IT IS ALMOST exactly two years since Marc Lievremont kicked off his tenure as head guru of the French XV with an upset win at Murrayfield. As a young coach – he was only 39 – with virtually no experience at the top level, Lievremont had come to Edinburgh with four uncapped players in his side, and only one thought in mind: high-risk rugby. “It was a brand-new team, with a brand-new coaching staff, and a grand total of about three training runs together,” remembers Lievremont. “So we just decided

The gamble paid off, as the French won handsomely (27-6), running in three tries to none with Toulouse winger Vincent Clerc getting two, and his Clermont counterpart Julien Malzieu the other. It was a triumph for Lievremont’s bold experiment, especially as, after the mean-spirited rugby played by the French during the 2007 Rugby World Cup, the former flanker’s unfettered approach was like a breath of fresh air for Les Bleus.

It was, to quote the French revolutionary Georges Danton, “De l’audace, et encore de l’audace, et toujours de l’audace!” (Boldness, and again boldness, and always boldness). But it was just an experiment. And since then Lievremont and his assistant coaches Emile Ntamack and Didier Retiere have naturally taken a more measured approach. In fact, if the French coaching staff have been roundly criticised for using as many as 70 players in the 24 games since they have been in charge, it should be remembered that an unprecedented 56 of those were used in the first season. “We are no longer experimenting!” snaps Lievremont. “I admit that was the case in our first Six Nations tournament, but we have moved on since then. For some time now, we have been working at finding the right balance in our game. By being more pragmatic, but at the same time playing à la française, retaining what we see as the identity of the French game.”

Nevertheless, Lievremont is expecting a difficult start to this year’s campaign, which again starts for the French in Edinburgh. And whereas the Scots are sitting on a historic victory against the Wallabies, Les Bleus – despite their rugged 20-13 win against the Springboks in Toulouse last November – are still smarting from the spectacular 39-12 defeat at the hands of the All Blacks in Marseille.

“The Scots are coming out of a successful autumn series, and an impressive performance against Australia,” observed Lievremont last week at the French training centre at Marcoussis. “The Scots might have changed their coach, but they still retain all the characteristics of Scottish rugby. That is to say, they can be seen as the All Blacks of the Northern Hemisphere. No doubt the New Zealanders have a greater physical presence, and more athletic potential, but with their ability to keep the ball alive, the Scots will be a major challenge for us.”

For the Frenchman, Andy Robinson’s influence at the helm of the Scotland XV has had an undoubted impact on their performance. “Scotland are still very solid in the set-pieces, and we will have to be ready for a real battle up front. No doubt, it is down to the influence of their new coach, but it is the quality of their off-loading, their ability to play in the defence, and the quality of their kicking game that makes them such a threat.”

The main problem for Lievremont, however, is that so much depends on the opening match of the Championship. To play to their potential, to be able to express themselves with the fluidity and free-spirit they showed in Edinburgh two years ago, the French need above all to feel confident in what they are doing. It is perhaps too easy to categorise the French as “confidence players”. But confidence and consistency are the two factors in the Six Nations that determine whether France can once again be the dominant force in European rugby, or whether they will continue to suffer the kind of ignominious defeat they witnessed at Twickenham last year, when they collapsed to a 34-10 loss, after trailing 29-0 at half-time.

“For us, the opening game is the key,” he insists. “We French need to get a good win under our belt.” Insisting that it is perhaps not just a French speciality, he points to the last two Six Nations championships, where both Wales and Ireland built their success on the first day of the competition. “Two years ago, Wales started by pulling off a win at Twickenham, then going on to greater success. And last year, it was the same for Ireland. They only just beat us in the opening game in Dublin, but they scored three tries that day, and that set them up for the rest of the championship.”

Despite the seesaw nature of French performances over the past 24 months, however, Lievremont believes he has the players to make 2010 a successful year for Les Bleus. “The thing with French rugby is that, on our day, we can beat any team in the world. Sure, but on our day, we can also lose to any team in the world,” quips the French coach. “What we are really missing is a bit of confidence, and some real consistency in our performances. Not only do we need to start well, but to win the Championship we also need to be able to put together three top performances in a row.”

Injuries and a suspension have, nevertheless, substantially weakened the French team as, before going into the Championship, four key players will be unavailable for the duration. The centre Maxime Mermoz (shoulder), the utility back Damien Traille (knee) and the loosehead Fabien Barcella (knee) are all out with injury, while first-choice scrum-half Julien Dupuy is currently under a 23-week suspension for eye-gouging in a Heineken Cup game for Stade Français.

Nevertheless, the French pack will be as rugged as ever, with old hands like Sylvain Marconnet, Imanol Harinordoquy, Lionel Nallet and the darling of the media, Sebastien Chabal, while the three-quarter line seen at Murrayfield may well be the most massive ever assembled by the French. Lievremont will not name his team until later this week, but if early indications and current form are anything to go by, the French could quite possibly line up at Murrayfield with the Clermont pairing of Aurélien Rougerie (16 stone) and Julien Malzieu (15 stone) on the wings, and Yannick Jauzion (16st 11lbs) accompanied by the brutish Mathieu Bastareaud (17st 4lbs) in the centre.

Given the gargantuan proportions of their three-quarters, one might presume that the French will shy away from the free-wheeling game they played in Edinburgh on their last visit and keep their cards much closer to their chest. Or that they will return to a form of percentage rugby that Bernard Laporte favoured in the ill-fated 2007 World Cup campaign. But when it comes to French style, Lievremont refuses to consider taking a backwards step. And as Les Bleus showed by fighting fire with fire in the 39-12 defeat against the All Blacks last November, breaking the New Zealand defensive line on several occasions, there is no future for a French team which tries to shut the game down. “We didn’t try to take the All Blacks on at their own game!” he insists. “What we did try to do was play rugby the way we intend to play it. And that is what we continue to do during the Six Nations.”

Expect a few fireworks from the 2010 French side at Murrayfield next Sunday then. Perhaps not as wild and woolly a performance as their last visit, but a French team nevertheless determined to play with a generous dose of old-fashioned Gallic passion. Tempered with a touch of pragmatism. “Just because we are capable of playing a complete style of game, doesn’t mean that from time to time we won’t be a little more restrictive. And that when the situation calls for it, we will kick a few up-and-unders, play a few rolling mauls, and maybe shut the game down,” reveals Lievremont. “But we intend to play some rugby, and put together a complete style of game. That is how we see the game of rugby, and what we are trying to achieve. I don’t know if we will be successful, but at least we are going to try. We might lose, but our conception of the game will not change.” Hallelujah to that!

COACH: Marc Lievremont couldn’t be any more unpredictable if he picked his squad by closing his eyes and sticking a pin in a list of names. His results vary wildly, from the sublime to the ridiculous. True to the grand traditions of French rugby, we guess. Lievremont has a magnificent array of players from which to choose but hasn’t yet proven he has the ability to do the choosing properly.

CAPTAIN: Thierry Dusautoir, a magnificent athlete and phenomenally powerful flanker, took over from Lionel Nallet in the summer.

IRB RANKING: 5th

ODDS: 6-4 favourites to win the championship, 4-1 to win the Grand Slam.

STRENGTHS: You look at France’s obliteration of the Springboks in November, sparked by a monstrous forward effort, and you wonder how anybody ever beats them. They’ve got beasts who are also athletes – the back-rows Dusautoir and Louis Picamoles chief among them – and they’ve got all the pace in the world behind the scrum, depending on which blend Lievremont goes for. He’s not exactly short of options.

WEAKNESSES: Fabien Barcella, the mighty loosehead, is injured. A major blow in itself. Only the French could batter the Boks and then get murdered themselves by the All Blacks a fortnight later. Or how about their hapless 34-10 defeat at Twickenham in March followed by their magnificent 27-22 victory in Dunedin in June. Inconsistency kills them and Lievremont adds to it by constantly chopping and changing his side. Time to decommission the axe, Marc.

LAST SEASON IN SIX NATIONS: Won three, lost two and finished third on points difference behind England.

YOUNG GUNS: Alexandre Lapandry, the 20-year-old Clermont flanker, is a real prospect. Benjamin Fall, the 20-year-old wing, has impressed at Bayonne. Alexis Palisson, left, the 22-year-old full-back from Brive, is another one to watch.

OLD HEAD: Sylvain Marconnet, 33 years young and going strong after 79 caps. Made his Test debut as long ago as 1998.

LOOSE CANNON: That’ll be Mathieu Bastareaud, below, back in the squad after accusing five imaginary Kiwis of assaulting him last summer in a desperate attempt to explain away a facial injury he suffered when he fell over drunk. After a spot of community service and a whole lot of embarrassment, the 21-year-old centre has returned to the fold.

HOME COMFORTS OR AWAY DAY SPECIALISTS: France have been beaten by England in their last two meetings at Stade de France, and they’ll meet there again this season. Paris is not the fortress it once was.

FOREIGN FLAVOUR: Dusautoir is born in the Ivory Coast, Fulgence Ouedraogo, the flanker, above right, hails from Burkina Faso.

AUTUMN FORM GUIDE: Bizarre. Ridiculous. French. A 20-13 victory over the South Africans that could and should have resulted in a bigger hiding for the world champions, an effortless 43-5 win over the Samoans. And then a massacre at the hands of the visiting New Zealanders; 39-12 in Marseille, where the France were supposed to be unbeatable.

MISSING IN ACTION: Take your pick. Lievremont has dropped Maxime Medard and Cedric Heymans, who scored five tries between them in last year’s championship. Frederic Michalak, Florian Fritz and Lionel Beauxis are all overlooked in the backline while the omission of the excellent Perpignan hooker, Guilhem Guirado, is a bit of a puzzler. Oh, and Stade’s Julien Dupuy’s chances of forcing his way in at scrum-half have gone. He’s serving a 23-week ban for gouging.

BEST GUESS: Level on points at the top with Ireland.

YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW THIS BUT… Andy Robinson’s got spies all over the place in France. Simon Taylor will be able to tell him about his four Stade Francais team-mates in the squad, Jason White of Clermont can do the same with his six club-mates in Lievremont’s initial squad of 30. Craig Smith can spill the beans on his two Racing Metro pals in the national squad and Bruce Douglas might have something to say about the two Montpellier players that might be in the running to play against the Scots.

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