ANTOINE DUPONT insisted Thierry Henry’s pep talk can help France tomorrow – but he offered no hand pass advice.
Les Bleus face Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in a potential Championship decider, and they invited France football legend Henry in to talk to them in the build-up.
That he visited ahead of the Ireland game – Henry’s handball in the 2010 World Cup play-off crushed Irish dreams of going to South Africa – could be seen as mind games.
But Dupont – who arranged the visit – insisted it was coincidence, and there was little talk of his knock-on at the Stade the France.
The France captain said: “There is no link between his visit and the game.
“Most of the conversation, we talk about performance, high level, how we can deal with the pressure – away especially – during the important game.
“But we didn’t talk a lot about the hand!”
France head coach Fabian Galthie added: “Ireland is not easy for him, he spoke to us about this episode.
“Thierry Henry was generous, transparent, he gave a lot to the whole team, including the staff. He spent a moment with us in total freedom, he did not want it to be filmed.
“He wanted to open up and he opened up with great frankness and loyalty. We learned a lot from his return.”
Meanwhile, France assistant coach Shaun Edwards insisted that a visit to Dublin is the hardest game in the Six Nations Championship.
He added: “It’s the ultimate challenge in the northern hemisphere to come to Dublin and win without a shadow of a doubt.
“The last two years have been absolutely marvellous haven’t they. They are great to watch as well.
“We’ve all been preparing hard. I’ve been listening to Thin Lizzy all week and U2, been watching Steve Collins fights from the 90’s so I feel ready.”
