France v Ireland, 11 October

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FRANCE v IRELAND
11 October 2015
KO: 16:45
The Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Live on [tbc]

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Touch judges:Wayne Barnes (England) & Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)

A. Head to Head

93 Played 93
55 Won 31
7 Drawn 7
31 Lost 55
1508 Points 1084

B. Recent Form

14 February 2015
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
18 – 11 to Ireland

15 March 2014
Stade de France, Saint Denis
20 – 22 to Ireland

9 March 2013
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
13 – 13 Draw

4 March 2012
Stade de France, Saint Denis
17 – 17 Draw

20 August 2011
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
22 – 26 to France

13 August 2011
Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux
19 – 12 to France

C. Teams

FRANCE

15 Scott Spedding, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Brice Dulin, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde; 1 Eddy Ben Arous, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 3 Rabah Slimani, 4 Pascal Pape, 5 Yoann Maestri, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 7 Damien Chouly, 8 Louis Picamoles.

Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Nicolas Mas, 19 Alexandre Flanquart, 20 Bernard Le Roux, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Remi Tales, 23 Alexandre Dumoulin.

IRELAND

15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Robbie Henshaw , 11 Dave Kearney,  10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray; 1 Cian Healy, 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.

Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Nathan White, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Luke Fitzgerald.

Disaster. I fear that's curtains

Think he just had the wind knocked out him that second tackle. Not long term serious.

Sextons body language is not good, I think he may fear his game is over or even worse, his tournament.

Munchkin wrote:

nathan wrote:

Munchkin wrote:Dive!!!

Still high though, pen the right decision imo

Still a dive. If they were serious about dealing with dives the penalty would have been reversed.

Not that much of a dive to be honest

nathan wrote:

Munchkin wrote:

nathan wrote:

Munchkin wrote:Dive!!!

Still high though, pen the right decision imo

Still a dive. If they were serious about dealing with dives the penalty would have been reversed.

Not that much of a dive to be honest

Don't know how much of a dive it needs to be, but it was an obvious dive.

Well, there's not much sense in risking Sexton here and not having him in the quarter-final.

I think Ireland have more chance of beating New Zealand with Sexton than beating Argentina without him.

Earls and the back three not in the game. So ponderous in attwck and the kicking game and the chase is poor. Madigan is likely to keep the ball in hand more and it doesn't fill me with confidence. France don't look like we are challenging them

Great kick, he has a different kicking style to most

Massive, massive game for Murray. He is no longer a young talented player- he must step up and lead.

Almost the first lineout we've lost all tournament that, and it comes when the pressure is on for the first time.

Aw, Bowes pass denies us a certain try!

Have the Ireland players been bulking up, they all look massive

Oh feck Earls!!!!

Yer man Earls, Billy! Nooo!
Lovely play to put Bowe through.

Nice one Earls.

Lordy. An open-goal or what??!!

Great break by Bowe, should have scored

EARLS?!!!!!!

The breakdown is a shambles. Very unlike Nigel Owens but he is letting players away with an awful lot of handing on the ground

Earls.

Not good viewing for earls there!

Earls absolutely bombed that.

Never rated Earls, know why now.

It was a perfect pass as well. Really mentally poor from Earls.

That fumble almost defied the laws of physics - how did he drop that??

Apologies to Tommy Bowe; it was the mistake by Earls. Unforced error. Feel for him- more ammunition for the critics.

eirebilly wrote:It was a perfect pass as well. Really mentally poor from Earls.

This is the worry with Earls. It's not his fault, it just worries me when you see him put in that situation. For Munster he'd get a chance for redeem himself nearly right away. That may be his last and only chance in this game. Hope it's not.

Absolutely horrific from Earls. Nothing wrong with Bowe's pass. Unacceptable

Notch wrote:Almost the first lineout we've lost all tournament that, and it comes when the pressure is on for the first time.

Aw, Bowes pass denies us a certain try!

? Are you being ironic Notch? The pass was fine; it was Earls "catch" that was awful

Best was no way on his feet there

Amazing side step by paddy o'mahogny there! Absolutely stood the French defender up.

Earls caught that ball twice and somehow dropped it, don't know how he did it!

How did Earls drop that? Try butchered yet again

Madigan has done very well since coming on - he needs to keep this up

InjuredYetAgain wrote:

Notch wrote:Almost the first lineout we've lost all tournament that, and it comes when the pressure is on for the first time.

Aw, Bowes pass denies us a certain try!

? Are you being ironic Notch? The pass was fine; it was Earls "catch" that was awful

I saw that on the replay. I simply couldn't believe that fumble first time around I suppose.

eirebilly wrote:It was a perfect pass as well. Really mentally poor from Earls.

Mentally? He just seemed to run too hard onto it. Thought he was already over the line before he had properly received it.

I know I am a huge Earls fan but that was extremely poor, you simply don't get many chances like that against top tier teams and he really should have strolled in.

Hope he makes up for it.

Impressed with Madigan since he came on.
Come on Ireland. Get it together and the game is your's.

I thought the same as you Notch. I thought it must have been the pass. I worry for Earls and mentally how he will approach the rest of the game. He needs to do something good before half time, a big hit or break to life his confidence

The Loaded Dog wrote:

eirebilly wrote:It was a perfect pass as well. Really mentally poor from Earls.

Mentally? He just seemed to run too hard onto it. Thought he was already over the line before he had properly received it.

Mentally as in he had his eye on the line and not on the ball. That's not a skill thing, it was a mental miss.

France's defence is incredible - like Oz yesterday. You'd think it will catch up with them later in the game

InjuredYetAgain wrote:Impressed with Madigan since he came on.
Come on Ireland. Get it together and the game is your's.

Not that kick though

eirebilly wrote:

The Loaded Dog wrote:

eirebilly wrote:It was a perfect pass as well. Really mentally poor from Earls.

Mentally? He just seemed to run too hard onto it. Thought he was already over the line before he had properly received it.

Mentally as in he had his eye on the line and not on the ball. That's not a skill thing, it was a mental miss.

Ah.. I see.
Madigan a little out of sorts. First the missed pass then boots it out on the full.

Poc ok? Looked bad

Rare you see two such perfectly matched sides….i think this will go all the way to the wire

WTF Henshaw? Ireland could have at least got in a position for a drop kick there and a 12-6 lead.

Looks like POC is out.

Sexton off, O'Connell down- we might win this battle today but these injuries might lose us the war.

The intensity of this match is taking its toll. Huge losses... Sexton and POC!!

That was close, Earls makes up slightly for his bombed try with a good cover tackle and then excellent work by Henshaw. POC looks crooked

Really ponderous so far from Ireland. POC going off injured as well as Sexton. This is a nightmare. We should be 10 points clear but due solely to Keith Earls it's only three and France on top.

cardiff curse…..come to the millie and get injured. unreal