Talisman: Can BOD save Ireland?
After enjoying contrasting fortunes on the opening weekend of the Six Nations, Ireland and France will have similar objectives in Dublin on Sunday.
The games in Paris and Rome could not have been more different. While the Stade de France was entertained by a seven-try spectacle, Ireland were made to dig deep in an arm wrestle in Italy where their fighting spirit finally saw them home.
Our favourite 'Caveman' came up with a great quote this week: "What's important is to score more than your opponents."
Talk about stating the obvious!
Of course, Mr. Chabal was trying to make a similar point to England coach Martin Johnson in the build up to Round Two: Two tournament points for a win is all that counts. Whether you score two tries or twenty is irrelevant, as long as you score more than the opposition. After last week I'm sure many Irishmen would agree.
It's probably safe to say that we can expect a massive improvement from the men in green come Sunday. But with just one win in nine starts against les Bleus will that improvement be enough to beat a French side that were running rampant against a Scottish team that were victorious the last time they visited Dublin?
France truly were electrifying on the counter attack at the Stade de France. There's more than just a hint of 'Toulouseness' in the way they were off-loading to support runners. Lest we forget that France's backs coach, Emile Ntamack, is former protégé of Guy Novès and the starting back three at Lansdowne Road this weekend are all Toulousains (like Maxime Médard and Clément Poitrenaud, Bayonne wing Yoann Huget is a product of the Toulouse academy).
Yet it was easy to get carried away with France's opening victory because of the excitement created by three superb tries. Closer inspection however reveals that Marc Lièvremont's side missed a staggering 25 tackles, suggesting the defensive frailties that were exposed against Australia have yet to be properly resolved.
Just as noteworthy is the fact that apart from their penalty try, all of Frances' tries came from counter attacks off mistakes made by the Scots rather than their own initiative.
Some rudimentary logic would thus dictate that if Ireland don't give France counter-attacking opportunities by handing over possession, they should be in business since they're bound to find holes in the Tricolor defence...
OK, that assessment is far too basic but it does offer the hosts food for thought, especially considering the woeful handling on display from the Irish backs seven days ago.
All this talk of the backs yet, the truth be told, if there is one sector that has been giving Irish fans sleepless nights this week, it's the scrum.
When it's time to pack down, Ireland's big boys have been under regular pressure in recent times and Rome was no exception. Now they must face the only scrum in the world stronger than Italy's. France has a monster set piece. It's so big in fact that they've been award three penalty tries in their last four matches!
So, objective number one for both teams will be to cut out the fundamental errors made in their opening performances.
For Ireland, more fumbles and poor passes could either a hand France a chance to counter attack with a loose ball or ply pressure at scrum time. France, on the other hand, simply cannot afford to not make their tackles with the likes of Brian O'Driscoll ready to pounce if given half a chance.
Players to watch:
For Ireland: After Ronan O'Gara told the world that it was his experience that saved the day in Italy, Jonathan Sexton will be keen to show all and sundry just how much he has to offer the starting line-up. Both sides have made it clear that they want to have a full go with ball in hand and with a rare sunny day expected in Dublin, the young Leinsterman has a chance to....er...shine.
For France : Much of the pre-match talk has centred (excuse the pun) around Damien Traille as the Biarrot starts in his third position in as many Tests. Traille had a poor game at fly-half against the Wallabies, a solid outing at full-back last week and now gets a chance at his preferred position at 12. France's midfield might be new as a partnership (the nineteenth of the Lièvremont era) but as veterans of the Test side, Traille and Aurélien Rougerie are no strangers. The battles of the centres should be epic.
Head-to-head: Euan Murray and co. bore the brunt of France's brutal scrum power last week - can the Irish pack do better? Mike Ross did pretty well against Thomas Domingo when Leinster took on Clermont in December, but the Domingo-Servat-Mas combination has yet to meet it's match in world rugby. It could long afternoon for Ireland if the current trend continues.
Previous results:
2010:France won 33-10 at Stade de France, Paris
2009: Ireland won 30-21 at Croke Park, Dublin
2008: France won 26-21 at Stade de France, Paris
2007: France won 25-3 at Stade de France, Paris (RWC)
2007: France won 20-17 at Croke Park, Dublin
2006: France won 43-31 at Stade de France, Paris
2005: France won 26-19 at Lansdowne Rd, Dublin
2004: France won 35-17 at Stade de France, Paris
2003: France won 43-21 at Colonial Stadium, Melbourne (RWC)
2003: Ireland won 15-12 at Lansdowne Rd, Dublin
2002:France won 44-5 at Stade de France, Paris
2001:Ireland won 22-15 at Lansdowne Rd, Dublin
2000: Ireland won 27-25 at Stade de France, Paris
Prediction: Based on last week, you have to back France. Ireland will be much, much better - of that we have no doubt - but the apparent gap between the sides at the moment would be tough to bridge in one week. France by five points.
The teams:
France: 15 Clément Poitrenaud, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Damien Traille, 11 Maxime Médard, 10 François Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Julien Pierre, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Thomas Domingo.
Replacements: 16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Sylvain Marconnet, 18 Jerome Thion, 19 Sébastien Chabal, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 Yannick Jauzion, 22 Vincent Clerc.
Ireland: 15 Luke Fitzgerald, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (capt), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Sean O'Brien, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Leo Cullen, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Paddy Wallace.
Date: Sunday, February 13
Venue: Lansdowne Road (Aviva Stadium), Dublin
Kick-off: 15.00 GMT
Weather: 8°C. Clear skies.
Referee: Dave Pearson
By Ross Hastie
Comments
curates_egg says...
@papachinzo the IRB rankings are not 'meaningless' - you may disagree with their methodology but there is a methodology. I disagree with your methodology.
Certainly, it should be evident to anybody that watches club rugby (not just ERC rugby) that club form is not a good yardstick for international rugby. If you look at how the different Northern Hemisphere sides have played over the past 9 months, it would seem to vindicated the IRB system.
On Kidney and Gaffney, I would disagree as well. The backs seem to misfiring not because of the system but because of individual errors and a poor platform. The first cannot be due to coaching; the second, however, is in no small part due to the selection policy and gameplan of Kidney. A limited lineout, a less than optimal back row (in terms of mobility) and poor delivery let us down last weekend. Kidney does not seem to have taken all three of these into account in his selection this weekend.
Ireland might win but we will need to be at our best and for the French to have a bad day. It can happen but we could be giving ourselves a better chance with a different coach IMHO.
Posted 09:12 12th February 2011
dropgoal says...
After a dismal display last week in Rome I have no doubt we will see a spirited
performance by Ireland on Saturday. There will be some problems against France's
powerful pack but if we hold on to the ball a little better and throw a few less forward passes we might be OK. Stay out of the kitchen if you can't stand the heat. Ireland is due for a breakout game and I'm hoping this is going to be it.
I'll be watching from my favorite pub The Red Lion here in NYC. Good Luck Lads.
Posted 20:04 11th February 2011
papachinzo says...
@curates_egg you The IRB rankings are flawed and mean nothing. England have won 5 of their last 10 games Ireland 6/10 and France 8/10, In the 6 Nations rankings (2000-2010) France are 1st with 41 wins out of 55, Ireland 2nd with 39/55 and England 3rd with 35/55... for the past 3 years Ireland and France have dominated in The Heineken Cup. Hence France and Ireland are the 2 best teams in the Northern Hemisphere.
I wouldn't blame Kidney for the way the backs have been playing, I'd blame Gaffney.
the only problem I have with Kidney is the selection of O'Callaghan and O'Leary over Cullen and Reddan/Stringer. Other than that, hes doing a pretty good job.
I wouldn't worry about the scrum either, Ireland have had no scrum for years, they know how to deal with it(hook it back and get it out quick).
Posted 17:04 11th February 2011
Bones7 says...
If Mike Ross had been picked a little sooner then the very creaky Irish scrum might have just gelled enough to take on the French, but I don't think it will have. France have an 8 man drive whereas Ireland simply do not. Having Sean O'Brien and David Wallace paired up in the back row will give the Irish good speed to the breakdown, but i think Dusautoir and Bonnaire's legs may have a bit more running in them over the course of the match.
I agree with boysinblue though about the lack of originality. There are two relatively unknown wings in McFadden and Huget, Jamie Heaslip coming back to face Harinordoquy and the complete mismatch in benches. There are a couple of decent Irish players on theirs but the French replacements are all superb!
Posted 17:04 11th February 2011
curates_egg says...
@papachinzo they are not the two best teams in the northern hemisphere, they are the second and third best teams: http://www.irb.com/rankings/index.html
Go through the teams player for player. Apart from the centres, it is hard to pick any position where the Irish player comes out top in a comparison (a couple of neck and necks but mainly French dominance).
Based on the Kidney gameplan over the past 2 years, it is hard to see how we can beat the French unless they have a bad day at the office.
Posted 14:25 11th February 2011
chinstan says...
Saucer of milk for table 2!
Posted 13:42 11th February 2011
papachinzo says...
Lads, this is the biggest game, played by the two best teams in the Northern hemisphere. Both sides know anyone could win at any stage of the game, it will all come down to errors and who plays the reff the best. I think Ireland might just grab this one to be honest! That is if O'Leary either has the best game of his life, or he's pulled out... and Cullen is brought in soon enough.
Posted 13:35 11th February 2011
stag says...
@boysinblue: to be fair he didnt talk the special atmosphere at landsdowne road, leprecauns or guiness so we should count ourselves blessed. he also completely ignored the irish team and just talked about France. his one foray into analysis suggested that if we reduce our error count we might have a chance. insightful stuff... i might become a rugby journo, doesnt seem like to hard of graft or to require too much knowledge of the game even. don't know about you but i'm handing in my notice on monday
Posted 12:42 11th February 2011
froggy73 says...
@boysinblue: This is a preview. Their tought of the match? Then read the Prediction "Based on last week, you have to back France. Ireland will be much, much better - of that we have no doubt - but the apparent gap between the sides at the moment would be tough to bridge in one week. France by five points. "
Regarding O'leary v Parra, you don't want to know :)
Posted 12:23 11th February 2011