Laporte puts referee in front line

Six Nations: Twickenham decisions still rankle as France try to pile pressure on the Scots

Even oblique references to the land of the free and the home of the brave are particularly untimely in France at the moment, what with Jacques Chirac almost assuming the role of a public enemy in Washington. The French are certainly in no mood to be reminded of US alms post-1945, but the Tricolores' latest contretemps with officialdom has led inevitably to talk of Marshall aid.

Following their retreat from Twickenham last week, France's mindset was not lightened by the subsequent film show of the match. After watching the video, Bernard Laporte, the coach, invited Peter Marshall, who will referee the France-Scotland game at Stade de France today, to lunch. A business lunch. Laporte was seeking clarification on points of law, principally whether this time the French front row will be allowed to scrummage.

France were dismayed at the decisions of Paul Honiss, Marshall's fellow anti-podean, at Twickenham, where England lost the try count three to one but won 25-17, with Jonny Wilkinson kicking five penalties out of five. According to the French, only one of the penalties was valid, but of even more concern was Honiss's interpretation of front-row play.

Jean-Jacques Crenca appeared to be giving Julian White a hard time of it, but fell foul of Honiss for the angle of his driving at the scrums. At one point early in the game, an exasperated Raphael Ibañez, the experienced French hooker, asked the referee how they were expected to impose pressure. Honiss, who could have cared less, warned them that if they carried on conceding penalties, he would be obliged to respond with yellow cards.

France, to whom the crunch in the front row is an integral part of the game and almost as important as lunch, are complaining that they virtually had to "depower'' the scrum. "We wanted to put England under pressure but were not allowed,'' Crenca said. "It was very frustrating and disappointing.''

Laporte, who pored over the replay with the assistance of a top French referee, went so far as to send a copy of the video to the International Rugby Board in Dublin, seeking further guidance as to what exactly, other than perhaps a crime of passion, France were guilty of. Honiss, in fact, had told them beforehand that if the props burrowed upwards rather than in a straight line, they would be in trouble.

Strangely, the statistics at a ground where the red-rose brigade usually enjoy the rub of the green say that England conceded 16 penalties to France's 11, which is the only figure that would have pleased Laporte, whose revolution in terms of discipline led to the Grand Slam last year. Whereas Wilkinson finished with 20 points, his opposite number, Gerald Merceron, was on target with a solitary conversion. The quality of Merceron was strained, and today he makes way for François Gelez. The Agen stand-off wins his seventh cap, having scored 51 points in six appearances. Laporte acknowledged: "We can't win at international level unless we have a goalkicker who has a success rate of about 90 per cent.''

One player who fits that bill is the Gloucester stand-off Ludovic Mercier, but he is not considered to be an effective link man for what is undoubtedly a talented threequarter line. They are, though, still missing Tony Marsh at centre.

The only other change France have made for the visit of Scotland is the replacement of the tighthead Christian Califano with Sylvain Marconnet. Califano – here you come, right back where you started from – has been dropped not because of his scrummaging but because he made only three tackles against England, which is about five times less than Pieter de Villiers. Suspended by Les Bleus after failing a drug test, de Villiers nevertheless played for his club, Stade Français, last week.

Laporte claims he was misquoted on the subject of experimentation en route to the World Cup in Australia in eight months' time. "How we react after the defeat to England is vital,'' Laporte said. "We have four matches left and can still win the championship.''

None of this is good news for Scotland, who are attempting to regroup following their hapless and dispiriting performance against Ireland at Murrayfield last Sunday. The premature retirement from international rugby of Budge Pountney appears to have seriously undermined the Scots, who are not exactly spoilt for choice when it comes to quality forwards or, indeed, quality anywhere.

At least when London Scottish were in the top flight, it gave Scotland a wider option. The creation of the Borders, to supplement Edinburgh and Glasgow as a third professional team, has had little impact and the relative anonymity of the Scottish sides in the Celtic League and the Heineken Cup, compared to the success of Munster and Leinster, was reflected in Ireland's record victory.

The results of the first round of matches did nothing to dispel the fear that the championship is developing into a two-tier affair. Today, Wales, yet again, debate the future at another extraordinary general meeting, when a majority of the Principality's 239 clubs are expected to agree to the formation of four professional regional sides: East Wales (Ebbw Vale and Newport), Central Wales (Cardiff and Pontypridd), the South (Neath and Bridgend) and the West (Llanelli and Swansea). However, Llanelli and Cardiff want five teams which would enable them to stand alone, but the WRU insist they can finance only four.

The existing Premier League would be expanded, but the clubs would play on a semi-professional basis. Many observers would argue that they are doing so already.

Whereas Ireland have successfully made the transition from clubs to provinces, Scotland have taken to professionalism like a grouse to the Glorious 12th. Never mind regional teams. What about a reversion to a five-strong European championship with a combined Scotland and Wales XV? In Paris today, it is not France who are in need of Marshall's aid.