Castaignede raring to go
Thomas Castaignede admits it has been hard watching France endure a stuttering start to their Six Nations campaign as he prepares to make his tournament bow against Italy on Saturday.
The Saracens star was forced to miss Les Bleus' opening two encounters after aggravating a thigh injury, but is one of three changes from the side that almost blew a 43-3 lead against Ireland a fortnight ago before hanging on for a 43-31 win.
That followed a shock 20-16 opening weekend defeat to Scotland, which blew the pre-tournament favourites’ chances of the Grand Slam.
“We experienced a tough match against Scotland, who have shown the extent of their progress,” said Castaignede, who comes in at full-back, with Christophe Dominici switching to wing in place of Cedric Heymans, despite the Toulouse man’s two-try show against Ireland.
“Against Ireland we played brilliantly for 50 minutes and then, because of the pressure and the lack of concentration, we ailed to kill the match.”
The aftermath of the mini-collapse against Ireland has produced many theories as to what went wrong, but Castaignede reckons the explanation is simple – a lack of confidence in a usually extrovert French side.
He said: “I don’t think we suffered any physical problems at all, we just completely lost our confidence.
“We relaxed in the second half and against players like the Irish, who are very proud, it ended up a weird match even though we won eventually.”
The 30-year-old, whose internatonal career has undergone something of a renaissance in recent months, was expected to play Les Bleus’ opener at Murrayfield but a niggly thigh blow reared its ugly head again.
“It was hard for me to see the team play without me,” said Castaignede, who was a key member of France’s successful November Test matches against Australia, Canada, Tonga and South Africa.
“It was hard to pull out. I suffered two consecutive problems with my thigh. It got aggravated. I had to make a choice. That’s sport.”
