Teenager Jalibert ready for France debut, says Brunel

Teenager Matthieu Jalibert can “handle” his France debut after coach Jacques Brunel picked him yesterday to play in Saturday’s Six Nations opener against tournament favourites Ireland.After the inexperienced 19-year-old fly-half’s surprise call-up to new coach Brunel’s first squad, Jalibert has been thrust straight into the lion’s den at the Stade de France by his former coach at Bordeaux-Begles.“From the moment we thought he was up to playing at this level there was no reason not to pick him,” said Brunel of a player who has made just 15 senior appearances since his Bordeaux debut in September.“We think he’s able to handle this role.”And Brunel is sure that Jalibert, who says he wants to emulate England’s Andy Farrell, will have no problem dealing the intensity the Irish will no doubt bring to the Stade de France cauldron.“I think he’s settled and well integrated into the group,” added Brunel.“He’s got his bearings. Any nerves he might have had would have been when he was selected (for the squad two weeks ago) because that’s when everyone took an interest in him.“Now he’s settled in the group and knew he was challenging for a start, or a least a place on the bench.“So he can’t be unsure of himself, I think he has the necessary maturity.“Of course, he’ll have to prepare a bit because I’m sure the Irish will have looked at the videos and asked ‘who’s this guy, what can he do?’”‘More responsibility’Maxime Machenaud will partner Jalibert at half-back but Brunel insisted that choice was more about the Racing 92 scrum-half’s current form than to offset his teenage partner’s inexperience.“Firstly it’s because he’s been in very good form for several weeks, so it’s about his performances,” said Brunel, who revealed Machenaud will be the team’s kicker.“He deserves his position. It’s true that he’s more mature and that can give balance at the start of the match at halfback – he’ll take more responsibility at first and will analyse the match context, taking the initiative and freeing the fly-half of certain choices.”As well as Jalibert, Castres full-back Geoffrey Palis will make his debut at the age of 26.“Palis is coming back from injury but he’s had a great return to league action. He’s been here for two weeks now, we know his qualities, especially against the Irish kicking game.“I think he’ll give us security, he’s well built and has a big left boot which can be useful to us.”There are another four uncapped players on the replacements bench: hooker Adrien Pelissie, props Cedate Gomes Sa and Dany Priso, and back-row forward Marco Tauleigne.Brunel is not hiding from the challenge ahead and admits that few people will expect a home victory on Saturday.“We’re up against a team in full confidence who had a great last year (2017), beating England and winning all their November tests,” he said.“We know we’re not favourites but these two weeks we’ve built a spirit that will allow us to compete with this team.” Team (15-1) Geoffrey Palis, Teddy Thomas, Henry Chavancy, Remi Lamerat, Virimi Vakatawa; Matthieu Jalibert, Maxime Machenaud; Kevin Gourdon, Yacouba Camara, Wenceslas Lauret; Sebastien Vahaamahina, Arthur Iturria; Rabah Slimani, Guilhem Guirado (capt), Jefferson PoirotReplacements: Adrien Pelissie, Dany Priso, Cedate Gomes Sa, Paul Gabrillagues, Marco Tauleigne, Antoine Dupont, Anthony Belleau, Benjamin Fall.Youngster Ryan gets nod ahead of Toner for French clashYoung Irish lock James Ryan has been handed a vote of confidence by being selected to play France in Paris on Saturday in what will be his Six Nations debut.The 21-year-old – who made his Test debut last summer even before he had played for the Leinster senior team – is preferred to the veteran Devin Toner and will partner Iain Henderson in the second row.There are great expectations for Ryan, a former Ireland Under-20 captain, with murmurings that he is destined to skipper the senior side one day. Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt said playing France in Paris was an ideal place to test Ryan’s temperament and mettle. “One of the reasons is to find out,” said Schmidt when asked if Ryan was ready for such a challenge.“We want to be able to keep building in that position. “It’s a position we don’t have huge depth in, we’ve got young guys pushing through and we’ve given James an opportunity. “We felt he went really well against Montpellier recently (for Leinster in the European Champions Cup pool clash) against what is a very big side.”Schmidt also brought back a couple of players who missed the three Test wins last November. Keith Earls will win his 64th cap on the wing while flanker Josh van der Flier fills the considerable vacuum left by the injured British and Irish Lions star Sean O’Brien. The side will be once again captained by the vastly-experienced hooker Rory Best who wins his 107th cap. The world class half-back pairing of Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray, with almost 130 caps between them, have far more experience than their French counterparts, Maxime Machenaud, 31 caps, and 19-year-old Matthieu Jalibert who is making his debut. Sexton took some heavy hits in Paris two years ago – as the French won 10-9 – which went unpunished by South African referee Jaco Peyper upsetting both Schmidt and Best. Schmidt, though, hoped for better tomorrow. “It hasn’t been part of the game in the teams I’ve seen Jacques (Brunel his French counterpart) coach in the past,” said Schmidt, who is bidding to add a third Six Nations title to the ones he guided Ireland to in 2014 and 2015.“I’d hope that it’s not. I think protecting the players has been ramped up since we were involved two years ago. We hope with the referee we’ve got that it won’t even enter into the fray,” added the 52-year-old New Zealander. The match is being officiated by Nigel Owens, the Welshman who refereed the 2015 World Cup final. The Irish will start as warm favourites to record only their fourth win in Paris in the last 40 years as the hosts under new coach Brunel seek to end a run of six Tests without a win. Team (15-1)Rob Kearney; Keith Earls, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale; Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray; CJ Stander, Josh van der Flier, Peter O’Mahony; James Ryan, Iain Henderson; Tadhg Furlong, Rory Best (capt), Cian HealyReplacements (16-23): Sean Cronin, Jack McGrath, John Ryan, Devin Toner, Dan Leavy, Luke McGrath, Joey Carbery, Fergus McFaddenCoach: Joe Schmidt (NZL).