Ireland V France

   
IRELAND v FRANCE
14 February 2015
KO: 17:00
Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU)
AR1: Nigel Owens (WRU)
AR2: Stuart Berry (SARU)
TMO: Graham Hughes (RFU)

IRELAND

15 Rob Kearney
14 Tommy Bowe
13 Jared Payne
12 Robbie Henshaw
11 Simon Zebo
10 Johnny Sexton
9 Conor Murray

1 Jack McGrath
2 Rory Best
3 Mike Ross
4 Devin Toner
5 Paul O'Connell (c)
6 Peter O'Mahony
7 Sean O'Brien
8 Jamie Heaslip

16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Martin Moore, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Isaac Boss, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Felix Jones

FRANCE

15 Scott Spedding
14 Yoann Huget
13 Mathieu Bastareaud
12 Wesley Fofana
11 Teddy Thomas
10 Camille Lopez
9 Rory Kockott

1 Eddy Ben Arous
2 Guilhem Guirado
3 Rabah Slimani
4 Pascal Papé
5 Yoann Maestri
6 Thierry Dusautoir (c)
7 Bernard Le Roux
8 Damien Chouly

16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Vincent Debaty, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Loann Goujon, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Rémi Talès, 23 Rémi Lamerat

*****
This is an interesting battle, and very much a case of brains v brawn.
French flair is long gone, they now rely on the likes of Bastareaud and their pack of overweight lumps to get over the line.
Ireland are very much a team of robots, Joe gives instructions on how to dismantle a team like IKEA gives instructions on how to make a cupboard. With the right personnel in Sexton, SOB and the likes of Heaslip at the helm, they should be able to devour the French fatties like they're the last square of a Kinder Bueno.
All logic points to an Irish victory, but as so often happens the French defy logic.

Are Sexton, SOB and Heaslip playing in this one? Trying to decide where to put my money

I reckon Teddy Thomas, Wesley Fofana and Yohan Huget would have something to say about no flair for the French!

The logic is if Parra plays they'll shave us close and might even have enough pressure to slit our throats.
Never mind the fatties. Beware Parra.

BamBam wrote:Are Sexton, SOB and Heaslip playing in this one? Trying to decide where to put my money

I reckon Teddy Thomas, Wesley Fofana and Yohan Huget would have something to say about no flair for the French!

Yes, but they tend to get barricaded in by their roving 'fatties'

Ok - we know what the French can put out:  

A burst tyre or a bombe surprise.   Let's say they're up for it.  Just for the fun of it.

What can Ireland throw into the works to resemble a team that could actually oppose them?

Sexton is available - does he get a start not having played competitively for 3 odd months?  He's been training, but that ain't the same as playing.
Put him on for the first half and see how he goes? Or bench him and bring him on for the crucial 20/25 minutes?   Does Kareful Keatley continue to start or Madcap Madigan get a chance to bamboozle the French?  

Cian Healy - another injury-returning hero.  No gametime for months.   Is he ready to go up against a likely fired up French front row - or does he also bench wait until minute 50?

Sean O'Brien - he's starting, no he's not, yes he is, no he's not.....   Will that hamstring untweak itself?   will Sean stamp on the ground again between now and next Saturday or will Schmidt put fluffy pillows on his feet for the rest of the week?    Start/Bench?  Bench/start?

Jamie Heaslip - not another one!   Is Mr Indestructible actually human after all?   Is he being oh so Joe careful with his shoulder just in case?  What about when Picamoles smashes him in the first tackle - will his shoulder hurt then?   Should he start or maybe leave him until the Scotland game?  Or maybe the Georgia pool match?  Or maybe against France in the real match in September - should be ready by then.

Best had a bit of a twinge, maybe get Seanie to start.

So the bench should be:

Best, Ross, Healy, Cronin, O'Brien, Heaslip, Sexton, Reddan, and Fitzgerald.

Maybe just start with 14 men, and then bring the rest on the 55 minute mark and finish the match?

Anti- depressants for Sexton
A Lector mask for Healy
Valium for Seanie, to keep his head cool when he EVENTUALLY gets to play again - his eyes are like those of a hungry lion looking at a few white legged whimps walking past in the long grass.  If he plays, he better keep his cool or there might be a red card.
A testosterone booster shot or six for Heaslip in the ass and he'll be fine.

It's doable, provided the Chemists and S&M shops are opened.

Cant really have any of the returning injured on the bench because they wont be able to last the whole match if injuries arise in the first minute. Surely Healy will play for leinster on Sunday. Sob and Sexton will either start or (if fully fit) return to their clubs for the weekend I'd imagine.

I'd be a bit nervous if Sexton comes straight in. He hasnt made a tackle even in training since November. It will be a big ask to step right into the system and defend against the likes of Basteraud.

Heaslip and Reddan will presumably rejoin the match day squad.

Pot Hale
picamoles is not even in the squad due to some random injury. In fact there is no real number 8 here appart from some bloke nobody heard of.
You lot dont need Healy. He should be saved for England. Our TH didnt carry club form against scotland and was shaky. Our looseheads are Ben Arous who didnt impress and apparently that big lump of Debaty now. Nothing to worry about. Might as well rest Ross while you're at it. Our locks are a bunch of flat track bullies who cant pass to save their lives. POC is probably not needed here. The less said about our backrow with past-sell-date Dusautoir the better... And finally the backs: good against sloppy defenses like fidji's but when they cant make meters after 2 phases they just disapear.
Bottom line : send your reserve troops (foxhounds) with the likes of TOL, Stringer, and hey-you. That should do the job

whocares wrote:Pot Hale
picamoles is not even in the squad due to some random injury. In fact there is no real number 8 here appart from some bloke nobody heard of.
You lot dont need Healy. He should be saved for England. Our TH didnt carry club form against scotland and was shaky. Our looseheads are Ben Arous who didnt impress and apparently that big lump of Debaty now. Nothing to worry about. Might as well rest Ross while you're at it. Our locks are a bunch of flat track bullies who cant pass to save their lives. POC is probably not needed here. The less said about our backrow with past-sell-date Dusautoir the better... And finally the backs: good against sloppy defenses like fidji's but when they cant make meters after 2 phases they just disapear.
Bottom line : send your reserve troops (foxhounds) with the likes of TOL, Stringer, and hey-you. That should do the job

WhoCares- Do you mind if I just forward that to Joe@HQ? You've put it so much more eloquently than the rest of us could.


TOL, Stringer and HeyYou in the front row.... Magnifique! Hmm, now why didn't I think of that?

whocares wrote: hey-you. That should do the job

Hey!  You Ireesh, you lost.  

I think that's the only Hey-you that will be sounding around Lansdowne if we don't take the French ultra seriously.............. to the last drop of sweat at the 88th minute (they'll have a period of 168 phases (World record) which will start just on the 79th minute with the scoreline at 58 - 55 in our favour.

I won't tell anyone how the phases come to an end.... but the hospitals will get busy

Can't see France winning this in any shape or form. I don't think they have the stomach to defend or the fitness to live with Ireland for 80 mins. Scotland had them in sixes and sevens defensively.

They do look very powerful though and we'll have to front up against the like of Basteraud. The back 3 look sensational too but as a side they lack hunger and creativity.

Ireland will be too organised and well drilled -too fit, too cute.

Lets skip this one and look forward to the big one against England eh?

[quote="rodders"]

Lets skip this one and look forward to the big one against England eh?[/quote]

that's the spirit Rodders we know France wont go into 2nd gear anyway

God, there's a lorrah buzz about the place lately in terms of gung ho!

On another thread there's Quins saying we can ignore France as a factor when trying to deduce who is best in any given year.

And here we got our very own Rodders say that a win for Ireland is such a guarantee that the bookies should pay out now.

I think the WC pre-fight mayhem has gone to a few heads

As the Enfield Scousers used to say: "Caulm down! Caulm down!"

SecretFly wrote:And here we got our very own Rodders say that a win for Ireland is such a guarantee that the bookies should pay out now.

Ah no - I'd be making sure they turn up at Dublin airport first before expecting the bookies to pay up.

..actually, I'm just after realising the seriousness of my comment above.  This actually IS our pre-fight WC tester game - just like the Welsh and English had.

France have to put us in our mental box.  They got no choice but to beat us senseless!

Oh that's a whole new kettle of fish.  They're now motivated by other things besides the Six Nations, which they've tired of in recent years.

A couple of things that need to change for the French game:

1) Boss can not be in the 23.
2) We simply must reduce our errors as we are not a team that attack particularly well. We need to be clinical. Should have had a try against Italy by halftime.
3) Our breakdown work needs to be considerably sharper.

Things that need to continue:

1) Our lineout needs to remain dominant.
2) Our discipline needs to stay very high.

The team I would go for would be:

McGrath-Best-Ross
Toner-POC
POM-Heaslip-O'Brien
Murray-Sexton
Henshaw-Payne
Zebo-Kearney-Bowe

Cronin-Cronin-Moore-Henderson-Murphy-Reddan-Keatley-Fitzgerald

McGrath - Best - Moore
Henderson - POC
POM - Healip - TOD
Murray - Sexton
Henshaw - Payne
Zebo - Kearney - Bowe

Cronin - Healy - Ross - Toner - O'Brien - Reddan - Madigan - Jones

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:A couple of things that need to change for the French game:

1) Boss can not be in the 23.
2) We simply must reduce our errors as we are not a team that attack particularly well. We need to be clinical. Should have had a try against Italy by halftime.
3) Our breakdown work needs to be considerably sharper.

Things that need to continue:

1) Our lineout needs to remain dominant.
2) Our discipline needs to stay very high.

The team I would go for would be:

McGrath-Best-Ross
Toner-POC
POM-Heaslip-O'Brien
Murray-Sexton
Henshaw-Payne
Zebo-Kearney-Bowe

Cronin-Cronin-Moore-Henderson-Murphy-Reddan-Keatley-Fitzgerald

Not bad pete,

Personally I would start o'donnell and put SOB on the bench, but i think you may be closer

IF...................... I repeat IF Schmidt is holding back a lot of the supposedly practiced and practiced attack stuff that many people keep saying he must introduce into the mix soon - then I don't really know when he intends introducing it.

Right now we're as predictable as a sunrise in our 'attack' strategy - ie, very little creativity at all - a bland plate of luke-warm stuff that wouldn't have looked out of place in a Kidney side that was getting beaten more often than they won.
(Incidently when we attacked during those Kidney years, we often got the job done more simply than we seem to get it done now.  For all our plodding faults back then, we still looked sweet on the few occasions when we did attack with intent.)

Surely the guys know the disciplin by now, surely they know not to step out of line, and are becoming accustomed to the punishing defence drills and their breakdown responsibilities.  
Joe himself has admitted that a side needs to keep progressing, needs to keep the opposition guessing, needs to keep reaching the standards set down by the best sides that improve year on year.

Well, I don't know how long you can hold off on those aspects that might again unsettle an opposition.  Are we waiting for the World Cup to start before becoming more meaty in the attack department?  If so, how will we know we're any good at it?  How much will we have tested that level of attacking guile?  Is the WC the right place to finally unwrap it - cold from its box?

I think the time is right just now to try to cut away from the 'foundation' stuff.  We've had more than a year of it, it has served us well but it's becoming a blueprint now that the opposition can work to unravel.... and it's a might too attritional in the 'injury-risk' department.  
The players now know they have a 'foundation' platform to fall back on to close down games or to tighten up defence - but it needs a few new ingredients now - it needs some fireworks to keep the opposition plotters and planners off our backs.  It needs players seeking space to creatively exploit rather than constantly running back into heat and impact.

Is Fitzgerald injured? Haven't seen him since before Saxons game. Earls was travelling sub at weekend (seen in the warmup) which is really surprising considering his lack of match fitness.

Why does it NEED any of that Fly? The flog-the-life-out-of-our-forwards-and-win-our-own-ball-back-until-they-make-a-mistake-and-we-score-penalties-and-the-odd-try-when-they-are-knackered-from-battering-us-in-the-tackle-technique, is winning rugby.
He has created a template where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts in spades. In a Borg like assimilation process players can come in cold and do the job that is required of them seamlessly. And not just the big established stars. Moore, McGrath, Ruddock, Jones, TOD, Tuohy, Payne, Henshaw have all slotted in and performed their duties to the letter with very little or no preparation time in some cases (Ruddock for Henry, TOD for SOB) and often out of their (perceived) natural position.
So the Borg continue to conquer (for now) but no doubt the Federations will provide sterner tests to come. Hopefully we will have our big guns back by then and we can move onto the next stage of the Borg playbook. Domination through assimilation.

The f**king Borg!

Sexy to be sure - but I don't like their conformity to the Hive attitude to life. Like none of them smoke or drink or fornicate or play cards.... or protest about water charges.

That's just boring after a while even with the cool leather gear and evil cold stare.

France have a lot of heavy monsters playing for them. I'd say Ireland's main strategy will be to play at a high pace and knacker the French out.

With that in mind I don't think many of the returning from injury players will be included to start.

I'd look forward to a game of high pace designed to knacker French guys - if I thought the guys were up to it this year.

Are they?  I mean with the new regime and the new fitness and conditioning guy and the new perfomance director (Nucifora) I suspect they'll have the lungs okay (and probably had more lung capacity than they showed through the Provinces so far)

...but then accuracy with it seems to be always a continuing concern.  A lot of fluffed finger touch, buttery gymnastics still going on with the ball when it moves to the 'mobile' and 'pace' areas of the field.

McGrath - Best - Ross
Toner - POC
POM - Heaslip - Murphy
Murray - Sexton
Henshaw - Payne
Zebo - Kearney - Bowe

Cronin - Healy - Moore - Hendo - O'Donnell - Reddan - Madigan - Earls.

Thanks very much I'll have 50 points please Joe.

I'd go with that team Rodders except Cronin for Healy. I'd imagine Joe will go with Jones again on the bench though, which I don't really understand as 15 is well covered.

That one I can't understand - its like some kind of fullback fettish or something.

Even Boss can play fullback, its bizarre.

It's only bizarre because yous two don't know what God thinks about at night!

It's too big a territory for common mortals to postulate on

Well with 9 makeshift fullbacks in the 23 God is clearly thinking about catching the ball.

One fullback runs like a bloodhound, nose to the ground (Felix) and one runs like a crab - always sideways (Kearney).

Specialists all of them.  Joe knows what he's doing - sometimes a game needs a head down madman like Felix and sometimes it needs a pendulum like Kearney.

I'd like to see a penetrating 15 maybe sometime in the next few years but no hurry on it - we're still getting the 'basics' right, innit

When will offloading be considered a basic? Would be nice to see one of our many 15s able do master it.

That makes two of us Golden. But I still think we're heavily outnumbered by the pragmatists who say we still have to perfect the rucks and breakdowns and defending first.

I'd say the offloading out of trouble will come a few months after the end of the WC.

rodders wrote:Can't see France winning this in any shape or form. I don't think they have the stomach to defend or the fitness to live with Ireland for 80 mins. Scotland had them in sixes and sevens defensively.

They do look very powerful though and we'll have to front up against the like of Basteraud. The back 3 look sensational too but as a side they lack hunger and creativity.

Ireland will be too organised and well drilled -too fit, too cute.

Lets skip this one and look forward to the big one against England eh?

id say the French fitness looked extremely good last weekend.
given their v strong bench, power advantage and fofana- huget- Thomas in backline, you might be in for a bit of a nasty surprise.

SecretFly wrote:God, there's a lorrah buzz about the place lately in terms of gung ho!

On another thread there's Quins saying we can ignore France as a factor when trying to deduce who is best in any given year.

And here we got our very own Rodders say that a win for Ireland is such a guarantee that the bookies should pay out now.

I think the WC pre-fight mayhem has gone to a few heads

As the Enfield Scousers used to say: "Caulm down! Caulm down!"

didnt say that precisely. was bantering who-cares who said england should have been disqualified for losing to a rubbish France!

will be a good test for ireland. french teams have been playing better away in the club cup so far this season, so i dont expect the usual capitulation, as there is a kernel of belief beginning to grow i suspect. scotland defended epically against wave after wave of huge lumps.

ireland should win, but they will feel bruised afterwards.

alive555 wrote:

rodders wrote:Can't see France winning this in any shape or form. I don't think they have the stomach to defend or the fitness to live with Ireland for 80 mins. Scotland had them in sixes and sevens defensively.

They do look very powerful though and we'll have to front up against the like of Basteraud. The back 3 look sensational too but as a side they lack hunger and creativity.

Ireland will be too organised and well drilled -too fit, too cute.

Lets skip this one and look forward to the big one against England eh?

id say the French fitness looked extremely good last weekend.
given their v strong bench, power advantage and fofana- huget- Thomas in backline, you might be in for a bit of a nasty surprise.

They have a load of fatties. It looks great on paper and but those fatties have weaknesses. They're slower moving which means more gaps in defense etc. Scotland were cutting through them when they had possession of the ball.

With the French using the maul frequently in the Scottish match, I presume we'll counter it like we did with SA.  The pack won't commit to it while McGrath runs around to tackle the ball carrier again.

Sexton's/Keatley's/Kearneys kicking I'd going to have to be bang on with their back 3.

alive555 wrote:

rodders wrote:Can't see France winning this in any shape or form. I don't think they have the stomach to defend or the fitness to live with Ireland for 80 mins. Scotland had them in sixes and sevens defensively.

They do look very powerful though and we'll have to front up against the like of Basteraud. The back 3 look sensational too but as a side they lack hunger and creativity.

Ireland will be too organised and well drilled -too fit, too cute.

Lets skip this one and look forward to the big one against England eh?

id say the French fitness looked extremely good last weekend.
given their v strong bench, power advantage and fofana- huget- Thomas in backline, you might be in for a bit of a nasty surprise.

Well not me personally - I'm not planning on playing myself....

Don't agree on the fitness - we'll (the royal) be considerably fitter, as Scotalnd were at the weekend - a few hundred phases and we'll open them up like the rest of them.

We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile

quinsforever wrote:will be a good test for ireland. french teams have been playing better away in the club cup so far this season.

Yes RWC winning ex pat Saffers and Kiwis and Anglo-Welshmen tend not to mind the trip across the channel so much.

Ireland will (feel bruised after)
...and not at all certain that we'll win.  If Parra is allowed on from the start, he knows how to get under Irish skins.  He's greatly undervalued by the masses when assessing great 9s

But about France ..............  others might be surprised but I'm not.  France look a damn sight more serious this year than the past few - and why?  
Well, like I always say - their rhythms are different to ours.  Truly they are more interested in planning for World Cups than Six Nations.

Bastareaud looks pumped mentally for this season.  If they get a good win against Ireland, they're a handful for the rest with confidence growing into that WC time.

So, England should probably hope Ireland stuffs them and dampens that growing willingness of the French to engage the auld 'élan'.

Struggling to think of any Leinster performance under Schmidt where we blew a team off the park away from home, maybe Racing Metro in 2011…? It just never seemed to happen.

I’m surprised at how much confidence I have going into the game this weekend, I think we’re going to win, and win well.

My worry is if as expected we put 40-50 points on these guys will we be complacent in the RWC?

Ye Parra and Vincent Clerc(even now) are names as an Irish fan who I hate seeing in the oppositions team sheet.

Mickado wrote:I’m surprised at how much confidence I have going into the game this weekend, I think we’re going to win, and win well.

So do I - think we'll beat England comfortably too and then strangle the life out of Wales and Scotland by hoofing the the leather off the ball. It's textbook Joe Schmidt - it ain't pretty but it works.

Don't worry then Rodders coz there is just no way we're putting 40 or 50 on these guys.

But if we do, they'll have answered with a good horde of their own by the end of the game.

So............... if we put 40 or 50 on them, that's going to be one glorius game for the neutrals.

http://www.sportsjoe.ie/rugby/ireland-had-an-absolute-bounty-of-positive-injury-news-today/12724

Good news for Ireland Kearney jnr is back fit so Zeebs can drop out of the squad. Thanks for your service Simon but 'Daverage' is back....

Golden wrote:http://www.sportsjoe.ie/rugby/ireland-had-an-absolute-bounty-of-positive-injury-news-today/12724

Good news for Ireland Kearney jnr is back fit so Zeebs can drop out of the squad. Thanks for your service Simon but 'Daverage' is back....

I posted on the game thread how impressed I was by Zebo v Italy. Watched the game again last night and he was very impresssive. Took the ball at first receiver many times to take the heat off Keatley and used it really well. Shows a lot of faith in him by Joe. Don't see him losing the jersey any time soon.

Ah poor Zeebs........and him perfecting a back-kick special into the corner and over for a Zee sensation try against France.

Oh well, maybe he'll get to use it at the WC........... but this team needs more average players who can do sums on a blackboard than geniuses making mini A bombs with bottle tops at the back of the class.

rodders wrote:Well with 9 makeshift fullbacks in the 23 God is clearly thinking about catching the ball.

He is going for fullbacks because they are generally all good at kicking and catching.