Antoine Dupont hopes pep talk from star reviled in Ireland can inspire France

France captain Antoine Dupont hopes words of wisdom from footballing great Thierry Henry can inspire his side to a vital Guinness Six Nations victory over title rivals Ireland.

Former France and Arsenal striker Henry visited Fabien Galthie’s squad in the build-up to Saturday’s crunch round-four showdown at the Aviva Stadium.

The 47-year-old remains an unpopular figure in Dublin, having famously denied the Republic of Ireland a place at the 2010 FIFA World Cup when his handball the previous year set up the decisive goal for William Gallas during France’s controversial qualification play-off win.

⁠Courtney Lawes’ rib-tickler on Jules Plisson in 2015

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⁠Courtney Lawes’ rib-tickler on Jules Plisson in 2015

⁠Courtney Lawes made one of the most brutal tackles every seen in Six Nations history when England and France met in 2015.

While the contentious incident came up in conversation, Dupont said it was not discussed at length.

“There is no link between his visit and the game,” the scrum-half said of Henry.

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“Most of the conversation we talked about performance, high level, how we can deal with the pressure, especially away during the important game.

“I think he has a long experience, I hope he has inspired us for this weekend. But we didn’t talk a lot about the hand(ball).”

Unbeaten Ireland top the Six Nations table with three wins from three, while second-placed France are seeking to snatch pole position moving towards next weekend’s championship finale.

Earlier this week, Les Bleus boss Galthie said he hoped to see fair refereeing as he highlighted a controversial try scored by Ireland wing James Lowe during his side’s 2023 defeat in Dublin.

Lowe’s acrobatic finish in the left corner prompted a lengthy TMO review to determine whether his foot was in touch before he dotted down.

France have spoken with Australian referee Angus Gardner ahead of this weekend’s crunch fixture.

Defence coach Shaun Edwards said: “The referee’s always important in a game, isn’t he?

“But we’ve ultimate confidence in him to do a good job tomorrow, we’ve had a brief chat with him over the internet regarding certain aspects of the game and he agreed with most things that we said.

“We’re expecting him to be fair to Ireland, but also to be fair to us as well tomorrow.”

Ireland have won the last two meetings with France and are chasing an unprecedented third consecutive Six Nations title.

“It’s the ultimate challenge in the northern hemisphere, to come to Dublin and win, without a shadow of a doubt,” said Edwards.

“In the last two years they’ve been absolutely marvellous, haven’t they, and great to watch as well, and yeah we’ve all been preparing hard.

“I’ve been listening to Thin Lizzy all week and U2, watching Steve Collins (boxing) fights from the 90s, so I feel ready.”