France vs England: Player-vs-Player Ratings
Will France build on their victory over Italy or will England bounce back from their Calcutta Cup loss?
‘Le Crunch’ rarely disappoints and this weekend’s clash promises to deliver, with both teams eager to make an impression and put themselves into the best possible position ahead of the final round of fixtures.
We have rated the two teams that were named earlier today and given our verdict on which side has the advantage in Paris on Saturday.
- Hugo Bonneval 7 vs Anthony Watson 7.5
Watson is certainly capable of being more than a ‘7.5’ at full-back, but the spotlight will be on him with Mike Brown dropped to the bench and France will pepper him with kicks early to test his positioning and reliability under the high ball.
- Benjamin Fall 7.5 vs Jonny May 7.5
Two clinical wings, who are a threat to score at any moment. There are questions over the defence of both players, which is all that holds them back in these ratings. May perhaps shades the form battle, but Fall brings a bit more physicality, should his side be struggling to break the gain-line.
- Mathieu Bastareaud 7.5 vs Ben Te’o 7.5
These feel like horses for courses selections for both sides. With Bastareaud and Te’o both in at outside centre, France and England are sacrificing their ability to get the ball wide quickly, but are bolstering their ability to run through and over the opposition and stop the heavy-carriers on the gain-line.
- Geoffrey Doumayrou 7 vs Owen Farrell 8
Doumayrou is an exciting player and one who excels for La Rochelle, but he is yet to really stamp his authority on the international game. Farrell came out of the Calcutta Cup game with some credit to his name, despite a generally flat and uninspiring performance from England. Expect Farrell to exploit a tiring French defence in the final quarter of the game.
- Remy Grosso 7.5 vs Elliot Daly 8
If Daly shows no rust or ill-effects from his recent injury, he should shade this match-up, with a turn of pace and a kicking game that Grosso can’t match. The Frenchman is not dramatically outgunned, however, and can cause England plenty of problems with his footwork and finishing ability.
- Francois Trinh-Duc 7 vs George Ford 7.5
This might be the most interesting match-up of the game, with Trinh-Duc recalled due to France’s fly-half stocks taking a battering and Ford coming off one of his poorer games in an England jersey. Trinh-Duc could be the swing factor in this, but if you’re a cautious man, the safe money must be on Ford bouncing back with a solid display in Paris.
- Maxime Machenaud 8 vs Danny Care 7
Machenaud has done exceptionally for France so far this tournament, whilst Care has struggled to fill the sizable boots of Ben Youngs. That injection that Care usually brings in the second half has been missing for England, as has the control that Youngs usually brings for the first 60 minutes.
- Jefferson Poirot 7.5 vs Mako Vunipola 8
Vunipola had a relatively quiet game against Scotland and looked fatigued. Coming off a bye week, he should be in a good position to be back at his industrious best. Poirot is no slouch, either, and gets through a mountain of work for France. He is one of the few French tight five forwards you feel could last 80 minutes if it were asked of him.
- Guilhem Guirado 8 vs Jamie George 7.5
It’s not been a blistering season for George, who couldn’t put a foot wrong in 2016/17, and there’s a strong chance the hangover of a British and Irish Lions tour is at play. Nevertheless, this is his opportunity to stake a claim for England’s much-discussed two jersey, he just has to best France’s best player to do it. The French captain is ultra-consistent and, in international rugby, has an advantage over his less experienced opponent.
- Rabah Slimani 7.5 vs Dan Cole 7.5
Cole wins the conditioning battle here, but Slimani is more adept at forcing scrum penalties out of opposition sides and both players will affect the game in different ways. It’s tough to separate them, really. If the game is tight and staccato, the edge could go to Slimani, but if the tempo is pushed and the ball kept in play, it should favour Cole.
- Paul Gabrillagues 7 vs Joe Launchbury 7.5
Launchbury is another English player coming off an uncharacteristically mediocre performance in Edinburgh, but his ability and experience combined are enough to swing this contest in his favour. Gabrillagues is a player of some talent and potential and certainly a player to keep an eye on as France progress and develop, but he is not in Launchbury’s calibre just yet.
- Sébastien Vahaamahina 7.5 vs Maro Itoje 7.5
Vahaamahina’s stock is rising and whilst Itoje’s is not falling, he is another player that looks a bit fatigued following the Lions tour of New Zealand in the summer. Even with that potential fatigue in mind, this is another match-up like Slimani vs Cole, where an open, high-tempo game will favour Itoje, and an arm wrestle will be to Vahaamahina’s benefit.
- Wenceslas Lauret 7 vs Courtney Lawes 7.5
There has been a lot of flak coming Lawes’ way following the loss to Scotland but it should not be forgotten that he has been playing well at blindside for England. He is not the biggest asset in the breakdown contest but if England can get parity in that area, then he brings an impressive skill set to the pitch, regardless of the number on his jersey.
- Yacouba Camara 7.5 vs Chris Robshaw 7.5
Both players have enjoyed good Six Nations campaigns to date, with Camara offering slightly more as a carrier and Robshaw stepping up with his work rate and stamina. A faster tempo would suit Camara’s style of play, but also sap energy and that’s when Robshaw comes into his own. You could flip a coin on this one.
- Marco Tauleigne 8 vs Nathan Hughes 7.5
Hughes looked off the pace in Edinburgh, whilst Tauleigne quietly impressed against Italy, barely making a mistake and helping keep France on the front-foot. Hughes should be in better shape for this game and, with Sam Simmonds on the bench, can go hard and empty the tank, but the Frenchman edges this encounter based on what we have seen so far.
Totals
France – 111.5
England – 113.5
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments