This week, L'Equipe predicted their France starting lineup to face Ireland in Saturday's Six Nations opener.
And there was a touch of Nostradamus to their foreseeing of Jacques Brunel's youthful XV as the French Rugby Federation revealed the exact same names as the French sports daily.
🔴 Les Bleus sont #PrêtsAuCombat ! Découvrez la composition de l’équipe désignée par le sélectionneur Jacques Brunel et son staff pour affronter l’Irlande samedi au @StadeFrance ! #soutiensleXV #FRAIRL pic.twitter.com/vazmm3GdTm
— FF Rugby (@FFRugby) February 1, 2018
Former Ireland back-row Alan Quinlan joined Ger and Eoin on OTB AM and he gave us his take on what to expect from the team and some of the names that jump out.
The 🇫🇷 French team @FFRugby for #FRAvIRE has been revealed!
Here's @AlanQuinlan1's breakdown of 🇮🇪 Ireland's opponents including the potential ace in the pack Jalibert #6nations #OTBAM pic.twitter.com/VAJBJPSbhr
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) February 1, 2018
"Well, Palis the full-back, he plays with Castres. He looked really good in Thomond Park. There was just something about him," he said.
"You know when you just see a player... he looks good, controlled, measured.
"Vakatawa has that X-Factor. He can be outstanding with Racing. Chavancy and Lamerat, two solid players. Lamerat plays really well. He was with Castres before and he's with Clermont now. He's very powerful in the centre.
"Teddy Thomas on the wing, again has that bit of X-Factor but the one that's everyone's going to be talking about is [Matthieu] Jalibert."
French rugby player Matthieu Jalibert, left, plays the ball during a training session at the National Rugby Center in Marcoussis, south of Paris, France, Monday, Jan. 29, 2018. France will face Ireland during their Six Nations tournament match at Stade de France stadium on Saturday Feb. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
The out half is only 19 and only made his senior debut with Bordeaux Begles last year.
"He's only played a handful of games for Bordeaux but Brunel was the one that played him in his first Top 14 start on November 4th, so the November Internationals are going on in the week before he starts at 10. Now, he played at full back a few times before that. So he obviously sees him as an unbelievable talent and maybe he's investing and maybe he's trying to say, 'Right, I want to get a young guy in here.' But very inexperienced."
