Palmer plays down French malaise

England's Tom Palmer is not giving much credence to reports of splits within the ranks of the France squad ahead of Saturday's quarter-final showdown at Eden Park.

The second row even believes the French players could use the controversy that has blown up since their shock defeat by Tonga as motivation against England.

"I suspect they will be really committed to playing," Palmer said. "They will see this as being given another chance and what has happened before is irrelevant because it is a one-off knockout match.

"I imagine they realise it. They can say 'screw everything' behind them and 'we can go out and win and go to the semi-finals of the World Cup'. That will be motivation for them."
Palmer plays for Stade Français in the French Top 14 and was asked his opinions about the suggested problems within the French ranks.

"These things happen with the French. Look at their football team at the World Cup,'' he said.

"In my knowledge of the French guys and their psyche, if things are not going their way or if things are not going well, they make quite a lot out of it.

"But saying that, we can't read too much into it when we come up against them. I think they will raise their game against us and every time they play us, it tends to be a top match.
Word of caution

"It is always a difficult game and it's always a difficult contest up front in the forwards, in the mauls and in the rucks. I expect a huge game."

Palmer cautioned that the worst thing he and his teammates could do is read too much into the reports of troubles within the French camp.

France coach Marc Lièvremont spoke of a lack of "collective dynamism" following Saturday's 19-14 defeat by Tonga, which saw Les Bleus limp into the last eight after losing two pool matches.

Palmer said: "I think we can't (read much into it). You can't go into a World Cup quarter-final being complacent. It would be one of the worst things to do and you have to go in expecting a battle."

But he has also seen how French players can react badly to events.

"You can have those cliches about wounded animals and we'll have to wait to see exactly what French team shows up,'' Palmer said.

"From my experience, from my first few years in France, we started mentally strong as a group but when things started to go wrong, then we folded fairly easily.

"But that is not an opinion of what is happening with the French national team.''