“Risky” to play with all-out flair against France – Cueto

Mark Cueto believes England have a tough balance to strike between playing a pragmatic or expansive game as they host France this Saturday at Twickenham.

Cueto starred with a try inside 90 seconds when England stunned France 34-10 back in 2009, with England having very recently appointed a new coach and France having been better established.

And as well as the obvious parallels with the upcoming game this year, he feels that whilst France are favourites, they have also not been at their best like they weren’t in the run-up to the game in 2009 which makes it a tough match to predict.

“There’s a lot of similarities in terms of where both teams are at,” he said. “And while the Irish have lived up to expectations in this year’s Six Nations like they did in 2009, France have probably underperformed for me in this tournament. That throws it up in the air for me a little bit.

“I know the Welsh aren’t great at the moment but regardless of where they’re at, to come to the Principality and beat them was a good result for England.

“There was a bit of negativity after that game but I was really impressed with how they played, I thought they looked really in control.

“It got a little bit tight just after half-time but I thought England always looked like they were going to win, and to do that three games in is great for Borthwick.”

Much of the criticism for England’s performance came from the style of rugby they employed, which relied heavily on forward dominance and Cueto feels the Red Rose will be facing a much bigger test up front.

He is still coy on whether England should look to play an open game though, and whether giving Marcus Smith a run ahead of Owen Farrell is the right call.

“I think they’re looking to move the ball a little bit more than they did under Eddie, and I think the times they have moved the ball they’ve looked dangerous.

“But they’ve probably not tried to do it enough. They’ve maybe kept it tight because it’s a bit of a go-to. England have typically had a strong pack and against Italy and Wales, that forward pack was massively dominant.

“Those two or three tries they scored against Wales looked really good. It will be interesting to see what happens against France because they can probably match us up front in terms of that pack, but I also think it’s a risk to try and play a wide and expansive game against France.

“They play very different styles, and you’ve got to go with one or the other [out of Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell]. But without wanting to sound, for want of a better word, ‘boring’ my shout would’ve been to stick with Farrell for the Six Nations and go from there.”

Nonetheless, Cueto is confident that Genge will slot in comfortably to his role as England captain for the very first time against France, and when asked if he thought it was a risk he said: “I don’t think it is at all.

“He captained under Borthwick and won the league with Leicester last year. I don’t personally know Genge but I’ve heard really good things about him.

“He wouldn’t have historically been a typical choice for captain at club level, let alone internationals, but certainly when you speak to the lads and consider how good of a player he is he really leads by example.

“If the squad is slightly Leicester-orientated I don’t think you can argue with that, because that’s what we tend to do as human beings. We tend to go with what we know, and Borthwick knows the Leicester boys better than anyone else.”

Click here for a full preview and the two teams as England play France.

As France prepare to host the World Cup for the second time in their history, Cueto looks back on England’s 2007 campaign, when Les Bleus last hosted the competition, with fondness.

But although he is not backing England to go all the way to the final again this time around, he fears the French may have peaked too early in their own search for a return to rugby’s biggest stage.

“I’ve got some fantastic memories from the World Cup in 2007 so I love the fact the World Cup is in France, and I can’t wait for it.

“It’s probably the most open World Cup there’s ever been, and I’d love to see Ireland or France do well. But you just wonder that if France have peaked a bit too early.

“If the World Cup was last year you’d have had them nailed on, but with the teams on their side of the draw they might struggle to make the semis.”

Cueto is closely associated with the 2007 World Cup, owing to his disallowed try in the final which was ruled out by the barest of margins.

When asked whether he believes he scored, the answer is a predictable yes. Nevertheless Cueto can see the silver lining of the iconic World Cup moment, and is amazed it is still talked about 16 years on.

“Of course I scored! 100 per cent. I still swear to this day that it was a try, but in a crazy sort of way I’ve managed to turn it into a positive experience.

“It was over fifteen years ago and to still be talking about it is just crazy. If there’s 100 people in a room and I walk in, one person might recognise me. The minute someone mentions that I’m the guy got his try disallowed in the corner in the 2007 World Cup final, 99 people will remember it.“

Mark Cueto is a brand ambassador for SportsBreaks, the official travel agent for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland packages for tickets, travel and hotels are available now via this link.