RBS 6 Nations - France vs Ireland (11-02-2012, 20:00)

[groga]

France should not drop a home game so will be tipping them again.

 

[Feicarsinn]

McFadden has played against George North and Jonathan Davies before and come off alright but didn't look so good this weekend. And D'Arcy looks competent at club level as well. But IMO playing for a Leinster side full of confidence and an Irish side that isn't sure of its own game plan is completely different.

D'arcy hasn't looked good for Leinster all season. McFadden hasn't been great at 13 at provincial level either. He has looked good at 12 however, and O'Malley has been playing well at outside centre. That's the midfield I'd go with.

 

[King_D'Arcy]

I'd like to see that too Feic. I would be so surprised if Kindey chose that centre partnership however that I'd probably have a stroke.

 

[lucky number 7]

Lads..SOB is doing a dammned fine job at 7 so the stats suggest...as usual top of the tackle count and he made a few poaches...Still I'd rather see him do more crushing and destruction.

 

[Mr.cyclopede]

France dodged a bullet there by not selecting "Boot"xis, I think PSA is making the right move to put Szarzewski in ahead of Servat as they are about on the same level but the younger Szarzewski seems more dynamic right now, never thought Harinordoquy was a great flanker not sure about that decision

TD is much better in defense than Beauxis, more essential when you're facing a third raw like Ireland has.
As for Harinordoquy, he's our best insurance for line outs facing the most performing one at the moment, and it's hard to push Picamoles on the bench after his last performance (heard that he lost 10kgs wich might be the reason of the mobility he's able now).

 

[welshglory]

Harinordoquy didn't look so bad on the flank when they beat NZ in 2009!

I always thought the most effective backrow for France was 6.Dusautoir 7.Harinordoquy 8.Picamoles

 

[Chris Ward]

McFadden definitely at 12 and either Trimble or O'Malley at 13. It's time to shake things up. I'll be disappointed if I see D'Arcy in the lineup.

Hell, I'd even prefer O'Gara at 10 and Sexton at 12.

 

[Jockstap]

McFadden definitely at 12 and either Trimble or O'Malley at 13. It's time to shake things up. I'll be disappointed if I see D'Arcy in the lineup.

Hell, I'd even prefer O'Gara at 10 and Sexton at 12.

Prepare to be dissapointed, Kidney will pick the exact same team as last week with Earls at 22. When is the team to be named?

 

[Peat]

Lads..SOB is doing a dammned fine job at 7 so the stats suggest...as usual top of the tackle count and he made a few poaches...Still I'd rather see him do more crushing and destruction.

Which stats are these?

 

[killer08]

if ireland come out of the blocks fast like last year and the warm up games then they could be in with a chance, giving away penalties and TOL lost us those last 3

 

[Darwin]

Announced today:
Le XV de départ: Médard ; Clerc, Rougerie, Fofana, Malzieu ; (o) Trinh-Duc, (m) Yachvili ; Harinordoquy, Picamoles, Dusautoir ; Maestri, Papé ; Mas, Szarzewski, Poux.
Remplaçants: Servat, Debaty, Nallet, Bonnaire, Parra, Beauxis, Mermoz. 23e homme: Attoub

Personally I'm not a huge fan of Harinordoquy at flanker, as he never seems to be as effective in that role at international level. He was at his best at the RWC when he was finally shifted back to 8. I was quite impressed with Picamoles in the weekend - it certainly looks like he has lost some weight (as was mentioned by someone above) as he was much quicker around the park than usual, so I can understand why they have kept him at 8.

I think France lose quite a bit in starting Szarzewski at hooker. I really rate Servat - while he isn't as dynamic around the field as Szarzewski, he does the basics right, and is very strong scrummager. Whenever I've seen Szarzewski at international level recently he's certainly brought some real energy onto the field, however he hasn't done much constructive with this energy! He slipped off a lot of tackles at the RWC, and while he made plenty of runs with the ball in hand he failed to break the advantage line, and struggled at scrum time. France certainly need him to perform as Servat isn't going to last forever.

Looking forward to seeing how young Maestri does at lock, as he looks a big powerful lock with a lot of potential.

Harinordoquy didn't look so bad on the flank when they beat NZ in 2009!

I always thought the most effective backrow for France was 6.Dusautoir 7.Harinordoquy 8.Picamoles

The reason he didn't look so bad is because he didn't play at flank when France beat NZ in 2009... indeed he wasn't even in the team (the loosies were Ouedrago, Dusautoir, and Picamoles)!

 

[welshglory]

oh my bad . But he has played well there in the past though IMO. The game that was in my head was against South Africa in 2009. I think Lievremont wanted to play the combination more but due to injury and loss of form it hasn't happened too often.

 

[Saintjay]

According to the BBC. My bad as it is already up but for those not in the know

France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has made four changes to his pack for Saturday's Six Nations clash against Ireland in Paris.

Lock Yoann Maestri will make his first start in place of Lionel Nallet, who drops to the bench, while Imanol Harinordoquy replaces Julian Bonnaire.
In the front row, Jean-Baptiste Poux and Dimitri Szarzewski take over from Vincent Debaty and William Servat.


France: M Medard; V Clerc, A Rougerie, W Fofana, J Malzieu; F Trinh-Duc D Yachvili; JB Poux, D Szarzewski, N Mas; P Pape, Y Maestri; T Dusautoir, I Harinordoquy, L Picamoles.
Replacements: W Servat, V Debaty, L Nallet, J Bonnaire, M Parra, L Beauxis, M Mermoz.

 

[Luimneach18]

France will win this. Ireland never travel well to Paris, our backs are firing on all cylinders and will only get better throughout the tournament (although Mèdard could make a bit more of an effort!), our line out will be back to normal with Harinordoguy back on and our scrum will be better with Poux instead of Attoub. All in all I think we will win comfortablyish .

im sorry but i doubt u will win comfortably you are playing a wounded team which will want to bounce back from the loss to wales i reckon ireland will put in a australia type performance like at world cup and kill frances hopes of grand slam personally.

 

[Feicarsinn]

im sorry but i doubt u will win comfortably you are playing a wounded team which will want to bounce back from the loss to wales i reckon ireland will put in a australia type performance like at world cup and kill frances hopes of grand slam personally.

I'd be very surprised if France didn't win pretty comfortably to be honest. We do well to achieve parity in most departments and with home advantage they should do us by about 10 points.

Wounded pride is just pre match rhetoric spouted by bad teams imo.

 

[Mr.cyclopede]

Looks like Mr Pierson behind the whistle is kind of "permissive" for the rucks. So we know where the job will be...

 

[Jockstap]

I'd be very surprised if France didn't win pretty comfortably to be honest. We do well to achieve parity in most departments and with home advantage they should do us by about 10 points.

Wounded pride is just pre match rhetoric spouted by bad teams imo.

You're deluding yourself, it'll be a lot more than 10 points. We are coached by a guy who only knows how to win under the old elv rules. We beat Australia during the WC yes but that was mainly due to the choke tackle technique that teams are now clued in to, I think we might get humilated on Saturday.

 

[Luimneach18]

I'd be very surprised if France didn't win pretty comfortably to be honest. We do well to achieve parity in most departments and with home advantage they should do us by about 10 points.

Wounded pride is just pre match rhetoric spouted by bad teams imo.

im guessing you seem to forget that we very much should have beaten wales only if sexton didnt care about personal glory and kicked for the corner like o'gara would have instead he took a 50 metre kick and missed horribly, even tho wales dominated us for most of the match our defence was very good and they didnt do much with it i think it should ireland who should still be in with a chance of the grand slam but thats just me i dont think for one minute that france are this super team that ireland cant beat because we have pushed them enough times before only to lose a by a point or two due to stupid penalites i think ireland will win and no one will win the grand slam it will come down to a championship.

 

[Feicarsinn]

Wow, you'd never guess where you're from

 

[Saintjay]

im guessing you seem to forget that we very much should have beaten wales only if sexton didnt care about personal glory and kicked for the corner like o'gara would have instead he took a 50 metre kick and missed horribly, even tho wales dominated us for most of the match our defence was very good and they didnt do much with it i think it should ireland who should still be in with a chance of the grand slam but thats just me i dont think for one minute that france are this super team that ireland cant beat because we have pushed them enough times before only to lose a by a point or two due to stupid penalites i think ireland will win and no one will win the grand slam it will come down to a championship.

Not so sure that you will win this won as for running them close yes you have, the last time you beat them away was in 2000.

Since 2000 you have beaten them four times. France have beaten Ireland 12 times in that period. So if I were a betting man you would favour France.