Not Bothered! Trinh-Duc dismisses Wilkinson fear factor

Without intending to sound disrespectful, his 13th opponent simply could not care less. Far from being the least bit bothered about how many of his predecessors have suffered through exposure to the merciless Englishman, Francois Trinh-Duc dismisses any question of losing a wink of sleep tomorrow night, undaunted at what awaits him in Paris 24 hours later.

Wilkinson will never have come across a fly half quite like Trinh-Duc, an observation which has nothing to do with the fact that the new boy's grandfather came from South Vietnam.

The French may have a Jonny complex, understandably so in view of the destruction he has wrought upon them, but Trinh-Duc will not be wasting time watching video footage of his opponent.

"I have a lot of respect for him but I am not worried," he said. "The No 10 is the leader of the back line. I will tackle the mission head on, follow my instinct and hope to play in tune.

"I am asked if I feel the pressure. No, not really because I think only to be positive. The coaches want us to play a less stereotyped, more ambitious style of game, to use our initiative more in attack and that suits me perfectly. I'm an instinctive type of player which can be a quality or it can also be a defect. Sometimes I get a bit carried away."

Trinh-Duc has seen what happened to Frederic Michalak, the last great French fly half hope, and how his game disintegrated in the face of Wilkinson's eight-goal onslaught in Sydney in 2003.

"Michalak's a great player but people praised him to the skies and then destroyed him," said Trinh-Duc. "I hope to be able to make a name for myself without being compared to anyone."

The 21-year-old will bring more than the fearlessness of youth to the occasion, according to the British player who knows him best.

Gregor Townsend, the 82-cap Scottish Lion, spent a season at Montpellier three years ago gaining an insight into Trinh-Duc.

What he saw of the Test graduate on his debut against Scotland three weeks ago confirmed the early impressions of the boy whose grandfather left Saigon more than half a century ago for the foothills of the Cevennes mountains.

"The English defensive line is quite strong but Francois will attack it because he always does," said Townsend. "I hesitate to use the word 'natural' but he really is. A lot of French fly halves are converted scrum halves, like Michalak.

But this guy is your out-and-out, all-singing, all-dancing fly half. 'I think a lot of what the French are doing in terms of introducing young players is brilliant. They see Trinh-Duc as the future in a very important position and the way they are developing him is first class.

"Ten has always been a problem position for France. They've never had anyone of Wilkinson's ability or stature and he's the one player they certainly fear because of what he's done to them in the past."

Wilkinson made it clear yesterday that he is a fan of the French youth club. "I get real enjoyment from watching them play and it's fabulous for the game," he said. "They seem to have taken the shackles off since the World Cup and now, more than ever, they are capable of doing things which leave you wondering: 'Where did that come from?' It's quite inspiring."

In their search for a 'Wilko figure', France have tried all sorts of fly halves over the last eight years — Michalak, Lionel Beauxis, David Skrela, Benjamin Boyet, Julien Peyrelongue, Alexandre Peclier, Francois Gelez, Gerald Merceron, Yann Delaigue, Alain Penaud, Thomas Castaignede and, arguably the most influential of all, Christophe Lamaison who famously engineered New Zealand's downfall at the Twickenham semifinal in 1999.

It captured the imagination of a 12-year-old Trinh-Duc. Within two years, France had begun grooming him for great things through excaptain Emile Ntamack, now head coach Marc Lievremont's righthand man. "I have followed Francois for several years," said Ntamack.

"He's never been afraid to perforate defences and he is difficult to bring down. His defence has improved a lot and he's a real influence."

England are about to find out, just as Trinh-Duc is about to find out what it means to go head-to-head with Wilkinson.