Ireland will open this year's Six Nations Championship when they take on France next Friday in Marseille (kick-off: 8pm).
One intent viewer will be La Rochelle head coach Ronan O'Gara - keeping an eye on his side's internationals, and perhaps dreaming of one day taking the reigns from Andy Farrell with Ireland.
In an interview with the Irish Independent, O'Gara describes Marseille as "a different level of craziness", with a stadium and atmosphere that will "blow the Stade de France out of the water".
Ronan O'Gara Has Huge Praise For Injured French Star
However, with injuries to the likes of Anthony Jelonch, Romain Ntamack, and Thibaud Flament, France's home advantage may not mean as much.
And this is without mentioning the world's best player Antoine Dupont - who has moved to rugby sevens ahead of the Olympics - or the Toulouse giant who O'Gara reckons is an even bigger loss than the French scrum-half:
The first game is absolutely crucial. There’s no doubt France are a lot weaker without Dupont, Ntamack — but the biggest loss is Meafou.
He wouldn’t be a household name in Dublin yet but if he played for La Rochelle he sure would be — he’s the Will Skelton of Toulouse. He’s that good.
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29 April 2023; Emmanuel Meafou of Toulouse is tackled by Jack Conan, left, and Charlie Ngatai of Leinster during the Heineken Champions Cup Semi Final match between Leinster and Toulouse at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
“There aren’t many players of that sort of profile in the world, never mind the Test game," O'Gara added.
"It’ll be interesting too because Ireland obviously are good but can they have the same intensity?"
It is incredibly high praise from one of the best coaches in the world and someone who sees a lot more of the New Zealand born Meafou.
Ireland's Leinster contingent may disagree, however, as the province have made light work of Toulouse in the knockout stages of the last two Champions Cups.
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