THE NEW-FOUND RUGBY stronghold of West Cork produces another bright, young talent. Just as Fineen Wycherley put his hometown of Bantry on the map with his performances in green last year, James French is striving to do the same tonight.
Bandon born and bred, the Ireland U20s prop has made rapid progress in his development over the last 12 months after switching from centre to the front row via a spell as a big ball-carrying back row.
The 19-year-old starts his first game of the Six Nations this evening when Noel McNamara’s side host Scotland at Donnybrook, with French rewarded for his hard work over the last few weeks both on the training paddock and in the analysis room.
He is still very much in the learning phase of his career having only reverted to the loosehead prop position during his Leaving Cert year in Bandon Grammar School, but French has learned a huge amount already during his time in camp with the U20s.
“I grew up playing in the centre and then I switched to back row,” he explains. “I played in the back row until fifth year so I’m quite confident with the ball in my hands. I was told by Munster coaches I wouldn’t make it in the back row.
“I knew it was coming, to be honest. I knew it was coming. At the start I didn’t like it [prop] and it probably took me a year or two to get fond of it. With scrummaging you have to really love it. I do like it now but it took me a while to be honest.”
French stood out during his time in Bandon GS and when ex-Narbonne and Bordeaux coach Regis Sonnes arrived in West Cork to oversee the director of rugby roles for both the secondary school and club, he took his game to the next level.
“When I went into school in first year, we were a ‘B’ school and we had a very good team,” he explains. “We were known for getting there but never really did until fourth year and then we went to ‘A’ standard. That’s when we made the breakthrough and there’s a lot of players coming through now.
“I really enjoyed my time in the school to be honest, I take a lot of pride in it.
“When Regis came in we were all shocked and excited. It was unbelievable, he’s so good. When I was in sixth year, we did training sessions together [school and club].
“Down on the pitch three times a week, doing video. Like he brought in things I had never really heard of before. Just his attention to detail in the lineout and scrums. Things you wouldn’t think about and it made me think outside the box.”
After overcoming the initial challenges of the transition to the front row, French took the change in his stride and has worked meticulously during this Six Nations campaign with Paul O’Connell and the rest of the props to absorb as much information as he can.
It has been a gradual learning process, with French’s penchant to get his hands on the ball distracting him from his primary roles in the scrum and lineout, but the UCC student has already seen huge improvements in recent weeks.
He gets his big chance tonight.
“I’m definitely working hard, I mean I’m wrecked after every training but the main thing is the experience of the scrummaging,” he says. “All the other front rows are probably more experienced having gone up through school in that position.
“It was only in sixth year when I played as prop for a full season and with UCC I’ve only played a handful of games with the senior team. It’s just experience but even from when I first started in this campaign, I feel like I’ve improved.
“I’m up against Jack Aungier, he’s a big scrummager, and at the start he was always going back on me every scrum but now I’m holding myself, even driving him back sometimes. There’s a big improvement there.”
By his own admission, French — who is in Munster’s sub-academy — just wants to get his hands on the ball and having put his head down to catch up with the rest of the props in the squad with scrummaging technique, he has become a dynamic and athletic option at loosehead.
Raised on a dairy farm, French has a naturally powerful build and his strength is evident when he speaks of his time as an All-Ireland schoolboy shot put champion during his formative years in Bandon GS.
“I went from first year to fifth year being unbeaten in Munster,” he recalls.
“I know Cian Healy used to do it. If you win the All-Ireland you get a big trophy, and I was going through the winners on it and I saw Cian Healy back in the day. I saw I beat him by 30 centimetres so I was delighted.”
The focus is very much on rugby now, however.
“I’ve worked hard on my scrummaging and I’m quite confident in my ball-carrying and my all-round kind of pitch ability.
“It’ll be a good challenge tonight, we’ll have to be on our toes against Scotland and we’re looking forward to it. They did a good job on England in the scrum so we’ll have to go after them there.”
After the defeat to Wales last time out, it’s no surprise McNamara has rung the changes for the round four clash [KO 7.15pm, RTÉ2] with the head coach making seven changes, including the inclusion of French and tighthead Tom O’Toole for the first time.
With the World Cup just three months away, the next two games provide the players the perfect chance to stake their claim for this summer’s tournament and gain valuable exposure and experience at international level.
For French, minutes in the number one jersey will be worth their weight in gold.
Ireland:
15. Michael Silvester (Dublin University/Leinster)
14. Angus Kernohan (Ballymena/Ulster)
13. Tommy O’Brien (UCD/Leinster) (captain)
12. Angus Curtis (Queen’s University/Ulster)
11. Mark Keane (Queen’s University/Ulster)
10. Harry Byrne (UCD/Leinster)
9. Hugh O’Sullivan (Clontarf/Leinster)
1. James French (UCC RFC/Munster)
2. Ronan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster)
3. Tom O’Toole (Banbridge/Ulster)
4. Matthew Dalton (Malone/Ulster)
5. Jack Dunne (Dublin University/Leinster)
6. Joe Dunleavy (Malone/Ulster)
7. Matthew Agnew (Ballymena/Ulster)
8. Jack O’Sullivan (UCC/Munster)
Replacements:
16. AN Other
17. Jordan Duggan (Naas/Leinster)
18. Jack Aungier (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
19. Charlie Ryan (UCD/Leinster)
20. Ronan Foley (UCD/Leinster)
21. Jonny Stewart (Queen’s University/Ulster)
22. Conor Dean (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
23. James Hume (Banbridge/Ulster)
Scotland:
15. Paddy Dewhirst (Ayr)
14. Rory McMichael (Glasgow Hawks)
13. Fraser Strachan (Northampton Saints)
12. Stafford McDowall (Ayr)
11. Kyle Rowe (Glasgow Hawks)
10. Ross Thompson (Glasgow Hawks)
9. Charlie Chapman (Gloucester)
1. Shaun Gunn (Edinburgh Accies)
2. Robbie Smith (Ayr) (captain)
3. Finlay Richardson (Edinburgh Accies)
4. Ewan Johnson (Racing 92)
5. Jamie Hodgson (Watsonains)
6. Martin Hughes (Heriots)
7. Rory Darge (Melrose)
8. Devante Onojaife (Northampton Saints)
Replacements:
16. Bradley Clements (Ealing)
17. Nathan McBeth (Lions)
18. Murphy Walker (Dundee HSFP)
19. Marshall Sykes (St Joseph’s College / Northampton Saints)
20. Connor Boyle (Stewart’s Melville College)
21. Kaleem Barreto (Marr)
22. Mark New (Glasgow Hawks)
23. Logan Trotter (Stirling County)
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