Does the rugby world expect too much of the French too soon?
‘Only the fabulous French can do this’ read a headline seven years ago, after the French had just come back from 24-10 behind to beat World Cup favourites New Zealand 43-31 in the semi-final. Before this Six Nations tournament, the general expectation was that only the fabulous French had a chance of taking a Grand Slam. Bernard Laporte had too many quality backs to choose from, a phalanx of gnarled forwards and a troop of young emerging talent to make even the most hardened rugby hack tremble with anticipation. So…where were they all? They certainly weren’t in Scotland, where France could find nothing fabulous enough to break down the sterling Scottish defence. There were brief flashes against Ireland – although everything the French had in that match was served up to them with a side order of pommes frites and a small ornate salad. Laporte’s team eventually got so bored and disinterested that Ireland nearly won. When the favourites came up against wooden spoon favourites Italy in P
