France v Ireland, 11 October

by **George Carlin** Sun Oct 04, 2015 11:13 am

First topic message reminder :

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
France v Ireland, 11 October - Page 16 French10

France v Ireland, 11 October - Page 16 French10

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
France v Ireland, 11 October - Page 16 Irish-10

France v Ireland, 11 October - Page 16 Irish-10

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.

by majesticimperialman Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:43 pm

nathan wrote:congratulations Ireland!

New Zealand vs France, i'll be tuning in to watch that one! Who's the ref? lol

Not sure, think it might be Wayne Barnes.

by Heaf Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:43 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:What did SoB do? Missed it.

Sucker punch to the solar plexus - not sure if he was reacting to something (didn't see anything) but incredibly stupid ... probably red if seen during the match and bound to be a few weeks ban I think - very unfortunate for Ireland

by Heaf Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:44 pm

majesticimperialman wrote:
nathan wrote:congratulations Ireland!

New Zealand vs France, i'll be tuning in to watch that one! Who's the ref? lol

Not sure, think it might be Wayne Barnes.

by LeinsterFan4life Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:45 pm

SOB should get off handy because we are a tier 1 nation Wink

by **Pal Joey** Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:46 pm

eirebilly wrote:The bugger of it all is, SOB looked to be back to his storming best and now may be out for the next match.

He was everywhere!
I missed the transgression too. What did the ref make of it?
If it was so bad then surely that would be taken into account for MoM (which I think he most certainly was; notwithstanding this incident) but those MoM awards have been a complete lottery/joke in this world cup.

by Heaf Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:47 pm

LeinsterFan4life wrote:SOB should get off handy because we are a tier 1 nation

don't even joke about it - this place would go into melt-down ...

by maestegmafia Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:47 pm

What a game...!

Well done Ireland fantastic performance

by TightHEAD Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:47 pm

Awsome performance from Ireland.

by **Pal Joey** Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:48 pm

So SOB definitely MoM but perhaps not Best & Fairest... like in the olden days. Wink

by VinceWLB Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:49 pm

Missed the SOB incident too. Need a gif of that one.

by Exiled Gael Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:50 pm

People were taking about the bravery of Wales against England and Australia yesterday. That was powderpuff stuff in comparison to Ireland today

by Artful_Dodger Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:51 pm

O'Brien incident...

http://www.benchwarmers.ie/videos/video-ireland-flanker-sean-obrien-punches-frances-pascal-pape-in-rugby-world-cup-clash/

by InjuredYetAgain Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:52 pm

The Loaded Dog wrote:So SOB definitely MoM but perhaps not Best & Fairest... like in the olden days.

When did you last sleep, Dog? You were on here for all of yesterday's games too and it is still dark o'clock in Oz, isn't it?

by VinceWLB Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:54 pm

Artful_Dodger wrote:O'Brien incident...

http://www.benchwarmers.ie/videos/video-ireland-flanker-sean-obrien-punches-frances-pascal-pape-in-rugby-world-cup-clash/

Cheers.

Not as bad as some of the comments on here are making out to be but definitely banable.

by Guest Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:54 pm

Well done Ireland. Impressive stuff. clap

However, I feel I must also add that I was a tad disappointed with France. Taking nothing away from Ireland. They didn't let France into the game. But France, fancied by some as an outside bet, and seen as playing the best out of the NH teams before today, just didn't look good at all. Even though history suggests otherwise, this France team will not worry the All Blacks next week IMO.

by Fantasticbarnsmell Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:54 pm

France were extremely poor today, didn't turn up at all... Hard to judge Ireland on that one, will have to wait until next week to see what they are made of.

by whocares Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:55 pm

VinceWLB wrote:Missed the SOB incident too. Need a gif of that one.

https://t.co/6BeI2lIgmh

Well done Ireland. There was only one team playing rugby in the 2nd half. Ironically Madigan and his direct rugby hurt us more than Sexton.
Good luck against Argentina.

by majesticimperialman Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:55 pm

I cannot understand why the TMO said nothing.

by **Notch** Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:56 pm

whocares wrote:
VinceWLB wrote:Missed the SOB incident too. Need a gif of that one.

https://t.co/6BeI2lIgmh

So pointless, so stupid.

by Fantasticbarnsmell Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:57 pm

VinceWLB wrote:
Artful_Dodger wrote:O'Brien incident...

http://www.benchwarmers.ie/videos/video-ireland-flanker-sean-obrien-punches-frances-pascal-pape-in-rugby-world-cup-clash/

Cheers.

Not as bad as some of the comments on here are making out to be but definitely banable.

It's very bad, that's his World Cup done

by Artful_Dodger Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:58 pm

whocares wrote:
VinceWLB wrote:Missed the SOB incident too. Need a gif of that one.

https://t.co/6BeI2lIgmh

Well done Ireland. There was only one team playing rugby in the 2nd half. Ironically Madigan and his direct rugby hurt us more than Sexton.
Good luck against Argentina.

I agree, Sexton as of late is spending too much time either making his decision or taking too much time to execute his decision. Madigan came on and things started to flow more freely. I hope Sexton is available for Argentina though.

by **RDW** Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:58 pm

What a stupid thing for SoB to do - wasn't even subtle.

What would Ireland's likely back 5 be with him and O'Connell out?

by Artful_Dodger Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:59 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:What a stupid thing for SoB to do - wasn't even subtle.

What would Ireland's likely back 5 be with him and O'Connell out?

Depends on who is called up as injury replacements, bare in mind O'Mahony is also probably out.

We are looking at...

4- Toner
5- Henderson
6- Murphy
7- Henry
8- Heaslip

Or

4- Toner
5- Ryan
6- Henderson
7- Henry
8- Heaslip

by Gwlad Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:59 pm

Exiled Gael wrote:People were taking about the bravery of Wales against England and Australia yesterday. That was powderpuff stuff in comparison to Ireland today

Er, no it wasn't. Rolling Eyes

by VinceWLB Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:00 pm

whocares wrote:
VinceWLB wrote:Missed the SOB incident too. Need a gif of that one.

https://t.co/6BeI2lIgmh

Well done Ireland. There was only one team playing rugby in the 2nd half. Ironically Madigan and his direct rugby hurt us more than Sexton.
Good luck against Argentina.

Thanks, hard luck France. Thought Madigan and Henderson gave more problem to France than POC and Sexton. Henry didn't weaken the team either.

by **Notch** Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:00 pm

Griff wrote:]and seen as playing the best out of the NH teams before today

Frankly, didn't understand where this sentiment was coming from before today. Never mind Ireland getting to this game with a superior points difference than France, or that Ireland had both scored more tires and conceded less against the exact same opponents. France have been sloppier than the likes of Wales and Scotland in their opening three games.

They played as we should have expected a St. Andre France team to play. Physical, powerful but not well drilled or incisive.

by VinceWLB Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:02 pm

I hope Ireland calls up John Muldoon, never really got the respect he deserves.

by kunu Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:03 pm

France proved to be typically unfit. Ireland retained ball and ran them all over the place. France completely gassed after 60 mins.

by whocares Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:04 pm

VinceWLB wrote:
whocares wrote:
VinceWLB wrote:Missed the SOB incident too. Need a gif of that one.

https://t.co/6BeI2lIgmh

Well done Ireland. There was only one team playing rugby in the 2nd half. Ironically Madigan and his direct rugby hurt us more than Sexton.
Good luck against Argentina.

Thanks, hard luck France. Thought Madigan and Henderson gave more problem to France than POC and Sexton. Henry didn't weaken the team either.

indeed. Quality bench. Henderson in particular seems so much better than toner, I was amazed he didnt start.

by **Notch** Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:04 pm

VinceWLB wrote:I hope Ireland calls up John Muldoon, never really got the respect he deserves.

I think he's retired Vince.

by VinceWLB Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:08 pm

Notch wrote:
VinceWLB wrote:I hope Ireland calls up John Muldoon, never really got the respect he deserves.

I think he's retired Vince.

You must be thinking of Mike Swift. Muldoon played all 180 min with Connacht this season!

by **RDW** Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:09 pm

Artful_Dodger wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:What a stupid thing for SoB to do - wasn't even subtle.

What would Ireland's likely back 5 be with him and O'Connell out?

Depends on who is called up as injury replacements, bare in mind O'Mahony is also probably out.

We are looking at...

4- Toner
5- Henderson
6- Murphy
7- Henry
8- Heaslip

Or

4- Toner
5- Ryan
6- Henderson
7- Henry
8- Heaslip

Either way, it is a big step down from the options you had today.

by MarcusHalberstram Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:10 pm

Well done Ireland. Fairly jealous of that performance - and of your fans today. Replacements stepped up magnificently. SOB is sure to cop a ban for that moment of lunacy, and you may have lost some key players - but you have some real depth it seems. Argentina won't be easy - but a heck of a lot better to play that the ABs!

by Artful_Dodger Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:10 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:
Artful_Dodger wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:What a stupid thing for SoB to do - wasn't even subtle.

What would Ireland's likely back 5 be with him and O'Connell out?

Depends on who is called up as injury replacements, bare in mind O'Mahony is also probably out.

We are looking at...

4- Toner
5- Henderson
6- Murphy
7- Henry
8- Heaslip

Or

4- Toner
5- Ryan
6- Henderson
7- Henry
8- Heaslip

Either way, it is a big step down from the options you had today.

The irony is, O'Brien and O'Mahony have bother been very quiet recently. But to lose both and O'Connell is undoubtedly a big blow. I don't think we lose anything in the backrow with Henry replacing one of them, but Murphy having to come and now O'Connell definitely amounts to a step down.

by **Notch** Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:11 pm

Here's what I think will start for us;

4-Toner
5-Ryan
6-Henderson
7-Henry
8-Heaslip

Do not make the mistake of underrating Donnacha Ryan or Chris Henry. They are both quality players. There is a big step down in leadership without O'Connell but there are still three quality second rows and Hendersons love of smashing things can translate well to the back row. Henry was unlucky not to be starting already and will get hi chance.

by Artful_Dodger Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:12 pm

Notch wrote:Here's what I think will start for us;

4-Toner
5-Ryan
6-Henderson
7-Henry
8-Heaslip

Do not make the mistake of underrating Donnacha Ryan or Chris Henry. They are both quality players.

Yep, Murphy and Tuohy on the bench.

by FecklessRogue Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:15 pm

Notch wrote:Here's what I think will start for us;

4-Toner
5-Ryan
6-Henderson
7-Henry
8-Heaslip

Do not make the mistake of underrating Donnacha Ryan or Chris Henry. They are both quality players. There is a big step down in leadership without O'Connell but there are still three quality second rows and Hendersons love of smashing things can translate well to the back row. Henry was unlucky not to be starting already and will get hi chance.

Notch that's still good enough to take on and beat Argentina.

by Guest Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:16 pm

Notch wrote:Here's what I think will start for us;

4-Toner
5-Ryan
6-Henderson
7-Henry
8-Heaslip

Do not make the mistake of underrating Donnacha Ryan or Chris Henry. They are both quality players. There is a big step down in leadership without O'Connell but there are still three quality second rows and Hendersons love of smashing things can translate well to the back row. Henry was unlucky not to be starting already and will get hi chance.

Could well be it, Notch. SOB deserves a hug, followed by a slap. Would have been great to have him there against the Argies, but that backrow can certainly do a job. Hopefully, if we win, we will have SOB back for the semi's.

by InjuredYetAgain Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:18 pm

Has Henderson played at 6 that much? He looks mobile enough to do it but does he have the experience not to be shown up?
Him replacing POC at lock is probably a step up for Ireland in playing terms but the loss of leadership could be crippling

by VinceWLB Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:18 pm

Why is McCloskey not in the Irish squad? him at 12 and Henshaw at 13 would be a tremendous centre pairing.

by Guest Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:20 pm

InjuredYetAgain wrote:Has Henderson played at 6 that much? He looks mobile enough to do it but does he have the experience not to be shown up?
Him replacing POC at lock is probably a step up for Ireland in playing terms but the loss of leadership could be crippling

Yes he has. It's his preferred position. Agree with you on the loss of leadership, but still have Heaslip, Best and hopefully Sexton.

by Guest Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:21 pm

VinceWLB wrote:Why is McCloskey not in the Irish squad? him at 12 and Henshaw at 13 would be a tremendous centre pairing.

Lack of experience I think, but McCloskey could well be a name of the future, alongside Henshaw.

by **RDW** Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:28 pm

Anyone know why Madigan was so overcome with emotion at the end?

by **George Carlin** Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:29 pm

Real shame about those injuries and SOBs brainfart because that was a very impressive performance overall by Ireland. SOB was finally recognisable as himself again.

Madigan was very good but sometimes I think he just needs to run straight and back himself rather than looking for the offload. Henshaw looks more and more like a Lions centre in waiting.

by Pete330v2 Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:31 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:Anyone know why Madigan was so overcome with emotion at the end?

He caught sight of his hair in a mirror

by carpet baboon Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:33 pm

carpet baboon wrote:Not sure if its the two hours sleep I got last night or the massive amount of coffee I have drank, but I'm feeling very optimistic about the game.
I think we will build a lead in the first 50 then with France chasing the game we will put them to the sword.
Henderson off the bench to score aswell.
29 - 9 to Ireland

Right I'm off for a night shift

Wasn't far wrong.

by **RDW** Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:34 pm

Pete330v2 wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:Anyone know why Madigan was so overcome with emotion at the end?

He caught sight of his hair in a mirror

He was pointing to someone in the crowd so just wondered if something had happened recently.

by brennomac Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:40 pm

Thought young Henshaw was immense, made Fofana look like a novice.

So bleeding oroud

by InjuredYetAgain Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:53 pm

Pete330v2 wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:Anyone know why Madigan was so overcome with emotion at the end?

He caught sight of his hair in a mirror

All things being relative, it is actually better than the Kim Jong-Il look that he had a few years ago. I mean how do you ask for it, what exactly do you say to the hairdresser?

by mikey_dragon Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:57 pm

Exiled Gael wrote:People were taking about the bravery of Wales against England and Australia yesterday. That was powderpuff stuff in comparison to Ireland today

Jeez the occasional win against the worst France team of the professional era can go to some people's heads... Aus have probably been the 'bravest' and are the form team, they showed that yesterday. But once again, that was a very good win for Ireland.

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