France v Ireland

[Bernard]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (snoopy snoopy dog dog @ Feb 13 2010, 08:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Bernard @ Feb 13 2010, 07:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (snoopy snoopy dog dog @ Feb 13 2010, 08:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Bernard @ Feb 13 2010, 07:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Trinh-duc has been amazing today and he has , i think , shutted a lot of mouth. not only on this match but since the last summer against AB , he is always up to fight , always playing a nice rugby , very regular and improving.[/b]

Trinh-Duc's biggest critic is a clown who doesn't watch any club rugby other than highlights of Leinster and Munster games. George Hook doesn't rate Trinh-Diuc because he never sees him play and because he doesn't kick goals. For similar reasons. he doesn't rate Parra and thinks the only reason the scrumhalf is in the team is because he covers for Trinh-Duc not goal kicking. He's completely wrong.

Hook is an idiot who's more interested in soundbites than in reasoned analysis. Don't pay any attention to him. He was a failed coach with Connacht, a failed coach with London Irish and is a subpar analyst who relies on making controversial statements (usually inaccurate) to stay employed with RTE Sport.
[/b][/quote]


I was not talking about Hook (even if it is true that he has always told his scepticism with Trinh duc on RTE..) but more about French Fans it is understandable that if you do not watch a player , it is more difficult to have an objective opinion . But even in FR , a lots of people think that TD is just a fad of Lievremont , that he is not the fly half that Fr needs. So today he said hello to all these people

[/b][/quote]
Who would they prefer to see at 10 to Trinh-Duc? I hope they aren't suggesting Beauxis!
[/b][/quote]


I do not even want to start this discution cause it is upsetting me a lot . Some see Beauxis and some other see Michalak ..there is one or 2 other guys (Boyet , Estebanez ..) but they won't be up to the job for the world cup. When i see TD performances , i do not believe that some guys still asked for beauxis or Michalak , it is a shame i think . It is like often in Fr a story of club support..i mean that guys that like Toulouse will always give you a full toulouse backline as the french back line...it misses a lot of objectivity sometimes...

 

[SSE]

Very impressive performance from the French. Provided they play to a similar standard in the rest of their games it's going to take something special to beat them, and I can't see where it will come from. As much as Ireland made some truly horrific errors, France seized upon them brilliantly. Parra and Trinh-Duc look a good combination and the entirety of the French back row (including replacements) was brilliant.

 

[gingergenius]

Just back from pub. Notes from a neutral (well not that neutral... a very happy neutral!):

1. The French won by such a large margin because they were 100x more clinical than the Irish. They played the perfect match tactically.

2. Ireland won the grand slam last year thanks to a select few individuals dragging them to it. Today none of the usual suspects turned up. O'Connell was very poor, O'Driscoll was nowhere to be seen for the first hour.

3. France won all of the key areas. They really f***ed up a weak-as-usual Irish scrum; they won the back row battle, and their back 3 counterattacked brilliantly compared to a shocking performance from the Irish back 3.

4. Francois Trinh-Duc gave a world class performance at 10. His tactical kicking and defence were superb, but he also offered a threat when making breaks, and his distribution was superb.

5. The French centres picked some wonderful angles.

On this evidence, France must be clear favourites for the Grand Slam. They've got a world class front row, great 2nd row, world class back row, and playing like this, a world class backline. Sorted in every area besides lineout.

Ireland... need to fix their scrummaging and halfbacks. Beyond that, I'd say Kieth Earls really doesn't look ready for this level yet.

 

[elgringoborracho]

I really hope that the last game against England will be a double grand slam decider. I'll be there with my family it would be fantastic.

But I know too well how it feels to play a great game and then get totally destroyed the week after so I really won't brag before playing the Welsh in Cardiff. It will be a massive match

 

[King_D'Arcy]

Very very "tired and emotional" right now. And very very unhappy. Ireland were rubbish. Didn't know they had it in them to be beaten so badly. We'll lose to England. We should still beat Scotland and Wales though. The King was the one shining beam of hope today. He held his head high whilst his kingdom burnt to the ground around him. Tis a small victory however.

 

[elgringoborracho]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (King D'arcy @ Feb 13 2010, 09:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Very very "tired and emotional" right now. And very very unhappy. Ireland were rubbish. Didn't know they had it in them to be beaten so badly. We'll lose to England. We should still beat Scotland and Wales though. The King was the one shining beam of hope today. He held his head high whilst his kingdom burnt to the ground around him. Tis a small victory however.[/b]

Yup D'Arcy was outstanding today. On French TV, Fabien Galthié (former french international scrumhalf) kept saying that if it wasn't for D'Arcy, O'Driscoll wouldn't have had such a brilliant career. The two of them together are truly the best centerpair in the world IMO

 

[cyRil]

Almost as good as Roberts and O'Driscoll.

 

[munster]

Am I the only one that was impressed by Keith Earls' performance??? He got smashed by Bastareud a few times and messed up badly with his quick tap in his own 22 but other than that he looked pretty dangerous with ball in hand and when he moved to fullback he was solid under the high ball and made a good tackle on Trin-duc after he brushed off O'Gara...

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MunsterMachine @ Feb 13 2010, 10:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Am I the only one that was impressed by Keith Earls' performance??? He got smashed by Bastareud a few times and messed up badly with his quick tap in his own 22 but other than that he looked pretty dangerous with ball in hand and when he moved to fullback he was solid under the high ball and made a good tackle on Trin-duc after he brushed off O'Gara...[/b]

I thought his positioning was quite poor from fullback and he made a stupid error when he knocked on a routine tap from a mark. He's unquestionably talented but he needs a lot of work. I don't think he was great today but he wasn't among Ireland's worst performers.

 

[RC]

Fair play, the French were clinical, brutal and pretty much played like they usually have to, to beat New Zealand. But they were against Ireland and therefore stomped them.
It was wonderful to watch from a neutral's perspective and a great game for the world to watch to show how fun rugby can be to watch.

France, if they travel well, will no doubt come out at the end of this as 2010 grand slammers.
However, if there's anyone that can ruin their party, the English know how to do that.
The English won't be on for a Grand Slam, i don't think, but they'll be competing for the ***le and can easily muck it up for the french.

 

[Bernard]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (elgringoborracho @ Feb 8 2010, 08:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I bet you my scooter that they will not use blitz defense against the Irish.[/b]

What is the brand of the scooter ?

 

[munstermuffin]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MunsterMachine @ Feb 13 2010, 10:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Am I the only one that was impressed by Keith Earls' performance??? He got smashed by Bastareud a few times and messed up badly with his quick tap in his own 22 but other than that he looked pretty dangerous with ball in hand and when he moved to fullback he was solid under the high ball and made a good tackle on Trin-duc after he brushed off O'Gara...[/b]

I with you MunsterMachine ... Yea he made few mistakes but who didn't. Earls was Irelands best back today apart from D'Arcy who was class today.
Like we forget he was in his 1st start in a team that were been hammered from 1st whistle.
And Snoop his posititioning wasn't that bad under circumstances but as for Earls at FB he was good but he an International winger/centre not FB. But he can be proud of himself today.
But anyone worried about Kearney and I don't mean his injury but his form this year has been poor. And as for O'Gara I think he will probably fill the role of last 15mins to close games out but George Hook is some clown. Calling for David Wallace to be dropped Wally is 1 of our best forwards. Like I understand Hayes debate as he struggled today and is struggleng but the man is a legend and does a full shift most days as we have no decent back up.

 

[RC]

So, Sexton to start next game after O'Gara once again proves that he is shite?

 

[munstermuffin]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RC @ Feb 14 2010, 01:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

So, Sexton to start next game after O'Gara once again proves that he is shite?[/b]

No Sexton to start as O'Gara's game differs to Irelands.
And cant slate ROG for today as majority were shite.

 

[RC]

To be fair, i was just fishing there (although i think O'gara holds back ireland at times), but i wouldn't go so far as to say ireland were ****. France were just so good that they didn't really let you play very much today.
Ireland are a much better team than the one we saw today, but it's hard to play your game when France pull out a performance that would have beaten any team in the world today.

 

[feicarsinn]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (munstermuffin @ Feb 14 2010, 01:08 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RC @ Feb 14 2010, 01:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So, Sexton to start next game after O'Gara once again proves that he is shite?[/b]

No Sexton to start as O'Gara's game differs to Irelands.
And cant slate ROG for today as majority were shite.
[/b][/quote]

I can and will. Aimless kicks destroyed any momentum we couldhave established, his missed tackle on Trinh Duc cost us 40 yards and his lack of imagination in attack gave the midfield an almost impossible job in trying to beat the French blitz. Game over ROG.

 

[King_D'Arcy]

I'm still seriously p*ssed off. Feels kinda like all this talking up of Ireland has just been empty words and they're actually just a sub standard side. That cud be the drink talkin. How f***in awesome were France though? ****! Annoying thing is you know they're gonna cock up against someone whether its england or wales. I wish they'd saved there implosion for us

 

[munstermuffin]

Feicarsinn yea ROG was bad but he wasn't alone and D'Arcy I think they real deal and Livermont finally arranging his best 15

 

[gingergenius]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (King D'arcy @ Feb 14 2010, 01:42 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I'm still seriously p*ssed off. Feels kinda like all this talking up of Ireland has just been empty words and they're actually just a sub standard side. That cud be the drink talkin. How f***in awesome were France though? ****! Annoying thing is you know they're gonna cock up against someone whether its england or wales. I wish they'd saved there implosion for us [/b]

It is the drink talking lol I'm drunk too so lets go.

Ireland are not a bad side at all. They are the same side they were last year -classy, gritty, but also somewhat limited by their scrum and halfbacks.

They were stung today by a very good French side playing very well. Just the same as the French were slaughtered by the All Blacks in the Autumn.

Personally I hope Ireland implode after this defeat - but there's too much quality and experience to let that happen. This is where all that winning Heineken Cup, Grand slam and Lions experience should come into play. Ireland should be aiming to beat England still.

 

[Bernard]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (gingergenius @ Feb 14 2010, 04:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

They were stung today by a very good French side playing very well. Just the same as the French were slaughtered by the All Blacks in the Autumn.[/b]

Exactly. we were in the same sort of mood after the defeat against AB in november. It is A match of A day , meaning that today , frenchies have played more right than irish , the decision making has worked much better for FR today. I do not think it prooves Ireland is **** , i'm not being nice , i know that feeling quite well with this up and down french rugby and i felt several times in the past that Fr had to start again everything after some awfull defeat . Servat , french hooker , said "we must stay humble today , we have been lucky" after the match against Ireland...he did not mean lucky like FR would not deserve to win but lucky because a sum of little details have worked for FRance today (like for AB in november for example). It is lucky because it does not happen every match.

though Ireland has problem with its scrum and maybe Sexton should play more than O'gara.