6N 2018: France v Ireland

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France v Ireland
3 February 2018

Kick off: 16:45
Venue: Stade de France
Referee: Nigel Owens

France:
15. Geoffrey Palis (Castres)
14. Teddy Thomas (Racing 92)
13. Rémi Lamerat (Clermont Auvergne)
12. Henry Chavancy (Racing 92)
11. Virimi Vakatawa (Racing 92)
10. Matthieu Jalibert (Bordeaux-Bègles)
9. Maxime Machenaud (Racing 92)
1. Jefferson Poirot (Bordeaux-Bègles)
2. Guilhem Guirado (Toulon) (c)
3. Rabah Slimani (Clermont Auvergne)
4. Sébastien Vahaamahina (Clermont Auvergne)
5. Arthur Iturria (Clermont Auvergne)
6. Wenceslas Lauret (Racing 92)
7. Yacouba Camara (Montpellier)
8. Kévin Gourdon (La Rochelle)

Replacements:
16. Adrien Pelissié (Bordeaux-Bègles)
17. Dany Priso (La Rochelle)
18. Cedate Gomes Sa (Racing 92)
19. Paul Gabrillagues (La Rochelle)
20. Marco Tauleigne (Bordeaux-Bègles)
21. Antoine Dupont (Toulouse)
22. Anthony Belleau (Toulon)
23. Benjamin Fall (Montpellier)

Ireland:
15. Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 78 caps
14. Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 62 caps
13. Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) 31 caps
12. Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 2 caps
11. Jacob Stockdale (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 4 caps
10. Johnny Sexton (St Mary's College/Leinster) 68 caps
9. Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 59 caps
1. Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 73 caps
2. Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) 106 caps (captain)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 19 caps
4. Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 34 caps
5. James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 4 caps
6. Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 42 caps
7. Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 9 caps
8. CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 18 caps

Replacements
16. Sean Cronin (St Mary's College/Leinster) 56 caps
17. Jack McGrath (St Mary's College/Leinster) 42 caps
18. John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 11 caps
19. Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 53 caps
20. Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster) 4 caps
21. Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster) 6 caps
22. Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Leinster) 6 caps
23. Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 32 caps

Well done Ireland - an away win in Paris is never to be sniffed at.

George Carlin wrote:Well done Ireland - an away win in Paris is never to be sniffed at.

Thanks George, you gentleman you.   I was beginning to feel like Ireland needed to apologise for winning that one.

Commiserations on the Scottish loss.  It'll be a rude awakening for Townsend and he might be the better for it.  Unfortunately - as Ireland know only too well considering the endless debates we have on it - champagne rugby is not really the perfect bedfellow of 6N.  And Wales too will find that they'll need a much more grim and boring game to get them fully through the contest.  We have too much of one way, perhaps Scotland has too much of another way.  Put them together and BOOM?

'I always think it’s an unfair advantage when a team has replaced a specialist and then loses the replacement to a genuine, can’t-carry-on injury.'


Classic

Fly,

Schmidt coach Leinster and under him, they played tremendous rugby. No fear of loosing pure desire to win and they were incredibly consistent.

Leinster now under Cullen and Lancaster are playing that exact same brand of rugby and are arguably the best side in Europe. They also have no fear of loosing, a pure desire to win and are consistent.

Why then, I ask you, did Schmidt pick a mainly Leinster side (with a few other province players thrown in) and get them to play exactly the opposite of what they have been doing in Europe and the Pro-14?

Ireland have the squad depth now to be very consistent in their performances but fail to do so as Schmidt does not seem to be able to capitalise on the form of the players he is selecting. A stark contrast to Gatland who has done the exact opposite and Wales looked very good for it.

eirebilly wrote:Fly,

Schmidt coach Leinster and under him, they played tremendous rugby. No fear of loosing pure desire to win and they were incredibly consistent.

Leinster now under Cullen and Lancaster are playing that exact same brand of rugby and are arguably the best side in Europe. They also have no fear of loosing, a pure desire to win and are consistent.

Why then, I ask you, did Schmidt pick a mainly Leinster side (with a few other province players thrown in) and get them to play exactly the opposite of what they have been doing in Europe and the Pro-14?

Ireland have the squad depth now to be very consistent in their performances but fail to do so as Schmidt does not seem to be able to capitalise on the form of the players he is selecting. A stark contrast to Gatland who has done the exact opposite and Wales looked very good for it.

Wales look very good in their first game.................... at home, inside their roofed Cathedral, with vengeance on their mind for the 'moaning' of the Scots about the Lions and vengeance on Gatland's mind about the snub from Townsend.  I always sensed that was coming.  I know Gatland.  I'm afraid of how much I know the inner workings of the man.  He works on emotion and passion.  And it works for him sometimes and other times it doesn't.  Yesterday, it did.

Ireland looked shyte in their first game.  Away, with no roof and rain, against WC finalists and one of the most highly resourced teams in the world.  So Fance looks bad often.  They can also play pretty damn brutal and good stuff too.  

It's one game down for both Wales and Ireland and you're writing down the final week's placings already?

"Why then, I ask you, did Schmidt pick a mainly Leinster side (with a few other province players thrown in) and get them to play exactly the opposite of what they have been doing in Europe and the Pro-14?"

You tell me, billy.  It's me that has been asking it longer than most people here.  I don't know.  I wish that I did.  But I suspect Joe is smart enough to know that he DOESN'T have players as long in International as he did in Provincial (you keep telling him that too so I'm sure he's well versed in that reality).  Would that have something to do with him wanting a more conservative, less instinctive, gameplan?  
Keep looking at Scotland.  All the crowing about how they play and Glasgow and Townsend and all that stuff - it went on and on and most people were getting themselves into knots trying to overly-praise just how lethal Scotland had become.  Maybe Joe knows enough to be in a position to warn Townsend to rein in the ambitions.  What works at Pro14/ERC level, doesn't always get traction at International level... especially when Cups are on offer in real contests.

Surely changing their usual style takes more time than telling them to chuck it around like normal?

Maybe he just thinks the game that Ireland play is a point of difference that allows them to beat the best sides. Running rugby, maybe not so easy.

SecretFly wrote:

Ireland looked shyte in their first game.  Away, with no roof and rain, against WC finalists and one of the most highly resourced teams in the world.  So Fance looks bad often.  They can also play pretty damn brutal and good stuff too.  

It's one game down for both Wales and Ireland and you're writing down the final week's placings already?



You tell me, billy.  It's me that has been asking it longer than most people here.  I don't know.  I wish that I did.  But I suspect Joe is smart enough to know that he DOESN'T have players as long in International as he did in Provincial (you keep telling him that too so I'm sure he's well versed in that reality).  Would that have something to do with him wanting a more conservative, less instinctive, gameplan?  
Keep looking at Scotland.  All the crowing about how they play and Glasgow and Townsend and all that stuff - it went on and on and most people were getting themselves into knots trying to overly-praise just how lethal Scotland had become.  Maybe Joe knows enough to be in a position to warn Townsend to rein in the ambitions.  What works at Pro14/ERC level, doesn't always get traction at International level... especially when Cups are on offer in real contests.

Where did you get that from? WC finalists?

Fact is, Schmidt is more often than not (at international level) far too conservative. France were trying to play attacking rugby in those same conditions, and it was working to a certain degree but were not clinical enough. Had they been more clinical, I feel France would have won yesterday quite easily. Ireland were simply there to try and pick off points and settle for a win, they got that so kudos. France were a very unsettled side and not very experienced with each other and I do not by the weather conditions excuse. Players at international level are more than used to playing horrendous conditions and that was far from horrendous.

Huge credit to Ireland for the way they worked the ball through a millenia of phases to givge Sexton that chance to win teh game.

Great clutch kick.

We all could see the negatives, and I guess some people have been using them heavily to slam both sides and the officials. It should be worrying that despite all the possession Ireland largely failed to create anything - yet an away win is always to be treasured.

Final thought - will the farce of the replacements lead WR to introduce rolling subs? I seriously hope not as it could lead to even bigger players and bigger impacts.

eirebilly wrote:

SecretFly wrote:

Ireland looked shyte in their first game.  Away, with no roof and rain, against WC finalists and one of the most highly resourced teams in the world.  So Fance looks bad often.  They can also play pretty damn brutal and good stuff too.  

It's one game down for both Wales and Ireland and you're writing down the final week's placings already?



You tell me, billy.  It's me that has been asking it longer than most people here.  I don't know.  I wish that I did.  But I suspect Joe is smart enough to know that he DOESN'T have players as long in International as he did in Provincial (you keep telling him that too so I'm sure he's well versed in that reality).  Would that have something to do with him wanting a more conservative, less instinctive, gameplan?  
Keep looking at Scotland.  All the crowing about how they play and Glasgow and Townsend and all that stuff - it went on and on and most people were getting themselves into knots trying to overly-praise just how lethal Scotland had become.  Maybe Joe knows enough to be in a position to warn Townsend to rein in the ambitions.  What works at Pro14/ERC level, doesn't always get traction at International level... especially when Cups are on offer in real contests.

Where did you get that from? WC finalists?

Fact is, Schmidt is more often than not (at international level) far too conservative.  France were trying to play attacking rugby in those same conditions, and it was working to a certain degree but were not clinical enough. Had they been more clinical, I feel France would have won yesterday quite easily. Ireland were simply there to try and pick off points and settle for a win, they got that so kudos. France were a very unsettled side and not very experienced with each other and I do not by the weather conditions excuse. Players at international level are more than used to playing horrendous conditions and that was far from horrendous.

You want answers and never look for any billy.

I'm afraid you've just gone over the edge.  Nothing he can do now that's going to settle you.  I was looking back over the comments during the game.  And your was a prominent voice with a constant refrain.  You just don't want Joe anymore for more than just the style of game we play.

So be it.  It's your right.  You want a different coach.  I hope we get the Slam or the Championship.  But it still won't be enough for you if we did.  You've had enough.

oh ps. world cup finalists.... as in three times they've been there. As in treating them as though they are no better than Italy and less meaningful than Scotland is worthless argument in my book

SecretFly wrote:



I'm afraid you've just gone over the edge.  Nothing he can do now that's going to settle you.  I was looking back over the comments during the game.  And your was a prominent voice with a constant refrain.  You just don't want Joe anymore for more than just the style of game we play.

So be it.  It's your right.  You want a different coach.  I hope we get the Slam or the Championship.  But it still won't be enough for you if we did.  You've had enough.

Again that is just pure guff and a straw man argument. Never did I say I want a different coach.

I am just sick to the back teeth of people claiming Schmidt to be the greatest coach on this earth when he simply is not. What's wrong in questioning his approach to yesterdays game? Was he absolutely right in selecting a majority Leinster team and then getting them to play exactly the opposite to what they have been playing all season and been very successful at to boot? Is that a good approach tactically, does it not confuse the players somewhat? Is that proper man management? So sorry to question the god that is Joe Schmidt.

If you are going to select a team due to their form and strength at club level then encourage that at International level, not get them to play a complete different brand of rugby than they have been playing. I will go out on a limb here and say that if the Leinster team (coached by Cullen and Lancaster) played this French team yesterday then Leinster would have won quite comfortably.

Good coach but very confusing approach and tactics.

eirebilly wrote:

Good coach, very confusing tactics but we must not say a word against Schmidt eh... I feel it is you that has again gone over the edge.

Nah..you have billy. I'm better at your job than you are. I don't need any lessons in criticising the style of play we have under Schmidt but I don't endlessly drop in the 'Leinster' players bit, and the 'Leinster favouritism' bit. I criticise the methodology, you criticise the perceived slights shown to non-Leinster players.

You can do whatever the hell you want in terms of criticising him and his ways, billy. You won't get me putting up any reports or asking the mods to ban you . But I'll be there to tell you what I think of those opinions.

There you go - a forum.

SecretFly wrote:

eirebilly wrote:

Good coach, very confusing tactics but we must not say a word against Schmidt eh... I feel it is you that has again gone over the edge.

Nah..you have billy.  I'm better at your job than you are.  I don't need any lessons in criticising the style of play we have under Schmidt but I don't endlessly drop in the 'Leinster' players bit, and the 'Leinster favouritism' bit.  I criticise the methodology, you criticise the perceived slights shown to non-Leinster players.

You can do whatever the hell you want in terms of criticising him and his ways, billy.  You won't get me putting up any reports or asking the mods to ban you .  But I'll be there to tell you what I think of those opinions.  

There you go - a forum.  

You have completely lost me there? Are you insinuating that I have reported you and requested the mods to ban you? If so, you really are drifting into a very special world created only by yourself.

I am not making this a Leinster thing, I am basing it on the team that was sent out yesterday which was basically a Leinster team that went out with orders to play directly against the way the have been playing all year and been successful.

You conveniently misinterpret my comments to suit an agenda you have.

I will explain things more clearly. I know how good a coach Joe Schmidt is, he has proven that at Leinster. My frustration is that he cannot seem to re-produce that same consistency in selections and tactics at International level when Ireland have a better squad depth now than ever.

You work away though, I will not entertain you any more.

If we win every game by a last minute drop goal do I care? Not one little bit.
Would I love Ireland to throw the ball about running rugby and all that. Hell yes.
Is Schmidt the greatest ? Well we all have opinions and everyones is valid.

If we win the next 4 games 3 nil in some of the most boring dull rugby ever played will I be disappointed in the slam? No.

I want the team to win. That's it. I want them to win playing fast open skilled running rugby. But if they win by kicking penalties then it's still a win.
The opposing fans can moan about it but my response will be, " if we're so dull and you still can't beat us then that's your problem"

eirebilly wrote:

SecretFly wrote:

eirebilly wrote:

Good coach, very confusing tactics but we must not say a word against Schmidt eh... I feel it is you that has again gone over the edge.

Nah..you have billy.  I'm better at your job than you are.  I don't need any lessons in criticising the style of play we have under Schmidt but I don't endlessly drop in the 'Leinster' players bit, and the 'Leinster favouritism' bit.  I criticise the methodology, you criticise the perceived slights shown to non-Leinster players.

You can do whatever the hell you want in terms of criticising him and his ways, billy.  You won't get me putting up any reports or asking the mods to ban you .  But I'll be there to tell you what I think of those opinions.  

There you go - a forum.  

You have completely lost me there? Are you insinuating that I have reported you and requested the mods to ban you? If so, you really are drifting into a very special world created only by yourself.


You conveniently misinterpret my comments to suit an agenda you have.

I will explain things more clearly. I know how good a coach Joe Schmidt is, he has proven that at Leinster. My frustration is that he cannot seem to re-produce that same consistency in selections and tactics at International level when Ireland have a better squad depth now than ever.

You work away though, I will not entertain you any more.

Calm the hell down...between you on these pages and the Ulster boys on the Ulster pages, everyone seems to be going loopy with 'offended' rage.  I've had it with offended rage.

I said I don't care a damn what you say or think when you tried to play this 'oh we must not criticise Joe must we' bit.  So I said don't worry your head about that.  I'll be putting up no exclamation marks or looking for you to be banned.  (MEANING: quit the shyte about 'we must not speak ill of Joe')  Many do and I criticise his methods as often as you have and probably more so as I'm the regular 606 boring mouthpiece.  You are free to think of him what you like, billy.... and it's been proven over and over.

This is a forum.  People have opinions that vary.  What the hell right do you have to be "sick to the back teeth of people claiming Schmidt to be the greatest coach on this earth".  So what?  That's their opinion if they have it.  They don't have to look for permission from you lest you get into a offended rage.  If you have your arguments against the notion that he's the best thing since sliced bread well go ahead.  But 'sick to the back teeth' that others disagree with you?

Everyone on 606 jumping ship because they don't like people disagreeing with them to the point of fury.

carpet baboon wrote:If we win every game by a last minute drop goal do I care?  Not one little bit.
Would I love Ireland to throw the ball about  running rugby and all that. Hell yes.
Is Schmidt the greatest ? Well we all have opinions and everyones is valid.

If we win the next 4 games 3 nil in some of the most boring dull rugby ever played will I be disappointed in the slam? No.

I want the team to win. That's it. I want them to win playing fast open skilled running rugby. But if they win by kicking penalties then it's still a win.
The opposing fans can moan about it but my response will be, " if we're so dull and you still can't beat us then that's your problem"

Exactly. We all want beauty but winning is the result we want above all else - especially when so many potent sides now operate in the top levels of the world. Beating these bloody sides isn't bloody easy so it's a bloody good feeling to bloody well do so. Sorry for all the 'bloody's but against France, there is always blood.

I disagree

Ok Fly, I get you know. You are allowed to make false and baseless accusations towards other posters but do not appreciate it when people defend themselves so you then accuse them of 'offended rage'.

100%.

Enjoy that

Pete330v2 wrote:I disagree

Damn YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

carpet baboon wrote:If we win every game by a last minute drop goal do I care?  Not one little bit.
Would I love Ireland to throw the ball about  running rugby and all that. Hell yes.
Is Schmidt the greatest ? Well we all have opinions and everyones is valid.

If we win the next 4 games 3 nil in some of the most boring dull rugby ever played will I be disappointed in the slam? No.

I want the team to win. That's it. I want them to win playing fast open skilled running rugby. But if they win by kicking penalties then it's still a win.
The opposing fans can moan about it but my response will be, " if we're so dull and you still can't beat us then that's your problem"

It's hard to play attractive rugby when itS pishing down, Ireland seemed to want to go through the phases and force France to infringe and then just keep putting 3 points on the board. Not exciting but it got the job done eventually

eirebilly wrote:Ok Fly, I get you know. You are allowed to make false and baseless accusations towards other posters but do not appreciate it when people defend themselves so you then accuse them of 'offended rage'.

100%.

Enjoy that

Go ahead. Keep it up, billy. Anything that pleases you.

marty2086 wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:If we win every game by a last minute drop goal do I care?  Not one little bit.
Would I love Ireland to throw the ball about  running rugby and all that. Hell yes.
Is Schmidt the greatest ? Well we all have opinions and everyones is valid.

If we win the next 4 games 3 nil in some of the most boring dull rugby ever played will I be disappointed in the slam? No.

I want the team to win. That's it. I want them to win playing fast open skilled running rugby. But if they win by kicking penalties then it's still a win.
The opposing fans can moan about it but my response will be, " if we're so dull and you still can't beat us then that's your problem"

It's hard to play attractive rugby when itS pishing down, Ireland seemed to want to go through the phases and force France to infringe and then just keep putting 3 points on the board. Not exciting but it got the job done eventually

And Nigel stopped pinging France...so as to keep the game exciting. He didn't want no boring place kicked 3 pointer. He wanted something special or nothing. He got something special. God, Nigel knows how to get the best games.....

The important thing isn't whether the strategy gets a win against Wales, but can you win championships with only that in your locker? Let's see.

Scottrf wrote:The important thing isn't whether the strategy gets a win against Wales, but can you win championships with only that in your locker? Let's see.

It won't be all that's in our locker but yes, I'd assume the serious sides (England, Wales and maybe even Scotland) will get the more cumbersome stuff.

Meant to say France obviously...

Scottrf wrote:The important thing isn't whether the strategy gets a win against France, but can you win championships with only that in your locker? Let's see.

No, I do not believe so. I know people say that they are happy with 3 point wins but realistically, if Ireland continue this approach they will start to lose more than they win. Great sides go for the throat, Ireland go for a lead and defend...

Scottrf wrote:The important thing isn't whether the strategy gets a win against Wales, but can you win championships with only that in your locker? Let's see.

You could say the same for England. Can they win a championship without Billy or Hughes at 8.
And your right we will see in a few weeks.

carpet baboon wrote:

Scottrf wrote:The important thing isn't whether the strategy gets a win against Wales, but can you win championships with only that in your locker? Let's see.

You could say the same for England. Can they win a championship without Billy or Hughes at 8.
And your right we will see in a few weeks.

And if we do it will be can we win a championship without Billy or Hughes or Simmons? Strange comparison, they aren't our gameplan.

Basically at some points you will be behind in games. If you can't quickly score points then you can't always get out of that situation. If England are 10 down I'm not panicking. Would you be as confident you can turn it around?

Scottrf wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:

Scottrf wrote:The important thing isn't whether the strategy gets a win against Wales, but can you win championships with only that in your locker? Let's see.

You could say the same for England. Can they win a championship without Billy or Hughes at 8.
And your right we will see in a few weeks.

And if we do it will be can we win a championship without Billy or Hughes or Simmons? Strange comparison, they aren't our gameplan.

Basically at some points you will be behind in games. If you can't quickly score points then you can't always get out of that situation. If England are 10 down I'm not panicking. Would you be as confident you can turn it around?

If you're 10 points down against an Ireland that got to 10 points ahead, in Twickenham;  well, maybe panic might be too strong a word, but you would be concerned.  Ireland aren't a bad old side if playing well enough to be ahead by 10 against England at home.

The thing about the way Ireland play is that usually - usually - they don't have to show what they might do if they really got far behind.  I do know that we seem to have a change of gear that is coached rather than just a 'panic' move when we get a little concerned.  It does get more direct.  Ireland Can play some dashing stuff.  The problem for most of us is that they rarely choose to play it.  As eirebilly says, and he's right, they just do enough to get ahead and then kinda try to contain the fightback in the other side.
But Ireland have shown enough over the years for people to be cautious with this idea that 'Doesn't' means 'Can't'.  
But again..............................we'll see.

For all the bashing of how Ireland play (I'm not a fan), you can't fault how they finished the game.

I don't think any other side in the NH could have won that game from the position they were in. The mental toughness and ability to do the simple things outstandingly well is something all the other NH nations can aspire to.

carpet baboon wrote:

Scottrf wrote:The important thing isn't whether the strategy gets a win against Wales, but can you win championships with only that in your locker? Let's see.

You could say the same for England. Can they win a championship without Billy or Hughes at 8.
And your right we will see in a few weeks.

Billy who?

Scottrf wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:

Scottrf wrote:The important thing isn't whether the strategy gets a win against Wales, but can you win championships with only that in your locker? Let's see.

You could say the same for England. Can they win a championship without Billy or Hughes at 8.
And your right we will see in a few weeks.

Billy who?

That Simmons lad is some player

eirebilly wrote:Fly,

Schmidt coach Leinster and under him, they played tremendous rugby. No fear of loosing pure desire to win and they were incredibly consistent.

Leinster now under Cullen and Lancaster are playing that exact same brand of rugby and are arguably the best side in Europe. They also have no fear of loosing, a pure desire to win and are consistent.

Why then, I ask you, did Schmidt pick a mainly Leinster side (with a few other province players thrown in) and get them to play exactly the opposite of what they have been doing in Europe and the Pro-14?

Ireland have the squad depth now to be very consistent in their performances but fail to do so as Schmidt does not seem to be able to capitalise on the form of the players he is selecting. A stark contrast to Gatland who has done the exact opposite and Wales looked very good for it.

You haven’t been watching much of Leinster if you think they’ve been playing a completely different game to what Ireland did yesterday. Watch the two games v Exeter and Montpellier away to see Leinster grind out wins.It’s what you have to do when the quality of opposition goes up and the conditions don’t allow expansive rugby.
I saw you comment that France were trying to play attacking rugby,I’d love to see you back that up.Apart from the counterattack try they did nothing of note either because the conditions didn’t allow it.You could see Ireland’s attacking intent early on with some nice interplay among the forwards especially but once the rain started hammering down they had to adjust.He conditions were a great leveller for France

England were always the winners and made try scoring look so easy in the end....but.............. now that we've seen all three games, I know which game looked the true International TEST for both sides involved - tough, bloody, contentious decisions, heavy duty defending, drama and touch and go to the very end.

Yep, that France Ireland game looks a little more worthy now. Best game of the weekend.

Italy aside, I would take any away win you can get in the Six Nations. They are hard to pick up. I suspect that win will be crucial.

England v Wales next week should be a humdinger. Welsh tails are up but I think with home advantage England will grind out the win in a hard fought match.

I think there will be abe a big reaction from Scotland againt France. I expect a much improved Scotland to win well over a French team that may be physically and emotionally drained as well as shy of confidence outside of Paris.

Ireland should record a routine win over a hapless Italy side that seems to be drifting further away from the other nations each year.

carpet baboon wrote:

Scottrf wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:

Scottrf wrote:The important thing isn't whether the strategy gets a win against Wales, but can you win championships with only that in your locker? Let's see.

You could say the same for England. Can they win a championship without Billy or Hughes at 8.
And your right we will see in a few weeks.

Billy who?

That Simmons lad is some player

He is, but I think he needs space to work best. Billy is that rare beast who makes his own space, and that even rarer beast that can outmuscle a very powerful Irish pack

catchweight wrote:Italy aside, I would take any away win you can get in the Six Nations. They are hard to pick up. I suspect that win will be crucial.

.

Spot on Away wins are like gold dust )Italy apart)
Only 1 last year.

This win puts Ireland in pole position.
If they beat Wales at home (cant see Scotland winning in Dublin) they will go to Twickenham with 4 wins
Question is will any other team go into the last weekend with 4 wins - only if they win away (again Italy apart)

Let’s take the win and move on.
Wins in Paris are like hen’s teeth for us!

I grew up on a diet of ‘give it a lash jack’ rugby in the 1980’s and 90’s, when we were plucky losers but couldn’t buy a win for love nor money. I honestly feel we are a little spoiled and deluded thinking we are going to win every game and play champagne rugby in the process.

We have got a strong squad, perhaps our strongest ever, but you can’t take a French team smarting from a massive amount of criticism and playing their first game for a new coach out of the equation.

What is amazing, is that from a losing position, we retained the ball phase after phase to get into a position to win the game. Amazing finish. Jonny Sexton take a bow. Keith Earls what a catch!!!!

The glass is half full!

rapidsnowman wrote:
The glass is half full!

That's what it looked like at times We did a lot of wobbly stuff over and back across that imaginery straight line to the opposition tryline. Thank God one of the wobbly stuff lasted so long and had a sober guy at the end of it...

geoff999rugby wrote:

catchweight wrote:Italy aside, I would take any away win you can get in the Six Nations. They are hard to pick up. I suspect that win will be crucial.

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Spot on Away wins are like gold dust )Italy apart)
Only 1 last year.

This win puts Ireland in pole position.
If they beat Wales at home (cant see Scotland winning in Dublin) they will go to Twickenham with 4 wins
Question is will any other team go into the last weekend with 4 wins - only if they win away (again Italy apart)

England will dispense easily enough with Scotland and France in their away matches. Their toughest match is next weekend - at home.

Yes. Wales the basterdes do it again.... the one team we all fear................ or should.

I wish they'd feck off to the central European contest with Romania and Georgia. I'd sleep easier anyway.