[2024 Six Nations] France vs Ireland - 02/02/24

[IT157]

Ireland were very good - but if I'm honest, I think they played better against France at home last year. France were absolutely shambolic. They looked a disorganised mess. I don't know where that French team goes from here. That's going to be a really difficult one to recover from.

Hopefully the wooden spoon.

 

[AlRums]

This statement lack controversy and thus discussion value. Please be more controversial.

To be clear Ireland were better than I expected but not particularly good. France played to lose

 

[munstermuffin]

Great win. Loads of bonuses.
1. Crowley started iffy but showed he is our 10 now.
2. The lineout was awesome. POC proves he is a god yet again.
3. James Ryan is a very good player but will struggle to get back in if Beirne and McCarthy keep that craic up. Big Joe is a freak. Was like a 16 year old playing U12.
4. JGP stood up as a real leader tonight
5. Farrell has built squad and tonight dividends were paid as bench had huge impact.

Also should shout out on Calvin Nash. A hard working player who has fought hard to get to tonight. A great humble guy iff field too.

 

[IT157]

Ireland's 21-point margin of victory was their biggest ever away win over France.

 

[MattGaff]

Back when Wales used to be sponsored by Brains SA they used to change it to Try Essai when playing in France, always loved that

Pretty sure the first year it happened (2005 I think) they used "Brawn"... ie muscle... but also I think its a dish made of the meat of the head, loosely connecting it back to the the word "Brains". Genius marketing

BBC NEWS | Wales | Rugby stars swap Brains for brawn

 

[Groundhog]

Think Crowley has lots to improve on. Still think he was the best 10 on the pitch though. He clearly has what it takes at this level, just needs to settle. Hope he's given time to.

 

[Amiga500]

It was obviously contact in the air you idiot!

Yeah, with the ball.

Was genuinely confused as f about how they arrived at a call where a man who got at least one hand on the ball and didn't significantly disrupt the attempted catcher in the air who made a balls of the take all by themselves was committing foul play.

 

[Amiga500]

la Garrec already contributed more to the cause that lucu

Don't know why he wasn't the obvious starter tbh.

 

[Amiga500]

Was shocked at how poor France were. Had expected them (albeit with la Garrec at 9) to have a less disrupted team than us without J10.

 

[munstermuffin]

Think Crowley has lots to improve on. Still think he was the best 10 on the pitch though. He clearly has what it takes at this level, just needs to settle. Hope he's given time to.

Jack has tons to learn and will still be learning come this November. Sexton was the same at start of his tenure and ROG before. But Crowley up there with them in mental stakes. Make a mistake, learn and reset. No lingering effect or mental weakness.
Even with errors he is the best 10 by a distance.

 

[Groundhog]

Just a heads up I'll be using this picture a lot

 

[Lé Ddanno]

Why the little penis

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Just a heads up I'll be using this picture a lot

View attachment 18889

He's going to pee on his butt.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

That was better than I expected.

We bounced back, France fell flat, not too much need to expand on that but I will.

I don't think we are at our WC standards, put Sexton in that team and we could have broken 50, but that drop it to be expected at the moment.

Farrell's squad being focused on a mix of guys at the very early stages of their career and guys who are towards the end led to a very hungry performance and once we had the dominant breakdown and the ref on our side (thanks Willemse…) it was always going to be easy, the red card added to that.

I have said a lot that taking the focal point of our game plan away from the 10 could be used very positively and that showed today, JGP was magnificent, my motm.

The pack is box office, Dan Sheehan and Joe McCarthy having 10 years left in them is insane. Doris and Beirne are world class too. With the exception of POM and Big Joe I reckon every starter has at one point of their career been the best in the world in their position and Ryan off the bench has been right up there too. Nothing to worry about here until the props start fading.

Backs were reliant on JGP, Lowe and Bundee and that's worrying. All old, not Irish developed and don't have attributes commonly produced here either. Catt's departure at the end of the 6n is well timed here though as it gives his replacement time to onboard and learn the role before adapting the attack to suit the likes of Casey, Osbourne and Jimmy (could do with a prodigy here though).

Crowley will likely be overly praised and/or criticised depending where ye look. He was good with bad thrown in and you can't expect anything more from a 10 at his stage. If he never puts a grubbed for himself through in the 22 with no advantage again he's learned enough from this one. Some excellent touches, no real chance for big moments but a feeling he can take them and reacted to his missed kick well.

8/10 - Still not hype and just distracting from the drive for five.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Well done Ire, Fra made that pretty easy for them, but they still went well and anything less than a GS will have to be considered a failure.

Damp squib of a spectacle though. Nothing like the intensity of last year's fixture.

 

[big ginger 8]

That was better than I expected.

We bounced back, France fell flat, not too much need to expand on that but I will.

I don't think we are at our WC standards, put Sexton in that team and we could have broken 50, but that drop it to be expected at the moment.

Farrell's squad being focused on a mix of guys at the very early stages of their career and guys who are towards the end led to a very hungry performance and once we had the dominant breakdown and the ref on our side (thanks Willemse…) it was always going to be easy, the red card added to that.

I have said a lot that taking the focal point of our game plan away from the 10 could be used very positively and that showed today, JGP was magnificent, my motm.

The pack is box office, Dan Sheehan and Joe McCarthy having 10 years left in them is insane. Doris and Beirne are world class too. With the exception of POM and Big Joe I reckon every starter has at one point of their career been the best in the world in their position and Ryan off the bench has been right up there too. Nothing to worry about here until the props start fading.

Backs were reliant on JGP, Lowe and Bundee and that's worrying. All old, not Irish developed and don't have attributes commonly produced here either. Catt's departure at the end of the 6n is well timed here though as it gives his replacement time to onboard and learn the role before adapting the attack to suit the likes of Casey, Osbourne and Jimmy (could do with a prodigy here though).

Crowley will likely be overly praised and/or criticised depending where ye look. He was good with bad thrown in and you can't expect anything more from a 10 at his stage. If he never puts a grubbed for himself through in the 22 with no advantage again he's learned enough from this one. Some excellent touches, no real chance for big moments but a feeling he can take them and reacted to his missed kick well.

8/10 - Still not hype and just distracting from the drive for five.

Our pack really was immense and it's crazy to me how underrated it seemed in the build up. I thought the bench really had a huge impact. Kelleher looked back near where he was a few years which is very encouraging as well. Anyone who's being paying attention to the recent 20s teams knows there's plenty of forward talent coming through as well. Although we do need a bit of luck with tighthead development.

Agree we could do with a few more superstar backs coming through in certain positions. I think we both agree Osborne will be top.quality once he can stay fit and get his go. Casey has been very good this year and hopefully Devine and Gunne can push through. Pity Doak hasn't gone the way we'd have hoped so far.

Keep an eye on Ben O'Connor tonight. Munster were hugely hyped to lure him from the GAA and he looked good in his senior appearances.

See this article by the esteemed Colman Stanley https://www.balls.ie/rugby/ben-oconnor-cork-munster-rugby-576892

 

[Batsumy]

Tough one from a french perspective but maybe not that surprising. It was a very similar performance from Ireland compared to a year ago, the main differences were that we were utterly crap in defense, we did not have the stamina to face this irish team, especially our forward pack and then we were missing some key players.

I also think that a year ago, the match was closer and it has been seen as an accident after a rather long serie of victories but this time, it is a much more negative feeling after the world cup loss against SA. But the same issue remains: we are not as good as Ireland in terms of collective. Ireland is a wonderful oiled machine since now 2-3 years and our strategy cannot defeat them.

IT is hard to take any positive after such a display but definitely, yesterday has shown that we need to have more options in front (loads of good youngsters from the U20 world champion like Gazzoti, Nouchi and others) but also in the back (Lucu is OK to keep the score for 5-10 minutes at the end of the match but he is much too slow on a full match - The difference with JGP was such an obvious thing - Le Garrec has been one of the bright point when he came on after the 60th, he ws everywhere, Jallibert is a question mark, he is good ball in hand but his defense is far from being the one of Ntamack, we need to get rid of Moefana, he is rather transaparent witht the french team, Fickou and Danty were also quite transparent overall yesterday, I see them more as impact players on the bench going forward)

And then we have the overall stategy wrong if we want to beat consistently Ireland in the future, we need to take control of the game

I doubt Galthie will have the balls to kick the nest but he should do, I think we have a year where we can bring some youngsters/fresh blood to prepare the next world cup so lets do it. Not expecting much from this tournament now, again not highly surprised, there has been changes in the french staff, an adaptation is needed, I would even prefer we do not win too much for Galthie to make proper changes and not cosmetic

Well done in any case to Ireland, that was a clinical display and it looks like you are on your way for a GS

As for the stats, yes it was the largest victory of Ireland in france but also the largest french defeat with Galthie as the french coach

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Too many potential jokes here, my head hurts.

Lack of eye contact, well done Pete.

"Well Greg, where's the best garden centre for when I move to La Rochelle"

"Ah Jaysus, look at us, two massive ******* *****"

 

[dirty harry]

Well done Ire, Fra made that pretty easy for them, but they still went well and anything less than a GS will have to be considered a failure.

Damp squib of a spectacle though. Nothing like the intensity of last year's fixture.

Agree with this.

Congrats to Ireland, but it was clear from 7/8 minutes in France werent at the races.

A few interesting points from a tactical perspective, Irelands ball carriers were constantly stepping off their outside foot and back into traffic, that really did tie up the tight 5, and stopped the big rush early on. France back row were taken out of the game.

Even despite the red card (I dont want to get started on this argument, too many people are too sensitive about contact) Ireland were bludgeoning French tight 5 players all night.

What disappointed me the most about France, is when Ireland did carry in the wider channels, they looked flat footed and werent particularly interested in hitting ball carriers.

The 3rd try I think it was, Danty planted both feet, picked up no runner and waved the impressive young Irish forward through...

Ireland were maybe 6/10, Crowley wobbled early on, scrum was under pressure with a 12 in there for France (until France gave up on it and went to 7 men). However, I think they only had to be, and they are capable of another gear!

France maybe 3/10, and that's excluding the red card, so being generous.
Lucu was awful under pressure, Jalibert didnt help him at all, and Danty went missing. I feel for fickou, he really did try hard, but inside and outside him was a shambles

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Too many potential jokes here, my head hurts.

Lack of eye contact, well done Pete.

"Well Greg, where's the best garden centre for when I move to La Rochelle"

"Ah Jaysus, look at us, two massive ******* *****"

"So the key is you've got to aerate the soil before seeding, now what's your irrigation system like?"