England's victory over Ireland at the weekend left a “very strong impression”, French winger Charles Ollivon said on Tuesday, five days before the two sides meet in Lyon in the final round of matches in this year's Six Nations Championship.
The England team, which lost to Scotland in the previous round, presented its best performance since finishing third in the World Cup last year, defeating the favorites to win the Grand Slam with a thrilling 23-22 victory at Twickenham Stadium.
Meanwhile, France rebounded from some mediocre performances in the first three rounds with a 45-24 win over France. Wales In Cardiff.
“We expect a big defence,” former captain Olivon told a news conference at France's training base outside Paris.
“We've seen how they (England) have changed things. They're more aggressive, they have a much stronger attacking line and they're much faster.”
“They put a lot more pressure on their opponents than they used to.
“When it comes to contact as well, they are very strong. I watched the game against the Irish and to move them like that in one-on-one situations, you have to be really strong.
“They made a very strong impression on me.”
England, accustomed to life without their long-serving captain Owen Farrell, who has been away from international football, refused to give up when they conceded a late effort from James Lowe and took the lead.
Instead, they came out the other end and denied Ireland a second successive Grand Slam thanks to a last-minute goal from substitute fly-half Marcus Smith.
“The English team is more difficult,” said Nicolas Guingamp, director of performance for the French national team.
“We saw they were very effective, with a lot of quick defending. There will be a lot more contact than there was against Wales.
“Our challenge will be to rise to the level of this competition against the English.”
France, playing its home matches outside Paris due to the summer's Olympics, opened the tournament with a 38-17 defeat to Ireland in Marseille, followed that up with a controversial and narrow 20-16 win in Edinburgh and a lucky 13. -13 draw at home against Italy.
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