PARIS (AP) — Captain Antoine Dupont has sensed a better attitude and attention by his France teammates as they try and satisfy a second shot at lifting the Six Nations trophy on Saturday.
France host England at the Stade de France in the championship curtain-closer knowing a bonus-point win should be enough. The permutation will be clearer after title rivals Ireland and Scotland square off hours earlier in Dublin.
The French were expected to clinch last Saturday but suffered a staggering 50-40 defeat to Scotland at Murrayfield, wiping out a Grand Slam bid. They came from 47-14 down to claim a vital four-try bonus point.
Recalling their preparation for Scotland, Dupont said on Friday there was “maybe a drop in concentration, a drop in determination.”
“I’ve definitely felt a good energy this week. More focus than the Scotland week,” the scrumhalf said at the captain’s run. “It’s always a tough week after performances like that but we’ve been through this before.
“We’re capable of winning the tournament tomorrow so it’s been easy to quickly switch gears and get our motivation back because there really is a great objective to achieve.
“If we win the tournament we’ll forget a lot of what happened before, whether it was the good start or the disappointing match in Edinburgh. Once you’ve won, all you remember is the winner’s name and the trophy. Maybe when we look back in 10 years we’ll obviously regret that a Grand Slam is always better.
“But a tournament (win) is still a title and it’s already so hard to win that. It would be incredible to win it.”
France seek consecutive titles for the first time since 2006-07, and a record eighth crown in the Six Nations era.
Dupont wasn’t paying any mind to England’s calamities. England was in danger of losing four matches in a single championship for the first time in 50 years.
England said before the championship it wanted to reach Paris fighting for the title, but that hope was destroyed by emphatic defeats against Scotland at Murrayfield and Ireland at Twickenham followed by a new low — a first ever loss to Italy last weekend in Rome.
“You always have to be wary of England,” Dupont said. “We know how difficult this competition is. We know that from one week to another the teams can look completely different.
“They are very experienced with some very strong individuals who know how to rise to the occasion in big matches. So even if they’re not playing for the title this match still has a lot at stake for them.
“They have players who, even if they’ve been inconsistent during the Six Nations, are capable of being very dangerous and especially very physical. So we have to be able to stand up to that.”
To celebrate the 120th anniversary of Le Crunch, France will wear a special jersey in the same pale blue as that worn by the 1906 French team. England won that first match 35-8 at the Parc des Princes. France didn’t beat England until 1927.
The overall record between them is 61 wins for England, 44 for France and seven draws. England has not beaten France on French soil in 10 years.
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