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Rugby World Cup 2011
Palmer keen to expose French frailty
ESPNscrum Staff
October 5, 2011
Tom Palmer hopes to seize on the uncertainty within the French camp © Getty Images


The England lock has spent the last two years playing for Stade Francais and understands the French psyche better than anyone in the red rose squad. France, who lost to Tonga last weekend, appear to be in a state of disarray, with coach Marc Lievremont openly criticising his players and vice versa.

Comparisons have been drawn between Lievremont's squad and the French football team, who went on strike at the 2010 World Cup after Nicolas Anelka was sent home. The French players are understood to have held a summit meeting on Tuesday in a bid bring a sense of unity to the squad ahead of the showdown with England.

Palmer believes that could make them dangerous - but he also knows how damaging a fast start from England could be to their belief.

"From my knowledge of French guys and what their psyches' like, it tends to be that if things don't go their way or things aren't going too well they do make quite a lot out of it," said Palmer. "It happens to the French. Look at their football team in the World Cup as well.

"In my experience, especially my first season in France at Stade, we weren't particularly mentally strong as a group and if things started to go wrong then we folded fairly easily.

"You can just feel when your team, people aren't supporting you, people aren't talking, people just go missing a little bit. But France will be hugely committed to this match. They'll see this as another chance.

"Things haven't gone too well, they lost two games in the pool, but they are still in a quarter-final. All that's come before them is kind of irrelevant now because it's kind of a one-off match. I imagine that once they understand that.

"It's a huge motivation for them. It would be foolish of us to think they lost to Tonga they'll lose again. They'll raise their game for us."


"Every time we play against France it's a tough match. Just look at the history of games between the teams - it will be exactly the same on Saturday," said Palmer. "I think there is more to come from England. The best we've played in the whole period was that (warm-up) game against Ireland and we need to go and replicate that.

"The second half against Scotland we actually played some very good stuff."

England manager Martin Johnson will name his side to play France overnight, with Jonny Wilkinson set to continue at fly-half. Wilkinson eased concerns over an elbow injury by taking part in training yesterday, although Mike Tindall missed the session with a dead leg.

If Tindall fails to make it, Johnson must decide whether to start with Toby Flood at inside centre or return to Shontayne Hape.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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