6 Nations 2016: France v Ireland 13th February

Someone has to do it!

No whistles or bells, just like our team selection  

France: Maxime Medard, Teddy Thomas, Maxime Mermoz; Jonathan Danty, Virimi Vakatawa; Jules Plisson, Sebastien Bezy; Jefferson Poirot, Guilhem Guirado (capt), Uini Atonio, Alexandre Flanquart, Yoann Maestri, Wenceslas Lauret, Yacouba Camara, Damien Chouly.
Replacements: Camille Chat, Rabah Slimani, Eddy Ben Arous, Paul Jedresiak, Loann Goujon, Maxime Machenaud, Jean-Marc Doussain, Hugo Bonneval.


Ireland: Rob Kearney, Andrew Trimble, Jared Payne, Robbie Henshaw, Dave Kearney, Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray; Jack McGrath, Rory Best (capt), Nathan White, Mike McCarthy, Devin Toner, CJ Stander, Sean O'Brien, Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: Richardt Strauss, James Cronin, Tadhg Furlong, Donnacha Ryan, Tommy O'Donnell, Eoin Reddan, Ian Madigan, Fergus McFadden.

Somebody else can add in the fancy stuff.

After the Welsh team schooled Ireland in the scrum, I'm suprised its still the same front row. If white was a lot younger id see this as development but isnt he 34? Why not giver Furlong a shot.

Also to me Zebo looked dangerous will ball in hand, is he injured because hes more dangerous than D Kearney or Trimble.

Still scratchy head time but hey, we only have one team to support so lets get behind them.......come on Fr.....Ireland

Worst Ireland and French teams in 20 years. Should be a humdinger.

Beeb saying Zebo had been receiving treatment for a knee injury

lostinwales wrote:Beeb saying Zebo had been receiving treatment for a knee injury

Yea Joe kicked him in the leg for playing so shoite.

I understand Zebo and earls not fully fit. But wouldn't Payne to 15 robbier to 13 and McCloskey in at12 make more sense.
And not being rude but why oh why oh why is McFadden on the bench?

rodders wrote:

lostinwales wrote:Beeb saying Zebo had been receiving treatment for a knee injury

Yea Joe kicked him in the leg for playing so shoite.

His kicking was awful but isn't he a winger and not a full back. He offered more in attack than trimble or earls.

True Raven wrote:

rodders wrote:

lostinwales wrote:Beeb saying Zebo had been receiving treatment for a knee injury

Yea Joe kicked him in the leg for playing so shoite.

His kicking was awful but isn't he a winger and not a full back.  He offered more in attack than trimble or earls.  

Well I would hope so because anytime Wales had the ball he was taking a breather.

rodders wrote:Worst Ireland and French teams in 20 years. Should be a humdinger.

Can't see anything but France being worst - Ireland by 10

Not sure why Bezy is still in for France given his display against Italy. Surely Plisson starts with the kicking duties?? Scored a screamer to ultimately win the game. I know in France the 9 traditionally kicks but come on.

Picamoles' physicality will be sorely missed. I wonder how that inexperienced French back row stands up to the likes of Heaslip, SOB and impressive newcomer Stander. TOD also performed much better than I was expecting at the breakdown last weekend.

Ireland themselves need to shore up their scrum. Didn't Furlong look more solid when he replaced White?

My issue is the same as last week. The team has been picked to be hard to beat rather than a team that's picked to go out and win

Besy looked far less assured last week than he does for Toulouse. Only got worse as he missed fairly straight forward kicks. Understandable as it was his first cap. however Machenaud already has a few caps and is playing with great assurance for Racing this season, I thought he made a positive impact when he came on against Italy. I would have given the more experienced player the start and let the new boy have some time off the bench. Maybe he will play a blinder this week.
Still surprised that Vahaamahina isn't involved (unless he is still injured). For me is the best middle lock in France. Although Maestre looks rejuvenated under the new coaching regime at Toulouse he doesn't have the same combination of explosive power and turn over qualities at the breakdown. For such a massive guy Vahaamahina  gets down quickly to turn over ball/ win penalties. Given the paucity of turnovers the French back row generated last week, he would have been a useful addition at the breakdown.

I'm confident we can win this,that's a decent team and France looked very poor last week.If France don't improve hugely then we should be comfortable and our players are no longer in awe of France,we are getting used to beating them.

Don't see this as a classic, but French scrummaging, and play in the tight should get them a toe hold.

I think Ireland were good early on, and exploited a sloppy welsh start, but then really clung on for dear life come the end, and I know nobody says it, but Conner Murray was happy to trot off the park at the end despite North trying to drag him back in.

Ireland have to defend exactly the same, kicking game out of hand has to be better, which I'm sure it will be, and most importantly once they get in behind france they have to take points from it before France recover, something they severely lacked v Wales.

Ireland to play Jack Charlton rugby by putting them under pressure. Ruck, kick, ruck and kick.

sensisball wrote:Besy looked far less assured last week than he does for Toulouse. Only got worse as he missed fairly straight forward kicks. Understandable as it was his first cap. however Machenaud already has a few caps and is playing with great assurance for Racing this season, I thought he made a positive impact when he came on against Italy. I would have given the more experienced player the start and let the new boy have some time off the bench. Maybe he will play a blinder this week.
Still surprised that Vahaamahina isn't involved (unless he is still injured). For me is the best middle lock in France. Although Maestre looks rejuvenated under the new coaching regime at Toulouse he doesn't have the same combination of explosive power and turn over qualities at the breakdown. For such a massive guy Vahaamahina  gets down quickly to turn over ball/ win penalties. Given the paucity of turnovers the French back row generated last week, he would have been a useful addition at the breakdown.

Over here Bezy gets a lot of stick because of his kicking performance - I agree he was a bit nervous but I'll take the rest of his performance any day of the week (although not as precise than when he plays for his club)- he has a quick pass, always looking to go forward and bring some speed to the French game despite playing behind beaten forwards who were not protecting their own rucks... such an improvements versus the Parra and Tillous-Bordes of this world. Machenaud has a similar style so wont complain too much but the last thing I want is to have the half-back pairing changing for every game as it was the case in the PSA years.

profitius wrote:Ireland to play Jack Charlton rugby by putting them under pressure. Ruck, kick, ruck and kick.

Doubt it,I think we'll play a similar game to the one we played in the world cup,possession based,starve them of the ball and contest every kick.Don't let them build up a head of steam and we'll win.We need our scrum to hold up but other than that I don't think they have enough to really hurt us bar a huge reversal in performance levels from both teams.

True Raven wrote:

rodders wrote:

lostinwales wrote:Beeb saying Zebo had been receiving treatment for a knee injury

Yea Joe kicked him in the leg for playing so shoite.

His kicking was awful but isn't he a winger and not a full back.  He offered more in attack than trimble or earls.  

Zebo had a great game. The Schmidtatron 2000 only wants robot players who can follow a plan and not play heads up rugby. It's more likely Schmidt dropped him for failing to run headlong into Welsh defenders like Kearney than run into space like Zeebs.

Peter Stringer wrote:

True Raven wrote:

rodders wrote:

lostinwales wrote:Beeb saying Zebo had been receiving treatment for a knee injury

Yea Joe kicked him in the leg for playing so shoite.

His kicking was awful but isn't he a winger and not a full back.  He offered more in attack than trimble or earls.  

Zebo had a great game. The Schmidtatron 2000 only wants robot players who can follow a plan and not play heads up rugby. It's more likely Schmidt dropped him for failing to run headlong into Welsh defenders like Kearney than run into space like Zeebs.

I find that a bit laughable, Zebo is always going to be a dangerous broken play runner, however his fullback play leaves a lot to be desired!

I've got a feeling this may be another draw.

When was the last time there was more than one draw in a 5/6 Nations tournament?

The thing is if France are in touch on the scoreboard going into the last 30 then their bench forwards: Slimani, Ben Arous, Jedresiak and Goujon could put Ireland under huge pressure in the scrum and in the loose.

Also, If Chat comes on its like having an extra 7 on the pitch. Chuly can take the captains arm band and move to 6 to accommodate Goujon at 8. Whilst not as destructive a ball carrier as Picamoles (who is?) he is faster and makes yards pretty well. Also a handy lineout jumper as well.

Machenaud is also a really strong running threat around the fringes. Usually does well against a tiring defence.

Will be interesting to see what kind of form Teddy Thomas is in after such a long lay off.

I think that Irelands best chance in this match, given the rather conservative selection, is to pressure France in defence and force them into mistakes. I think that this Irish team can do this but should France not make many mistakes, I fear that they may cause Ireland issues with their attacking play.

For me, I think France may win this one.

Peter Stringer wrote:

True Raven wrote:

rodders wrote:

lostinwales wrote:Beeb saying Zebo had been receiving treatment for a knee injury

Yea Joe kicked him in the leg for playing so shoite.

His kicking was awful but isn't he a winger and not a full back.  He offered more in attack than trimble or earls.  

Zebo had a great game. The Schmidtatron 2000 only wants robot players who can follow a plan and not play heads up rugby. It's more likely Schmidt dropped him for failing to run headlong into Welsh defenders like Kearney than run into space like Zeebs.

Fiec off Strings, you only got the odd game at Bath because you used to buy that Ford young fella Ice cream.

eirebilly wrote:I think that Irelands best chance in this match, given the rather conservative selection, is to pressure France in defence and force them into mistakes. I think that this Irish team can do this but should France not make many mistakes, I fear that they may cause Ireland issues with their attacking play.

For me, I think France may win this one.

Aye

Think you're right there.

Noves will be hoping for a bit of flare to break a strong Irish defence. If you can weather the storm you'll do well.

There will be 4-5 tries scored in this game at least.

Haven't worked out yet who will score them though.

I actually appreciated the approach to the game Ireland made last week and with the correct players being selected in their best positions, Ireland may have won that match. I feel that Ireland will revert to their normal style of play for this one.

Apparently its raining heavily in Paris all day and that will naturally affect the game plan too.

It was raining non stop since yesterday but at least stopped one hour ago.
Still who knows In what state the pitch is going to be.

Fingers crossed it actually does stay dry. Slightly conflicted because I know Irelands backs can adjust way, way better to a wet ball and a heavy pitch than France! But on the other hand, in a slugfest, they have size and weight up front.

I think the rain suits France, tighter the game is the stronger France will be

Best ignore what I wrote... pouring again.

What a horrific cross field kick that was

Very poor decision not to take the points.

Ireland exploiting France in the air, kicking to retrieve

Going to the corner, not sure. Points early on would have seemed like the call.

Very poor decision not to take the points.

For all the talk of a kicking game being dull, I do love the sense of anticipation you get when two players go up competing for a bomb of a garryowen.

The pitch actually held up for a scrum!

Excellent from Henshaw there to win the turnover but Ireland are making some silly mistakes..

Ireland are just letting France into this game with cheap errors. Tactics look spot on but not under throw at the lineout, not taking the points, penalty at the lineout, knock-on in our own half....

So much good work being undone just by little errors.

Fair play to Ireland for improving the scrum! It will be tough when their bench comes on though, feel like the better scrummaging unit is the one on the bench.

Very sloppy start from both teams

France are so sloppy

I think France should put the prop they have playing at 12 back into the front row, he may do better than the current ones

Sexton down, that was a shocking late cheap shot on him.

Either Jonny Sexton is coming off injured in this game, or France will finish without a full XV on the pitch due to yellow or red cards. Same thing every time we play them.

First points Ireland- deserved, but we need to be a bit more accurate.

nathan wrote:France are so sloppy

Both teams are so sloppy. Looking like another 6 Nations game filled with handling errors and lack of dynamism/creativity.

Come on Ireland.

Brian Moore is losing his voice

BamBam wrote:Brian Moore is losing his voice

Only if.