Pool D / France v Namibia:France appear to have overcooked the emotional goose in the preamble to their opening defeat against Argentina. But in the much discussed absence of their regular psychologist, the hoary old remedy of "a change is as good as a rest" may be just what the doctor recommends.
The Stade de France can be a curiously cold place, not only lacking in typical French partisanship but where the crowd can just as easily vent their frustration at the home side. Hence Bernard Laporte's famous labelling of the Parisian crowd as bourgeoisie s***s after Ireland's attempted comeback against them two seasons ago.
Moving to Toulouse, especially, is probably ideal. Toulouse may be the outcasts in some respects, with Guy Noves and co constantly at war with Bernard Laporte, whose Anglo-Saxonising of les bleus is seen as sacrilegious. Further miffed by the slim hand the organisers dealt them in this World Cup, they are, however, the aristocrats of the French club game, and in the national team's hour of need, the 33,000 capacity crowd in Le Stadium tomorrow will surely rally to the cause - all the more so with eight Toulousain men in the line-up.
It's not only the rugby team that needs a lift. Worried frowns inspect the front page of L'Equipe over their cafes and cigarettes, as a sporting nation prepares to slit its collective wrists. "Debout Les Bleus", ran the sports daily's page one heading, with pictures from the rugby team's defeat to Argentina last Friday, the footballers' 1-0 loss to the Scots, their male volleyballers 3-0 loss to Germany which knocked them out of the European Championships and, on Thursday, their male basketballers' 75-71 defeat to Russia in the quarter-finals of the European Championships.
The pink city will take pride in giving the team every support, and a break from their Marcoussis ("Marcatraz") base, where rumour has it the players are bored out of their minds, to a proper rugby city will refresh them as much as the 11 changes. It's also noticeably younger and pacier than the side that lost to Argentina, the average age of which (30 years and 288 days) was the oldest in World Cup history.
France are unbeaten in Toulouse since a 19-7 defeat by New Zealand in 1986, even if they have only beaten New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga in the city since then. Extending that run, and handsomely, should not be too troublesome a task. These are men on personal as well as a collective mission - none more so than Clement Poitrenaud.
"Of course, it's no coincidence. We took that into account. They will be playing at home," said Laporte. If he's being given credit for that, it's about all. Quite what a thumping win against more modest opposition in less pressurised environs will achieve is a moot point. About the only names cast in stone to meet Ireland are Pieter de Villiers, Raphael Ibanez, Serge Betsen and Aurelien Rougerie.
Everything else, much like the hosts and a country's well-being is up for grabs.
FRANCE: C Poitrenaud; V Clerc, D Marty, D Traille, C Heymans; F Michalak, J-B Elissalde (c); J-B Poux, D Szarzewski, P de Villiers; S Chabal, L Nallet; Y Nyanga, T Dusautoir, J Bonnaire. Replacements: R Ibanez, N Mas, F Pelous, I Harinordoquy, L Beauxis, Y Jauzion, A Rougerie.
NAMIBIA: T Losper; R Witbooi, B Langenhoven, P van Zyl, H Bock, E Wessels, J van Tonder; K Lensing (c), H Horn, J du Toit; W Kazombiaze, N Esterhuize; J Burger, M MacKenzie, J Nieuwenhuis; Replacements: J Meyer, J Redelinghuys, H Lindvelt, T du Plessis, E Jantjies, L-W Botes, Melrick Africa.
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Head-to-heads: France 47 Namibia 13, Bordeaux, RWC 1999.
Handicap betting(Paddy Power): Namibia +58pts _ France 10/11, 25/1 Draw, Namibia 10/11.
Forecast:France to cut loose, but come short of the handicap.
