O'Sullivan wary of French threat
Eddie O’Sullivan is braced for a French backlash when Ireland resume their RBS 6 Nations campaign in Paris on Saturday.
Scotland’s stunning 20-16 triumph over Les Bleus at Murrayfield has placed a huge question mark over the tournament favourites’ title credentials.
And O’Sullivan knows that Ireland will now bear the brunt of France’s determination to prove last Sunday’s Edinburgh debacle was just a temporary setback.
“France will be disappointed with their performance. They expected a better performance than they got,” said the Ireland coach.
“They made a lot of unforced errors and I have no doubt there will be a backlash from them.
“They will want to set things right on Saturday in Paris. They will make some changes because of injury and to freshen things up.
“Anyone who is picked by France next weekend will not want to leave anything in the locker.
“Scotland put pressure on France and capitalised on their errors. I am not taking any credit away from Scotland because it was a good victory.
“But France will be disappointed with their performance at the same time.”
Scotland fans who made the trip to Murrayfield were treated to the rare sight of France’s pack being bullied, especially during rolling mauls.
But O’Sullivan does not expect Bernard Laporte’s side to be so brittle in their Paris stronghold.
“Scotland mauled well but I suspect they probably caught France cold with that maul,” he said.
“You don’t expect to see France mauled around the park and I don’t think it will happen in France.”
Ireland have their own pride to restore following Saturday’s dismal opening performance against Italy.
The Azzurri were dispatched 26-16 but gave Ireland a torrid time, shutting their vaunted backline out of the game with some ferocious hits in midfield.
Even with gamebreakers such as Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy, their efforts to unlock the Italian defence failed miserably and O’Sullivan wants to see a more clinical touch.
“We need to be smarter over where we attack. France are a different team to Italy,” he said.
“They have different strengths and weaknesses, so it will be a slightly different gameplan.
“Again we will have to be more accurate in our execution. There were times against Italy when we did not finish things off.”
O’Sullivan yesterday named an unchanged side to face France but could be forced to make one alteration with Denis Leamy appearing before a disciplinary hearing in London tonight.
Leamy has been cited for an alleged stamp on Italy scrum-half Paul Griffen and if guilty faces a suspension of between six and 12 weeks, ending his Six Nations.
Anthony Foley, who was dropped for the November internationals and has not appeared for Ireland since, is on standby to replace his Munster colleague.
“We will hear the result tonight. If he’s cleared he will play on Saturday. Anthony Foley will start if he is not cleared,” said O’Sullivan.
