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Thomas Castaignède has fond memories of playing against Ireland. Darren Kidd
Interview

'This is a good team, but not the best Ireland team we’ve seen in the last 10 years'

Former French star Thomas Castaignède spoke to The42 ahead of the weekend’s big game.

FORMER FRENCH FLY-HALF Thomas Castaignède is expecting a tight game when Ireland host France in the Six Nations later today.

Castaignède feels neither team was overly impressive despite registering wins in their respective opening encounters last weekend.

His own country laboured to a 15-8 victory over Scotland in Paris last weekend, and Castaignède acknowledges that the French need to improve considerably.

“I’m pretty sure that in the game against Ireland, you’ll see a better French team,” he tells The42. “The coach didn’t change so many players [from the starting XV against Scotland], so the players will have the experience of one game together and a few weeks together, and they will have more confidence in each other.

“They will know how the other players react and the strength we had in that game, the quality of defence will be kept for the manager to deliver a big point in attack, so I’m pretty sure we can do something in Ireland.”

Like France, Castaignède also believes Ireland were far from impressive in their defeat of Italy last weekend.

“I’ve been very disappointed by Ireland too. I watched the game in Italy. Italy are a special team. They can only expect things to be done by Parisse, who is the main player. In that game, he was okay, but not at his top level — he cannot be magic all the time. But I think Ireland were quite average. They didn’t play very well. Their organisation was pretty poor and I think they were lucky to score the two tries at the end — the score was quite flattering.

“So I don’t think they have much of an advantage to the French team. They are not much better. They have the chance to play at home, especially with the Irish supporters, it’s a big advantage. They’re quite supportive of the team.”

Asked if there are any Irish players that the French are particularly wary of ahead of the game, Castaignède singles out Rob Kearney among others for praise.

“Kearney is definitely someone who has experience at the highest level. Murray playing scrumhalf brings more leadership into the team and O’Connell is still there. He’s still a very good player even though he may not be the younger player we knew in the past and maybe his body is a bit worn out and he’s not as strong as he was.

“So this is a good team but not the best Ireland team we’ve seen in the last 10 years.”

In recent times, despite the occasional famous Irish victory, France have had a largely excellent record against their opponents. Since the Six Nations era started in 2000, Ireland have beaten France just five times, while the French have won 12 of the teams’ encounters. Why is it that Les Bleus, often associated with inconsistency, so often seem at their best when playing Ireland?

“What is exciting about playing Ireland is that they never close the game,” Castaignède says. “They had strong forwards but the quality was really in the backs, with big players like O’Driscoll and O’Gara making the difference. They tended to send the ball to these players and to play, and that’s what we love in the French team, because every time you played against them, you knew that they were trying to move the ball a lot, so you thought at one stage, gaps were going to be created in their defence, because they were giving so much in attack that they were maybe going to be a bit tired in defence.

“But last year, we were very disappointed for the French team when we lost at home against Ireland. If we lose this game as well, it will be bad for our tournament but also for the World Cup, because we have Ireland in the group. To lose the last two games in the Six Nations will make it difficult psychologically to go to the World Cup and be considered favourites.”

Ruddy Darter / YouTube

Castaignède, of course, has some fond memories of playing in Ireland, in particular, a late kick that sealed a 10-9 victory in the Five Nations in 1999 (see above) — a game he admits was “poor” in quality

The former fly-half also speaks fondly of the old Lansdowne Road, and believes the Aviva Stadium currently pales in comparison.

“It was something I’d never experienced in the world of rugby. And I’m a bit disappointed by the Aviva Stadium. It’s different to what it was at Lansdowne Road. The power and the strength of the crowd at Lansdowne Road had an impact on the opponents, whereas the Aviva is a little bit more like the Stade de France. This stadium needs to have a history of games — it will come maybe in the future, but it’s not there yet.”

Shoulder to Shoulder for Ireland v England

French rugby legend Thomas Castaignède teamed up with Guinness, A Proud Partner of Irish Rugby and the RBS 6 Nations, to announce the next epic rugby experience for rugby fans available through the Guinness Plus App. Rugby fans who ‘check-in’ to the pub on the day of the Ireland v France match will be in with a chance to win an incredible VIP prize to take two friends to the Ireland v England RBS Six Nations game. The winner will enjoy a four course gourmet meal, match tickets, pre match celebrity guest speaker, and interviews with current Irish players during the post-match reception.

The Guinness Plus App is available to download for iPhone and Android Smartphones from the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store now.

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