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French Sevens coach Thierry Janeczek is hoping his players have learnt the lessons from Dubai and George as his side prepare for the next legs on the IRB Sevens World Series.

With the French often struggling for continuity in their squads, Janeczek will keep sevens of his players from the first tournaments of the season before Christmas.

Newcomers to the squad include Mathieu Acebes, Manoel Dall Igna, Hugo Dupont, Michel Joffrey, and Yan Ruel who will participate in Wellington (5-6 Feb) and Las Vegas (13-14 Feb).

Janeczek is looking for his side to improve their performances in the first half, with the side often conceding early on.

The French only managed one win in Dubai and were knocked out in the Bowl semi-finals. A week later they made it to Shield final before losing out to Scotland.

‘We’ve often gone missing in the first half, and even if we do well in the second period we often found ourselves too far behind,’ said Janeczek.

‘The education is slow but I believe we are on the right path and considering the inexperience of the side they are now understanding the requirements of Sevens.’

Targeting Hong Kong & Adelaide

France look set again to struggle to advance to the Cup knockouts in the next two legs. They face Samoa, Argentina, and Canada in Pool D in Wellington before facing Australia, New Zealand and Guyana a week later in the Las Vegas Sevens group stages.

But Janeczek feels that by the time the French head go to Adelaide (20-21 March) and Hong Kong (26-28 March) they might be in position to qualify to for the main competition.

“I think that is possible in Hong Kong and Adelaide if we keep a similar group and add two or three experienced players to take our young players up.

“At each tournament, our goal is to win two matches on the first day to ensure a spot in the Cup but it does not always happen like that. We essentially need to work on small details and accuracy”.

France Squad for Wellington and Las Vegas:
Mathieu Acebes, Paul Albaladejo, Samy Ben Letaief, Mathieu Besson, Camille Canivet, Manoel Dall Igna
Renaud Delmas, Hugo Dupont, Yohan Durquet, Jérémie Malzieu, Joffrey Michel, Yan Ruel