In-form France to end Ireland’s Six Nations hopes

Adam Kyriacou
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The 2020 Six Nations is poised to go down to the wire in Paris as France and Ireland look to wrestle the trophy from England on Saturday evening.

Granted this is dependent on the English winning in Rome but it would be a major shock if that didn’t happen as we prepare for a dramatic finale.

Both France and Ireland come into this game on the back of recent wins, beating Wales and the Azzurri respectively on their returns last weekend. However, meetings between the two sides of late have been dominated by Ireland, who have impressively lost just once to Les Bleus in their last nine head-to-heads.

France though are the bookies’ favourites to prevail this week, due largely to the manner in which they dispatched the Welsh. That was a slick performance demonstrating a healthy mixture of power and finesse and if they can replicate that on Saturday then Ireland will find life incredibly difficult in Paris.

Ireland’s case for victory on Saturday is not helped by the absence due to injury of centre Garry Ringrose, who will be sorely missed in midfield. Robbie Henshaw isn’t lacking in experience as his replacement but Ringrose is a special talent and his battle with Virimi Vakatawa would have been a joy to watch.

That was the only alteration made by Ireland head coach Andy Farrell as he’s backed his team to finish the job at the Stade de France, against a Les Bleus outfit that also makes one tweak to their XV. Their change is also injury enforced as wing Teddy Thomas is replaced in the line-up by centre Arthur Vincent.

100th cap

Should Ireland need any further motivation this weekend then it can be found via loosehead prop Cian Healy, who wins his 100th cap this Saturday. Fly-half Johnny Sexton has challenged his team to perform for the experienced front-row forward as the Irish look to seal a fourth Six Nations crown in seven years.

“Every player in that (100 cap) category is a legend of the game in Ireland, and he will add himself to that legacy if he gets that cap. And he deserves it, he’s so professional,” said Sexton of prop Healy. “He had the one very serious injury, and he put in an unbelievable amount of work to get back from that.”

The Ireland skipper, who put in a solid effort against Italy last week, added: “I’m good friends with him and I know that he and his family would be hugely proud of that. So it’s another little layer onto our story. We want to honour him in the best way possible, and the way to do that is by winning the game.”

Asked to explain the size of their task in Paris, he revealed: “I suppose we just have to wait and see, all we can control at the moment is our performance.

“So we’ve just had to emphasise to everyone that we need to get performance right no matter what. We’re still going to have to play well no matter what, so let’s focus on that aspect. We know if we perform well we will create chances, so we will have to take them, we’ll need to be clinical,” Sexton concluded.

Players to watch:

For France: It was another outstanding display last week from scrum-half Antoine Dupont as he tore Wales to bits at times with his quick thinking, distribution and speed across the ground. His all-action performance kept the Welsh on their toes throughout and he should do likewise against the Irish, as he looks to continue his rapid rise up the global pecking order of nines. Dupont is the catalyst of all that’s good about this French side and if he shines again, the chances of Ireland winning decrease dramatically, as front-foot ball means more opportunities for the likes of centre Vakatawa and France’s support runners.

For Ireland: Following an impressive debut last week against Italy, the challenge now for flanker Will Connors is backing up that performance in what will be a much tougher match against the French. The physical back-row will be eager to dominate every collision and if he can it will set an example and inspire those around him. It’s not just the power in contact but the frequency that impresses from Connors as in Round Four he racked up 19 tackles, which set the benchmark for Ireland. If he can hit those kind of numbers while CJ Stander et al tick their own unique boxes, then Ireland’s pack should be in good shape.

Head-to-head: Two excellent number eights collide this Saturday when Grégory Alldritt and CJ Stander go up against each other. Alldritt is such a talented back-row who is so comfortable in possession and consistently offers himself as a willing carrier for France. Last week he did just that as he racked up 66 metres from seven runs and his battle with Stander (75 metres from 21 carries) will definitely catch the eye. Expect them to be heavily involved and we cannot wait to see how they fare against each other, with the back-row in general set to be a pivotal tussle in this mouth-watering Six Nations finale.

Previous results:

2019: Ireland won 26-14 in Dublin
2018: Ireland won 15-13 in Paris
2017: Ireland won 19-9 in Dublin
2016: France won 10-9 in Paris
2015: Ireland won 24-9 in Cardiff (RWC)
2015: Ireland won 18-11 in Dublin
2014: Ireland won 22-20 in Paris
2013: The sides drew 13-13 in Dublin

Prediction: We just feel Les Bleus have the bit between their teeth at the minute and on home soil they should seal victory, but the margin is unlikely to be anywhere near enough to secure the Six Nations title from England’s grasp. France to win by seven points!

The teams:

France: 15 Anthony Bouthier, 14 Vincent Rattez, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Arthur Vincent, 11 Gaël Fickou, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont, 8 Grégory Alldritt, 7 Charles Ollivon (c), 6 François Cros, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Bernard le Roux, 3 Mohamed Haouas, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Romain Taofifénua, 20 Dylan Cretin, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Arthur Retiere, 23 Thomas Ramos

Ireland: 15 Jacob Stockdale, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Hugo Keenan, 10 Jonathan Sexton (c), 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Will Connors, 6 Caelan Doris, 5 James Ryan, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Chris Farrell

Date: Saturday, October 31
Venue: Stade de France
Kick-off: 21:05 local (20:05 GMT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Matthew Carley (RFU), Karl Dickson (RFU)
TMO: Luke Pearce (RFU)

 

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