Coach Fabien Galthie says France cannot emulate Ireland’s style of play in attempting to reproduce their rare win over the All Blacks.

The All Blacks head to Paris in a dress rehearsal for the 2023 Rugby World Cup’s opening game after losing 29-20 in Dublin this past Saturday as wing Sevu Reece was denied a second-half try by the TMO.

“Ireland have their own rugby, their own game. We can’t copy Ireland. We haven’t got the same players nor the same rugby as them,” Galthie told reporters after France smashed Georgia 41-15 on Sunday.

“They were able to play a fantastic match. There’s no superlative available to describe their performance.

“Despite that, the result was in the balance before a try was turned down by the referee decision for a forward pass. It tells us a lot about Saturday’s opponents,” he added.

Hooker Julien Marchand is a doubt for this weekend after he left the field in Bordeaux just before the interval with a rib injury.

Marchand told France assistant coach William Servat “it’s dead” as he was replaced by Peato Mauvaka.

“He’s gone to do tests. We will know more later tonight. It’s with his cartilage and we’ll see how he recovers,” Galthie said.

“We preferred not to take a risk,” he added.

Galthie started two flyhalves with Matthieu Jalibert in the No 10 shirt and Romain Ntamack moving to centre due to injuries to Virimi Vakatawa and Arthur Vincent.

The pair also featured in those positions in last Saturday’s win over Argentina, but Ntamack finished this weekend’s game against the Lelos at flyhalf and Jalibert at fullback.

© Agence France-Presse