Paris (AFP)

Two days before the Six Nations match at the Stade de France, Italy coach Franco Smith told AFP that he would monitor in particular the French scrum half Antoine Dupont, "the engine of the attack and from the pack ".

Q: How do you see the new French team?

A: "They played very well against England, they took advantage of every opportunity and every English mistake. They are full of confidence, with a very well trained attack and a solid passing game. They have very good finishers and very good very interesting young people who bring a lot to the team. I coached four times with South Africa against France in 2017 (in charge of the backs, note) and their players are completely different now. "

Q: Which players are you wary of?

A: "We are going to watch Dupont, the scrum half, in particular. It is the engine, both of their attack and of the French pack. And we know, over the years, that France is strong when it has a good number 9 to drive it. Fabien Galthié (now coach, editor's note) played this way too. It is obvious that Gaël Fickou has been there for a long time, he is experienced. Teddy Thomas is an excellent player with the ball in hand and "Charles Ollivon has shown himself to be a very good carrier and a field winner. He is a very balanced team, with good carriers at the front and enough flair at the rear to put the opposing defense in trouble."

Q: You did not score against the Welsh (42-0) in Cardiff ... How do you plan to beat the French defense trained by specialist Shaun Edwards?

A: "Already I think the Welsh have played very well. The other teams that will play in Cardiff will see ... They have with Wayne Pivac a trainer who knows very well the Welsh environment. They have a very well established team, very experienced with many selections. We are in the midst of reconstruction, like France. We are starting from scratch, with a new style of play, new ideas. Regarding Shaun Edwards, he is a very good coach, France will enjoy it a lot. But on Sunday I'm sure we will have chances. We had some against the Welsh but we didn't materialize. I don't think the scoreboard reflected our match well. the sign of a team getting better is when it starts to make good use of its opportunities. So can we win? Yes, of course, anything is possible. "

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