetti, Nicolas Freitas, who scored in last weekend’s 27-12 defeat by France, squeezed in for a second try and Felipe Etcheverry, who missed two penalty attempts, converted it and then landed a drop goal for a shock lead.
Uruguay captain Andres Vilaseca was the next into the sin-bin early in the second half and Italy took full advantage with four tries in 15 minutes by Michele Lamaro, Montanna Ioane, Cannnone and Ignacio Brex as the South Americans tired.
Italy top the Pool A standings with 10 points but still have to play France and New Zealand.
Galthie talks up flexible France
France head coach Fabien Galthie explained his decision to shuffle his pack once again, insisting “adaptability” it key to Les Blues’ World Cup bid.
There were 12 changes for the win over Uruguay last time out, and another 12 for this match as France move back towards the side that beat New Zealand in the tournament oponer.
“Our method is based on adaptability,” Galthie said. “We adapt according to deadlines. It’s Darwin’s theory – the most intelligent species adapts.
“We hear a lot of talk about team compositions. It’s important to remember that we compose our teams on a weekly basis.
“We have a vision of the preparation, rotation, we look at performances, we need everyone.
“The match against the All Blacks was clearly identified. The match was a success for the group, not just for the team. For the match against Uruguay, those who had played the All Blacks needed to recover.”
More of the same?
France faced Namibia at the 2007 World Cup – they were hosts at that tournament too.
Toulouse hosted the match, with Les Blues powering to an 87-10 win. Wouldn’t be a surprise if we saw a similar scoreline tonight…
Ramos: We must respect Namibia
France are expected to pick up a huge win tonight, but full-back Thomas Ramos has urged Les Blues to ensure there is no complacency or sloppy play despite the gulf in class.
“Above all, we want to enjoy it, while paying due respect to Namibia,” Ramos said.
“We want to score points and tries, but that will come through respecting our game and each other.
“We have to be patient. Even if they’re a weaker team on paper, we’re not going to win by giving the ball away. We also want to improve our attacking systems. That’s our target for the match.”
Standard Sport prediction
Galthie would not have been pleased with a heavily-rotated team’s rather lacklustre efforts against Uruguay and it’s not a surprise to see him go back to almost full strength here with a nice break before the Pool A finale against Italy in Lyon on October 6.
He will be looking for another statement victory from his big guns after New Zealand put 71 points on Namibia last time out.
Namibia don’t lack for spirit and determination, but the gulf in class is enormous and they will be in damage limitation mode from the outset once again, no doubt targeting the meeting with Uruguay next Wednesday as their chance to finally impress before heading home.
They’ve never won a World Cup game despite appearing at every tournament since 1999 and that definitely won’t change here. Indeed, Namibia would do very well to keep a strong France side to less than 70 tonight.
France to win by at least 60 points.
