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

[cyRil]

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

Probably one of the Munster fans sat next to me on Sunday who didn't make more than a whisper until O'Gara came on in the 76th minute - when the whole section erupted. It was surreal and, frankly, quite sickening!

In other news, the grapevine tells me Ferris has got off.

 

[French TommyGun]

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.

I have a lot of respect for Irish rugby and I don't think France will win because Ireland are bad. I've been a French rugby fan for as long as I can remember and France has always been its own worst enemy! But at the moment there's a much more positive and up beat "can do" feeling around this French team. So on this occasion I reckon we're gona have ya!! =P

 

[Luimneach18]

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.

yes i suppose but irish rugby has improved a lot since those times so i think the margin will be alot smaller.

 

[Luimneach18]

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

dont quite get you..

 

[French TommyGun]

. ....an unless Wales has something to say about it on the 17th on march in Cardiff I reckon we'll have the Grand Slam too!!! =]

 

[coonor]

When's Ireland team announced?

 

[jaunard06]

I'm surprised to see how Irish fans here seem to dismiss their own team's chances.
For me Ireland vs Wales has been the best match from far in that first tournament round.

And that was not just because of Wales...several very good moves from both sides. The only weak point was...the referee, that has been IMHO too laxist about rucks.
Don't know who will be the one for this match but this may be the key as Ireland is much "better" on that aspect than France.

On french side the big disappointment was line out, maybe selecting Maestri from the beginning will help but we're going to face the best team of the tournament also in that exercize so...

Whatever will be the winner I would bet for a very narrow margin and the referee will have some influence anyways as ever in that kind of situation...
I will also look at the scrums, it becomes more and more difficult to figure out why some team get penalized sometimes.

 

[Jockstap]

I'm surprised to see how Irish fans here seem to dismiss their own team's chances.
For me Ireland vs Wales has been the best match from far in that first tournament round.

And that was not just because of Wales...several very good moves from both sides. The only weak point was...the referee, that has been IMHO too laxist about rucks.
Don't know who will be the one for this match but this may be the key as Ireland is much "better" on that aspect than France.

On french side the big disappointment was line out, maybe selecting Maestri from the beginning will help but we're going to face the best team of the tournament also in that exercize so...

Whatever will be the winner I would bet for a very narrow margin and the referee will have some influence anyways as ever in that kind of situation...
I will also look at the scrums, it becomes more and more difficult to figure out why some team get penalized sometimes.

I don't think it's the irish players we're disappointed with, it's the gameplan our coach has us playing. Ireland kicked more ball away than any other team last week, giving the huge Welsh backs plenty of opportunities to attack us,it was a stupid gameplan but they did it over and over again. We have to be realistic, if we can't beat Wales at home what chance do we have in paris?

 

[ThatFellowEdwards]

I don't think it's the irish players we're disappointed with, it's the gameplan our coach has us playing. Ireland kicked more ball away than any other team last week, giving the huge Welsh backs plenty of opportunities to attack us,it was a stupid gameplan but they did it over and over again. We have to be realistic, if we can't beat Wales at home what chance do we have in paris?

That game was won by us on an extremely fine margin, mind you. We hardly stuffed you, not by any stretch of the imagination. Your defence was excellent for most of the game and to be honest, I don't think there was a back in the Northern Hemisphere that could have stopped North on Sunday.

Heads up boys!

 

[Luimneach18]

I'm surprised to see how Irish fans here seem to dismiss their own team's chances.
For me Ireland vs Wales has been the best match from far in that first tournament round.

And that was not just because of Wales...several very good moves from both sides. The only weak point was...the referee, that has been IMHO too laxist about rucks.
Don't know who will be the one for this match but this may be the key as Ireland is much "better" on that aspect than France.

On french side the big disappointment was line out, maybe selecting Maestri from the beginning will help but we're going to face the best team of the tournament also in that exercize so...

Whatever will be the winner I would bet for a very narrow margin and the referee will have some influence anyways as ever in that kind of situation...
I will also look at the scrums, it becomes more and more difficult to figure out why some team get penalized sometimes.

i totally agree with you on this there are some irish fans on here that only cheer there team when their winning to me thats not real fans also lets say somehow ireland were to beat france on saturday im guessing you will be calling kidney to stay make your minds up it annoys me.

 

[Luimneach18]

I don't think it's the irish players we're disappointed with, it's the gameplan our coach has us playing. Ireland kicked more ball away than any other team last week, giving the huge Welsh backs plenty of opportunities to attack us,it was a stupid gameplan but they did it over and over again. We have to be realistic, if we can't beat Wales at home what chance do we have in paris?

are you mad ! we got beat by 2 points against a in form welsh team that dominated us completley i think we have a decent enough chance in paris contarary to what all the irish fans are saying on here forgot about the past its 2012 and irish rugby is in a much better place than it was in the past, it will be tough but arent all six nations games tough.

 

[Feicarsinn]

are you mad ! we got beat by 2 points against a in form welsh team that dominated us completley i think we have a decent enough chance in paris contarary to what all the irish fans are saying on here forgot about the past its 2012 and ireland are a much better team it will be tough but arent all six nations games tough.

We got beaten at home by Wales. That's never acceptable. As you said, we were dominated around the park. Also not acceptable. Not anywhere near good enough to get a win in Paris against the most talent team in the Northern Hemisphere.

 

[Luimneach18]

We got beaten at home by Wales. That's never acceptable. As you said, we were dominated around the park. Also not acceptable. Not anywhere near good enough to get a win in Paris against the most talent team in the Northern Hemisphere.

yes but at home doesnt mean anything we got beat by them in new zealand as well. And as for the domination part i dont know why that happened maybe it was kidneys tactics.

 

[Feicarsinn]

yes but at home doesnt mean anything we got beat by them in new zealand as well. And as for the domination part i dont know why that happened maybe it was kidneys tactics.

And those tactics aren't going to change between now and next week mate. It's the exact same game plan steady Deccie has been using since late 2008 and while the rest of the world has moved on, were still stuck playing ELV rugby. Considering how comfortable they looked against us in the autumn and how limited we've been in the past two seasons, I just don't think this team has what it takes to beat France playing the way they are.


Oh, and of course home advantage makes a difference.

 

[Saintjay]

are you mad ! we got beat by 2 points against a in form welsh team that dominated us completley i think we have a decent enough chance in paris contarary to what all the irish fans are saying on here forgot about the past its 2012 and irish rugby is in a much better place than it was in the past, it will be tough but arent all six nations games tough.

Not as good as the 2009 Grandslam winners

 

[Luimneach18]

Not as good as the 2009 Grandslam winners

im talking previous that man. people are taking like 2009 previous

 

[Amiga500]

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

Do you really think that decision was made by the fly-half rather than the captain?

 

[Darwin]

Expecting this to be a pretty close match really, but you never know with France! I thought both teams played pretty solidly last week. I'm particularly looking forward to the loose-forward battle again this week, as well as the likely match-up at 10 between Sexton and Trinh-Duc

 

[elgringoborracho]

Hey all, it's been a while

Yachvili is out due to a back injury, Dupuy has been called to replace him. Dupuy has been superb with Stade all season, it's good for him to have the opportunity to play in blue once again. Parra should start though, I can't see St Andre starting Dupuy with only 2 days of preparation.


Can't wait for this game!!

 

[Zulu-Cow]

I could see the Irish fighting back in Paris, the french tend to get a little lazy and at home as well. I think Ireland will win!