6 Nations 2016: France v Ireland 13th February

First topic message reminder :

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.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:If it was for the Iceberg comment, my word some folks here need to grow up.

There's always someone out there waiting to be offended by something.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

Notch wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

dublin_dave wrote:the quality of the 6 nations is absolutely dreadful - as always. This is a hideous game. Honestly getting bored of rugby.

Kiwis and Aussies must urine themselves watching this guff, Argentina too. Its terrible

France have shown heart but are no good. A good scrum bench and our error count has won the game for them. Madigans kick off was absolutely unforgivable

i will absolutely lose the plot when i see the teamsheet for Twickenham

I agree for all the talk of Ireland missing playrrs against Argentina, we were thought a lesson on how to play rugby. I thought we would be way more attacking this 6n.

I think the biggest problem today is we were too attacking. We were trying inside balls, offloads and wide passes when the skill levels of the players aren't there.

 I can't remember any significant offloads to keep the momentum of an attack. Offloads kill defences and our players refuse to do it. Our attack mainly comes from set pieces with sh1te inside passes that almost never work and one off forwards running into a wall of defenders.

Wow why would we be throwing offloads in that weather,that would have been madness.Did anyone watch the RWC semi between SA nad NZ,ity was absolutely of much better quality than what we saw today but there was no offloading or ambitious attacking play because even the best teams in the world don't play like that when the ball is a bar of soap.

With the team selected we should have employed the kick chase more and we didn't.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:If it was for the Iceberg comment, my word some folks here need to grow up.

Too soon?

Rory_Gallagher wrote:With the team selected we should have employed the kick chase more and we didn't.

That's crucial. For all the talk of who wasn;t selected, the key was we selected players to play a conservative game (which would have won) and then didn't kick/chase at all really....

wolfball wrote:

Rory_Gallagher wrote:If it was for the Iceberg comment, my word some folks here need to grow up.

Too soon?

Hang on a second - to those complaining about the pack, for the majority of the game our pack put us on the front foot. They defended extremely well, they carried well in the tight exchanges and in the first half they definitely had the upper hand. Although they weren't as strong at the breakdown as last week admittedly. Still, silly mistakes and poor decision making cost us the game. As well as our uncanny ability to put huge pressure on the opposition and come away with little, which has been a real weakness in our game.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:With the team selected we should have employed the kick chase more and we didn't.

Yeah we played too much rugby in the first half,it looks like we're moving to a more expansive gameplan but there are times you just have to say it isn't on and be pragmatic.We turned down a shot at goal in the first half again for no reason.

asoreleftshoulder wrote:

Rory_Gallagher wrote:With the team selected we should have employed the kick chase more and we didn't.

Yeah we played too much rugby in the first half,it looks like we're moving to a more expansive gameplan but there are times you just have to say it isn't on and be pragmatic.We turned down a shot at goal in the first half again for no reason.

If we were moving to play a more expansive game then the selection was totally daft and lacks any logical explanation.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:Hang on a second - to those complaining about the pack, for the majority of the game our pack put us on the front foot. They defended extremely well, they carried well in the tight exchanges and in the first half they definitely had the upper hand. Although they weren't as strong at the breakdown as last week admittedly. Still, silly mistakes and poor decision making cost us the game. As well as our uncanny ability to put huge pressure on the opposition and come away with little, which has been a real weakness in our game.

Can't agree with that,they kept possession well but they never really really got us going forward at any real speed.It was all pretty slow and we coughed up a lineout in a great position.Our halfbacks need to take a share of the blame too,both were very reluctant to kick when it was obvious that going through the phases was just asking for someone to knock on a greasy ball.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:

asoreleftshoulder wrote:

Rory_Gallagher wrote:With the team selected we should have employed the kick chase more and we didn't.

Yeah we played too much rugby in the first half,it looks like we're moving to a more expansive gameplan but there are times you just have to say it isn't on and be pragmatic.We turned down a shot at goal in the first half again for no reason.

If we were moving to play a more expansive game then the selection was totally daft and lacks any logical explanation.

No it just lacks an explanation that you agree with.I would have picked a different side too but can definitely see the reasons he went with the side he picked.I also don't think the side I would have picked would have won as the pack was where the game was lost and the only change I would have even considered there would be to start Furlong.

asoreleftshoulder,

Just for a moment try not to look for Leinster hatred on my behalf. Do you honestly feel the the 3 lads that came into the squad (Kearney brothers and McFadden) actually showed anything to warrant their inclusion?

I believe that Ireland more than had parity in the forwards in the first half but Ireland were definitely lacking that attacking edge in the backline where I feel certain other players that were not in the squad, may have added more.

Obviously it is the Pro 12 and not test rugby, but Ulster's pack last night were dire (like the majority of the season) and yet we still had the players to make a huge impact without ideal ball. Which again has been the story of the season for us. Sometimes the forwards are not going to make a whole lot of ground and on a day like that the hard yards count. We also went reasonably well in the scrum and line-out until the latter stages of the game. To be honest we couldn't ask much more from what we had available to us. The problem was that we didn't capitalise on the possession and territory that were in our favour.

eirebilly wrote:asoreleftshoulder,

Just for a moment try not to look for Leinster hatred on my behalf. Do you honestly feel the the 3 lads that came into the squad (Kearney brothers and McFadden) actually showed anything to warrant their inclusion?

I believe that Ireland more than had parity in the forwards in the first half but Ireland were definitely lacking that attacking edge in the backline where I feel certain other players that were not in the squad, may have added more.

Which wing would you have picked ahead of DKearney?

Rory_Gallagher wrote:Hang on a second - to those complaining about the pack, for the majority of the game our pack put us on the front foot. They defended extremely well, they carried well in the tight exchanges and in the first half they definitely had the upper hand. Although they weren't as strong at the breakdown as last week admittedly. Still, silly mistakes and poor decision making cost us the game. As well as our uncanny ability to put huge pressure on the opposition and come away with little, which has been a real weakness in our game.

I do think that there are three areas that cost us the game; error count in the first half, especially knock-ons, penalty count- which was mainly due to the scrum, so scrummaging basically and tactical mistakes which was to try and play too wide in attack and the third is just a lack of ruthlessness and poor decision making. Maybe you could even call it a lack of composure. Just getting the territorial kicking right, staying in the right parts of the field, making the right decisions under pressure.

I defended the selection because I believed it was very obviously intended to play a kick-chase game and I don't know why we went away from it. We did very much look to try and play that way in the second half but we couldn't get the ball. The first half going for the line outs instead of the points was frustrating. We build a score in that period and again, we win the game.

I still don't believe the players left out have made compelling cases for their inclusion. Whats happened now is that a case has been made for their inclusion not because they played well- I have rarely been so disappointed by an Ulster performance as I was last night- but because the incumbents have not repaid Schmidt for his faith in them.

If you are accusing me of "over-intellectualisation" I have to say thats a harsh dig, because I don't really think too hard about what I write on here. I just say whats on my mind, unfiltered, exactly as I would say it in real life. I don't censor myself in any way or spend a long time constructing arguments in my head, I just write down my opinions. I'm not trying to outsmart anyone or show off... if I was, I wouldn't write anywhere near as much because the soul of wit is brevity. No, this is stream of consciousness stuff.

Has Laidlaw ever been good at delivering quick ball...man seems to have no sense of urgency too often

wolfball wrote:

eirebilly wrote:asoreleftshoulder,

Just for a moment try not to look for Leinster hatred on my behalf. Do you honestly feel the the 3 lads that came into the squad (Kearney brothers and McFadden) actually showed anything to warrant their inclusion?

I believe that Ireland more than had parity in the forwards in the first half but Ireland were definitely lacking that attacking edge in the backline where I feel certain other players that were not in the squad, may have added more.

Which wing would you have picked ahead of DKearney?

I would have called Gilroy or TOH in to cover the wing but you are right, it was pretty bare in that department so the choice was logical.

ALPanorak wrote:Has Laidlaw ever been good at delivering quick ball...man seems to have no sense of urgency too often

agreed, and his pass is often too high... think you are in the wrong spot, we here are picking over the corpse of irish rugby.

eirebilly wrote:asoreleftshoulder,

Just for a moment try not to look for Leinster hatred on my behalf. Do you honestly feel the the 3 lads that came into the squad (Kearney brothers and McFadden) actually showed anything to warrant their inclusion?

I believe that Ireland more than had parity in the forwards in the first half but Ireland were definitely lacking that attacking edge in the backline where I feel certain other players that were not in the squad, may have added more.

I thought DK did reasonably well in his short time,though RK was poor and thought McFadden was neutral.Now the real question is do I think anyone else who was available would have done better?Not really,definitely not enough to change the result.

asoreleftshoulder wrote:

eirebilly wrote:asoreleftshoulder,

Just for a moment try not to look for Leinster hatred on my behalf. Do you honestly feel the the 3 lads that came into the squad (Kearney brothers and McFadden) actually showed anything to warrant their inclusion?

I believe that Ireland more than had parity in the forwards in the first half but Ireland were definitely lacking that attacking edge in the backline where I feel certain other players that were not in the squad, may have added more.

I thought DK did reasonably well in his short time,though RK was poor and thought McFadden was neutral.Now the real question is do I think anyone else who was available would have done better?Not really,definitely not enough to change the result.

OK, putting Dave Kearney to one side, even though I thought he was poor (Payne had to cover him numerous times in defence).

I think that the better approach would have been to drop either Payne or Henshaw to 15 and bring in McCloskey. Ireland had dominance in the first half but lacked attacking threat and I believe a small change like that would have resulted in try's for Ireland.

Simply, I think that Schmidt showed this awful French side way too much respect and it came back to bit him on the bottom. This was a game that Ireland should have used to find some more back line cohesiveness.

Notch wrote:

Rory_Gallagher wrote:Hang on a second - to those complaining about the pack, for the majority of the game our pack put us on the front foot. They defended extremely well, they carried well in the tight exchanges and in the first half they definitely had the upper hand. Although they weren't as strong at the breakdown as last week admittedly. Still, silly mistakes and poor decision making cost us the game. As well as our uncanny ability to put huge pressure on the opposition and come away with little, which has been a real weakness in our game.

I do think that there are three areas that cost us the game; error count in the first half, especially knock-ons, penalty count- which was mainly due to the scrum, so scrummaging basically and tactical mistakes which was to try and play too wide in attack and the third is just a lack of ruthlessness and poor decision making. Maybe you could even call it a lack of composure. Just getting the territorial kicking right, staying in the right parts of the field, making the right decisions under pressure.

I defended the selection because I believed it was very obviously intended to play a kick-chase game and I don't know why we went away from it. We did very much look to try and play that way in the second half but we couldn't get the ball. The first half going for the line outs instead of the points was frustrating. We build a score in that period and again, we win the game.

I still don't believe the players left out have made compelling cases for their inclusion. Whats happened now is that a case has been made for their inclusion not because they played well- I have rarely been so disappointed by an Ulster performance as I was last night- but because the incumbents have not repaid Schmidt for his faith in them.

If you are accusing me of "over-intellectualisation" I have to say thats a harsh dig, because I don't really think too hard about what I write on here. I just say whats on my mind, unfiltered, exactly as I would say it in real life. I don't censor myself in any way or spend a long time constructing arguments in my head, I just write down my opinions. I'm not trying to outsmart anyone or show off... if I was, I wouldn't write anywhere near as much because the soul of wit is brevity. No, this is stream of consciousness stuff.

I'm not trying to insult anyone at all, I just feared that some were seeing more in the selection than what was really there. I would take my choice of words with a pinch of salt and I respect and admire the opinions of yourself and others on here who I frequently engage with. In fact I greatly prefer debating those with strong conviction and the ability to back up their claims. I just like to give as good as I get!

I would say that over the course of the entire season, some players have certainly staked their claim for a starting position on the team and many of those who had started have been in poor form or had very little game time in their respective positions. I strongly disagree that their inclusion would be mostly based on the poor performances of their peers. Jackson, McCloskey, Marshall and Gilroy to a slightly lesser extent have clearly proven they deserve to be considered based on their own merit.

Rory

Ireland disrupted perhaps by injuries but couldn't really see a game plan,except defend
and kick penalties.
Conditions were tricky but far to many handling errors,and the Scrums Ref should have
sorted it,not binding,boreing in,etc.
At least against Italy,France looked good in patches,today they looked the pretty poor
but two,one point wins France Grand Slam?with that luck

Ref was very poor, with the TMO only contributing guff at random points.

How there weren't cards for Maestri and Guirado I just don't know. Other than those incidents, the reffing of the scrum was abysmal. Peyper's appreciation for the game is non-existent, what was he doing scrabbling around the base of the ruck when France were held up over the line?

On another note - it was a real shame not to see any fight from the Irish team. When the French were putting in cheap shots one of the forwards should have stood up and done something about it - not condoning violence, but getting right up in their faces and telling them not to risk doing it again would have helped.

OOPS posted on the wrong thread.  sorry.

Reading some of the posts and comments over the last few days and after the game Ireland are clearly at a turning point in terms of where to go next. I thought the selection was underwhelming but then JS has pretty much always had a good reason. It nearly worked but the problem is the French were so poor in reality that the result at the end was really disappointing (disastrous even).

We have had two years of lots of boshing and kick chase and a high pressure game. The problem now is the players are falling like skittles in terms of injuries.

The squad and team for the next game will be interesting. England away. To be honest is this the game to experiment and end up on the end of a big hiding? Damage limitation might be the better option. However McCloskey must come into the mix surely at the very least.

Really not sure if Schmidt is able to change the way we play. The back play has not advanced for this game. In fact it has regressed. I thought it was interesting that Zebo was played last week while his form had not been as good as last year (while not picking him when his form has been good)...but he did make a difference in attack.

Heaslip was poor again today after a very effective game last week. Really not sure why Fergus McFadden was there I dont think he touched the ball all day.

Its a worrying sign that Schmidt does seem to be even more conservative than his predecessors. I fear a big hiding in Twickers.

This was always going to be a transitional campaign for Ireland. To lose the heart and driving force of the team was always going to be difficult to bounce back from, particularly in set piece areas where that player was so pivotal. The players are still looking for leaders to emerge while so many are out injured. It will take time, but with the right approach, we will get there.

I did have major misgivings about the selections for the opening games and in particular this one. But we have to acknowledge the impact of injuries of the first half, and the weather. In conditions like that there were always going to be errors. And you could see the injury disruption stalled some of the momentum Ireland had while also reducing the potential impact of bringing on subs later in the game.

I think we can safely say that we are out of the running for the championship now, and even if there is a slim possibility of winning it, I'd prefer if we used the remainder of this tournament to benefit the squad long term i.e. give players a chance and test the combinations. With McCarthy going off the way he did, I imagine we will see Ultan Dillane on the bench, but there should be other openings given on the basis of form for the provinces rather than resting on rickety crutches like McFadden and Madigan. It is the right time to do so, but will require Joe Schimdt to be brave and face up to the reality of those Leinster players he has been leaning on for a decade.

Some are not up to it such as McFadden and Madigan, where there are better options elsewhere. And some are being flogged to get back into the team when they do not appear to be fit enough for it like SOB and Healy.

The players are available to play a slightly more expansive style. Today with ball in hand Ireland never looked like getting through the French defence to the line, while for their provinces we know they are capable of doing this. It is very frustrating to watch the two Kearneys get the continuous nod while form for them in the last two years has not been reflective of their standing.

Need to be brave Joe. To not act is to the detriment of Irish rugby down the line.

Well, that French team would be beaten to death by Australia or New Zealand...and they managed to beat us just by putting a sprinkle of well timed extra pace into their game.  So as we continue not to forget to judge ourselves in World Terms rather than simply European terms (like we all promised ourselves after that WC)..... we are way off the pace of this here International rugby - way way off the pace.  
First duty of a Professional player in this age is an ability to keep up pace for 80 and have the stamina to do so week after week.  We've been found out.  We're just pretending we have those things......

2 subpar games from both Wales and Ireland, not surprised in the slightest given the intensity there was during last Sunday game. It's impossible to repeat 2 games with the highest possible intensity in the space of 6 days.

Wales were a few notches up on Ireland for intensity 2 weeks in a row. They put on the gas whenever it was expedient and reaped the rewards of taking the game away from dogged Scotland.
Wales are said to improve into and through 6N seasons.... and they do. Ireland tend to have one high intensity game per year (or campaign).... and that's a habit that's continuing now with Schmidt when a lot of people felt and hoped he might have the tools to break the cycle.

VinceWLB wrote:2 subpar games from both Wales and Ireland, not surprised in the slightest given the intensity there was during last Sunday game. It's impossible to repeat 2 games with the highest possible intensity in the space of 6 days.

It's probably why the best sides don't just smash into each other, phase after phase. Attritional tactics will only get you so far. I don't think one less day made that much of a difference.

Cyril wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:2 subpar games from both Wales and Ireland, not surprised in the slightest given the intensity there was during last Sunday game. It's impossible to repeat 2 games with the highest possible intensity in the space of 6 days.

It's probably why the best sides don't just smash into each other, phase after phase. Attritional tactics will only get you so far. I don't think one less day made that much of a difference.

Agreed with your first point. On the other hand i think one day is huge in terms of recovery, even more so when you have to travel.

VinceWLB wrote:

Cyril wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:2 subpar games from both Wales and Ireland, not surprised in the slightest given the intensity there was during last Sunday game. It's impossible to repeat 2 games with the highest possible intensity in the space of 6 days.

It's probably why the best sides don't just smash into each other, phase after phase. Attritional tactics will only get you so far. I don't think one less day made that much of a difference.

Agreed with your first point. On the other hand i think one day is huge in terms of recovery, even more so when you have to travel.

And the fly half was wearing a boot for most of the week and would have loved an extra day on the training field with his backline

VinceWLB wrote:

Cyril wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:2 subpar games from both Wales and Ireland, not surprised in the slightest given the intensity there was during last Sunday game. It's impossible to repeat 2 games with the highest possible intensity in the space of 6 days.

It's probably why the best sides don't just smash into each other, phase after phase. Attritional tactics will only get you so far. I don't think one less day made that much of a difference.

Agreed with your first point. On the other hand i think one day is huge in terms of recovery, even more so when you have to travel.

Play smarter rugby when you're in a tournament. Tired players are less efficient players. Wales and Ireland played an intense (and occasionally watchable) game plan this year (and last) but basically all they did was cancel each other out and knacker their players. SH looked on in sympathy etc...

VinceWLB wrote:Never rated O'Donnell, was non existent on the pitch and missed the crucial tackle, Ruddock should have been on the bench any day.

He was Ireland's top tackler with 20 (missing 2). ROG said the error for the try was whoever was defending the line - they should have been in closer as the pack (& O'Donnell) were actually scrummaging. Most other opensides wouldn't have got a finger to him.

Doesnt seem to be any point in blaming individual players. O'Donnell was scrummaging the ball shot out at the back (by mistake) after three scrum penalties O'Donnell was doing the correct thing. Unfortunately Henshaw shot up Madigan was badly positioned. Good leinster pointing to one mistake rather than Heaslips anonymity!!

Anyhow it doesnt excuse our inability to ever look like scoring a try...cant seem to remember if we ever got that close to the line despite the majority of possession in the first half.

Sin é wrote:

VinceWLB wrote:Never rated O'Donnell, was non existent on the pitch and missed the crucial tackle, Ruddock should have been on the bench any day.

He was Ireland's top tackler with 20 (missing 2). ROG said the error for the try was whoever was defending the line - they should have been in closer as the pack (& O'Donnell) were actually scrummaging. Most other opensides wouldn't have got a finger to him.

In fairness to all defenders in that line, it was an inevitable try.

http://www.balls.ie/rugby/stephen-ferris-is-seriously-critical-of-joe-schmidts-team-selection-for-france/324361

Fez having a say pre game...interesting...

Is Ferris still expecting the law after that incident or was it nothing?

I expected Ireland to have a pretty poor Six Nations. Seems to run in cycles with them. Get in a new coach, have a couple of good Six Nations and Autumn series, go into a WC full of optimism and then flatter to deceive. Suffer a post WC hangover and a poor 6 Nations. Coach loses support.

I fancy England to turn them over in Twickenham and I think Scotland will fancy their chances. Big pressure will be on Schmidt then.

catchweight wrote:I expected Ireland to have a pretty poor Six Nations. Seems to run in cycles with them. Get in a new coach, have a couple of good Six Nations and Autumn series, go into a WC full of optimism and then flatter to deceive. Suffer a post WC hangover and a poor 6 Nations. Coach loses support.

I fancy England to turn them over in Twickenham and I think Scotland will fancy their chances. Big pressure will be on Schmidt then.

Yep. That sums it up nicely.

And the notion of travelling to SA in the summer with the team in this state seems pointless unless a turn-around can be achieved.

Presume they could still ring up SARU and put it off to another time.....

Its not too late, Ireland have some very good players so if Schmidt swallows his pride and picks the correct players in their correct positions then Ireland could perform a hell of a lot better and certainly not fear SA.

Very frustrating performance. very similar to last week where we started strong, built the lead but then unlike previous campaigns under Schmidt our periods of pressure failed to manifest on the score board and we've faded late on with a weak bench.

Not to pick on Best but I think the loss O'Connell and BOD over the last 2 season has left us bereft of some leadership and these tight games are now going against us.

Leinster and Munster are both pretty rudderless and toothless in attack this year so it's not really a surprise that an Ireland team made up mainly from these sides are struggling to score tries.

Ulster and Connacht are playing decent rugby though so will Schmidt start to be a bit bolder with his selection -  Gilroy, McCloskey, Jackson and maybe Healy and Ringrose could all bring a spark to the team.

Injuries and the age profile in the pack aren't helping.

POC retires and we have 2 guys of a similar age to replace him

rapidsnowman wrote:Injuries and the age profile in the pack aren't helping.

POC retires and we have 2 guys of a similar age to replace him

Well in fairness Henderson and Touhy are both injured.

Lock and TH are a concern though. I think there has been a bit of positive spin on our forwards by the pundits - in both games our scrum has been under pressure from that start and then eventually crumbled late on.

Nathan White has done his best but he's a journey man with 2 lightweight and aging second rows in behind him.

We've had plenty of ball though but the creativity and cutting edge isn't there with the players we've selected and Joe can't continue to ignore that.

Just want to say, Mcgrath has been superb! Work rate and scrummaging ability, Healy will really have to fight his way back into the shirt!

Henderson, POM, SOB are big losses, TOD and CJ Strander just aren't the same quality at the minute

I think both Healy and SOB are done for to be honest. Neither will be the players they were.

TOD is average enough - I'd have Ruddock at 7 to give CJ a bit of help and put VDF or Henry on the bench.

Jack O'Donaghue is the future at 6 though with CJ at 8.

rodders wrote:rapidsnowman wrote:
Injuries and the age profile in the pack aren't helping.

POC retires and we have 2 guys of a similar age to replace him Rolling Eyes


Well in fairness Henderson and Touhy are both injured.

I know, the was to signify just our luck, not annoyance with the coaching set up.

No McCloskey , that's a whole different meaning!

rodders wrote:Very frustrating performance. very similar to last week where we started strong, built the lead but then unlike previous campaigns under Schmidt our periods of pressure failed to manifest on the score board and we've faded late on with a weak bench.

Not to pick on Best but I think the loss O'Connell and BOD over the last 2 season has left us bereft of some leadership and these tight games are now going against us.

Leinster and Munster are both pretty rudderless and toothless in attack this year so it's not really a surprise that an Ireland team made up mainly from these sides are struggling to score tries.

Ulster and Connacht are playing decent rugby though so will Schmidt start to be a bit bolder with his selection -  Gilroy, McCloskey, Jackson and maybe Healy and Ringrose could all bring a spark to the team.

Not sure I would blame Best at all. He isn't the only leader in the team and against that France team it shouldn't have even been a close game. I have never witnessed a weaker France side. They are really bad so this for me is Ireland's worst result under Schmidt by far.

Here's how we could have won. We had so much possession and territory in the first half that we should have chipped away at the score board through drop kicks. It was obvious early on that France were going to do anything they could to spoil the game and prevent us from gaining any momentum. Given that the ref wasn't interested in penalising the French we should have adapted. If we cant score tries a good out half would have commanded his troups to set him up for the drop goal and he would have nailed it every time. I blame Sexton more that Best.

Once you get ahead of this France team they were ready to completely implode and get on their knees and bow down to the better team. We were 2 drop goals away from making that happen. Anyone who doesn't think this Ireland team is a better team that that French team is silly.

I think now that the championship is over for us we can use the remaining games as squad development for the summer tour to SA.

I don't blame any single player - there was a general lack of leadership.

France were terrible - we just threw it away which is what is so frustrating, even more so because we did the same the week before.

The fact that we start well suggests we have the right plan, that we fall away suggest that we aren't able to sustain it, or adapt to the opposition so the players more than the coaches are at fault imo.

None of the senior players - Sexton, Best, Heaslip, Murray, Toner, Kearney are stepping up to the plate when the pressure comes on -they are just going through the motions which isn't good enough.