France promise to target Ireland's Jonny Sexton in their World Cup clash
Sunday 11 October 2015 15:42, UK
Eddy Ben Arous has vowed to target Johnny Sexton as France try to pile pressure on Ireland's fly-half ahead of their World Cup clash on Sunday.
The winners of the Pool D match at the Millennium Stadium will almost certainly face Argentina in the quarter-finals, with the losers taking on New Zealand.
Fullback Brice Dulin has also called on Les Bleus to stifle Sexton's influence and although the Irishman appears unfazed, Ben Arous is keen to emphasise they will stop him playing his natural game.
"I know that he is slow in getting rid of the ball, so I am going to try to put the maximum pressure on him," said the prop, a former team-mate of Sexton at Racing Metro.
"I am going to hunt him down as often as possible.
"We are going to go after him 200 per cent because he is the strong man of this team."
Sexton has been a marked man in the last two Six Nations campaigns but Ireland have still prevailed.
He suffered a head injury in Ireland's 22-20 victory over France in Paris in March 2014, a win that secured Joe Schmidt's men the Six Nations crown in Brian O'Driscoll's final Test.
Ireland's chief playmaker then returned from a three-month concussion lay-off for the 2015 Six Nations match, enduring a torrid time from powerful centre Mathieu Bastareaud.
Sexton still excelled despite France's physical approach as the Irish won 18-11 in Dublin on their way to defending their crown.
"It is imperative to go after him," said Dulin, another of Sexton's former Racing team-mates.
"We have to tire him so that he finds it tough to make the calls.
"He has a certain manner of playing for Ireland. He loves it hugely to be in the vanguard in order to build the attacks.
"It is of the greatest importance to be able to read him in his attitude, his positioning, to anticipate what he is going to put into motion."
