French, Irish 'go for the throat' at Six Nations

France and Ireland are set for a fierce encounter in their Six Nations match at the Stade de France on Saturday after both coaches demanded their players go for the jugular. French coach Philippe Saint-Andre, who started his tenure with a 30-12 win over Italy last Saturday, wants his side to show a mean streak from the start and deny the Irish any opportunity to settle at a stadium where they have not won since 2000. Irish counterpart Declan Kidney, meanwhile, wants his players to show a more clinical side and kill off their opponents when they have the upper hand unlike in their 23-21 opening loss to Wales last Sunday. The French will start the match, which is likely to be played on a hard surface after below-freezing temperatures throughout the week, as warm favourites having won 11 of their last 12 encounters with the Irish. However, Saint-Andre says he saw enough from the game against the Italians to warrant significant improvements if they are to beat an Irish side that is a step up from last weekend's resilient but limited opposition."We have to get the Irish by the throat from the kick-off," said the 44-year-old former France wing and captain. "We have to improve on our winning of the ball and lineouts, especially which were weak against the Italians and we need to be more spontaneous in our thinking on the pitch. "However if we add those ingredients to the hunger, discipline and realism shown in the first match then we will be making progress." Both coaches refrained from making sweeping changes, something Saint-Andre's predecessor Marc Lievremont was never afraid of doing. The French initially made four changes to the pack but on Thursday the coach had to bring in Morgan Parra at scrum-half to replace the injured Dimitri Yachvili. Kidney brought in Keith Earls at centre where he was meant to start last Sunday but had to be replaced by Fergus McFadden after Earls' new-born baby girl was hospitalised. Regardless of the Irish losing to Wales, and their dreadful record against the hosts, France wing Vincent Clerc is not underestimating his team's opponents. "They played really well against the Welsh and they did not deserve to lose at the end," said the 30-year-old, who five years ago broke Irish hearts with a last-minute try in Dublin that snatched victory. "It is going to be a complicated tussle. They haven't beaten us for a while but I think they are really in form at the moment. "The 'fighting spirit' is one of their qualities but they have lots of others qualities, notably the line-out and keeping the ball." Kidney, who coached the Irish to the 2009 Six Nations Grand Slam, said that he wanted a significant improvement on the performance against the Welsh. "We have to go for the jugular when we have the other team on the back foot," said the 52-year-old, who despite his Grand Slam exploit may come under pressure should they lose badly. "We also have to defend better than we did against the Welsh, choose our options better." Irish captain Paul O'Connell, who has replaced the injured Brian O'Driscoll for the whole tournament, also called on his team-mates to defend better especially on the blindside where they have twice been punished by the Welsh in their last two games. "There's a lot we have to improve on. Some of the silly errors we made against Wales we must cut out," said the 32-year-old lock. "Against France away from home you need to start well. It's frustrating that I haven't beaten France in Paris, but we have a team that can do it."