Ireland v France [build up thread]

captbarnacles · 06-10-2015 12:05am

Bridge93 wrote: »

What have France shown in this tournament that now has people sure we will lose to them on the back of one poor performance? They have been as bad.
Please don't come back with the cliche French **** about unpredictability and turning up at world cups. I mean actual evidence from their performances that some now have them as clear favourites?

France have shown very little as have we.

Podge_irl · 06-10-2015 12:07am

vapor trails wrote: »

If every Irish fans closes his eyes and envisions Ireland winning they picture this man. If every Irish fans closes his eyes and envisions Ireland losing they picture this man.

Mercurial Michalak

Which ever one shows up Sunday decides who wins. It's as simple as that for me.

Michalak starting is the best possible thing that could happen to Ireland.

Bridge93 · 06-10-2015 12:09am

vapor trails wrote: »

If every Irish fans closes his eyes and envisions Ireland winning they picture this man. If every Irish fans closes his eyes and envisions Ireland losing they picture this man.

Mercurial Michalak

Which ever one shows up Sunday decides who wins. It's as simple as that for me.

I don't think Michalak is capable of winning the game by himself but he definitely could lose it.

vapor trails · 06-10-2015 12:13am

Podge_irl wrote: »

Michalak starting is the best possible thing that could happen to Ireland.

Most of the scenarios in my mind where we beat the French Michalak has an absolute mare of a game. I don't think he's a good away team player. The fixture hopefully will be as close to a home fixture as we could get in a neutral venue. 50,000 Irish people shout and roaring I think we can break him.

thebaz · 06-10-2015 12:18am

Bridge93 wrote: »

you didn't answer my question. What has France shown in their games that has people who a few days ago said we would win well, now backing France to win?

I'm certainly not in that category - ever since the 6 nations euphoria , I have been sceptical of this game , cause everyone I talked to seam to think we will win it - heartbroken too many times by the French, will never forget '03 , when we had a good team . Regardless if we won easily yesterday and played brilliant I'd still be sceptical - its a 50/50 no clear favourite

PTH2009 · 06-10-2015 12:20am

Option 1- beat france and lose to argentina

Option 2- lose to france and lose to the all blacks

more pride in losing to the all blacks i think. they would be heaps of pressure on us if we are playing argentina with less pressure on us playing the all blacks.

people (many of them fair weather supporters) will be expecting us to beat argentina as there not known as a top rugby nation but there the 2nd best team in the tournament so far imo (austraila being the 1st, the ABS are average, as are us, Wales and south africa)

vapor trails · 06-10-2015 12:22am

BTW quick question. Is the roof shut ?

thebaz · 06-10-2015 12:26am

PTH2009 wrote: »

people (many of them fair weather supporters) will be expecting us to beat argentina as there not known as a top rugby nation but there the 2nd best team in the tournament so far imo (austraila being the 1st, the ABS are average, as are us, Wales and south africa)

The All Blacks beat Argentina , not playing great , and haven't really being tested - I'd much rather have to beat Argentina, who are an excellent team , New Zealand would be a step up, and then some

awec · 06-10-2015 12:26am

Argentina have looked decent but honestly we should not be losing to them in a game of importance. That would be an awful result for us and if this team were to limp out with a quarter final defeat to them I don't think anyone could dress it up as anything other than a huge disappointment and another underachievement.

I worry about us playing NZ because even if they are average they can beat us and we will have mental problems with that fixture.

Podge_irl · 06-10-2015 12:39am

PTH2009 wrote: »

Option 1- beat france and lose to argentina

Option 2- lose to france and lose to the all blacks

more pride in losing to the all blacks i think. they would be heaps of pressure on us if we are playing argentina with less pressure on us playing the all blacks.

people (many of them fair weather supporters) will be expecting us to beat argentina as there not known as a top rugby nation but there the 2nd best team in the tournament so far imo (austraila being the 1st, the ABS are average, as are us, Wales and south africa)

yup. Beating Argentina is literally unthinkable. Massively beyond the bounds of possibility.

Hell, they are the second best team in the world cup. They only lose to NZ so as to get an easier route to the final.

PTH2009 · 06-10-2015 12:50am

Podge_irl wrote: »

yup. Beating Argentina is literally unthinkable. Massively beyond the bounds of possibility.

Hell, they are the second best team in the world cup. They only lose to NZ so as to get an easier route to the final.

if wales top group A then they or us (if we finish top of grp d) will have the easier route to the final.

If Wales and Ireland top there groups- QF Ire vs Arg, Wals vs Scot winner plays each other in the semi final.

Other side would be Aus vs SA & AB vs Fra in the QFs

CatFromHue · 06-10-2015 1:11am

What is it with Ireland and Argentina and RWC's?

99, 03, 07, we'd to play them in our last game to secure a top 8 and so seeded spot for RWC15!

matthew8 · 06-10-2015 1:35am

Argentina ran some tries past a tired Georgia and beat up on a Tonga team that has looked awful all tournament. They challenged NZ for a while but by the end NZ won it very comfortably and could have run in a couple more tries if things stuck. Look, they're clearly improving but against quality opposition they've been well beaten. I think their attack will struggle massively to get past Ireland if we can get past France. With France I think people are just desperate to be pessimistic, if it was us who put in the performance France did against Canada we'd be calling the team a disgrace and saying we had no chance. It's been 4 years since France have produced the sort of performance that will be required if we can play the way we have the last 2 6 nations and in the last AIs.

The Pheasant2 · 06-10-2015 1:40am

McGrath
Best
Ross
Toner
POC
POM
SOB
Heaslip

Murray
Sexton
Earls
Henshaw
Payne
Bowe
Kearney

Cronin
Healy
White
Henderson
Henry
Reddan
Madigan
Fitzgerald

duckysauce · 06-10-2015 2:06am

vapor trails wrote: »

BTW quick question. Is the roof shut ?

shut for all games

UnknownEntity · 06-10-2015 7:06am

So hyped for this game!

Irish_rat · 06-10-2015 7:16am

duckysauce wrote: »

shut for all games

That could be a key decider in this too. Ireland had a game under the roof against Canada and were fairly tired after that run out. France may find it hard

molloyjh · 06-10-2015 7:16am

mfceiling wrote: »

Whisper in yesterday's Sunday Times that an official who's been away from the game may be making a return for the latter stages of the WC...

Has to be the dream boat himself!!

Rolland back for the Welsh QF? Ah go on WR, you know you want to....

Irish_rat · 06-10-2015 7:19am

At least we have possibly the best ref in the world for the game and no bulls**t at scrum time.

.ak · 06-10-2015 7:56am

thebaz wrote: »

at best he was average , certainly not outstanding , and certainly nowhere near the level he can play at - in the game I watched yesterday the Italian back row destroyed us - so something wasn't right - probably a combination of all 3 been of the mark , lets hope for a big improvement on Sunday , from all 3.

Destroyed us in what sense? What did SOB do wrong, exactly?

nice_guy80 · 06-10-2015 8:03am

Irish_rat wrote: »

At least we have possibly the best ref in the world for the game and no bulls**t at scrum time.

right, so we're in trouble then

techdiver · 06-10-2015 8:50am

A draw at 14/1 is a decent bet based on our recent history.

Would be a table topping result for us too.

molloyjh · 06-10-2015 9:27am

This place really has gone to the dogs. Lose or play poorly and suddenly we're dropping half the squad and predicting 2 losses in a row. People would want to get a grip tbh.

France have an incredibly talented line up and have shown an ability to both turn it on for individual games and make life very difficult for Ireland. Even the last 2 years when they have been at or near their worst. And they look better than they did at the moment (not massively mind).

That said we too have a talented squad. We've proven to be a very, very hard team to beat and have had the measure of France the last few years. That simply means that this game will be a very tight and intriguing affair. People are right be nervous, but pessimistic?

Michilak starting would be perfect for us. He showed against a Canadian team that put him under zero pressure that he is very capable of making mistakes. Target him with the back row all game and he'll seriously struggle. Cut off the backs good supply of ball and they'll all struggle. They just don't have the structures to function well in that scenario.

The big worry is their pack, which is looking very good. Particularly their back row. We need to stop them getting on the front foot. So it's going to be a huge day for our pack and our midfield. From that perspective we could really do with Payne being fit.

We also need to target Nakitaci with a vengeance. The guy is still very poor positionally and we can take real advantage of that with, yep you guessed it, a smart kicking game. Sexton and Murray have both looked good on that front so I think we can expect real headway there.

I'd take a 3-0 win at this stage. Or hell, even a 0-0 draw! But I wouldn't be too despondent yet either. We have never put in 2 poor performances in a row in any meaningful competition or series. We could even play well and lose. It would only be time to worry if we play badly again. Until then let's all take a breath and remember that one poor performance does not a bad side make.

total former · 06-10-2015 9:36am

molloyjh wrote: »

Michilak starting would be perfect for us. He showed against a Canadian team that put him under zero pressure that he is very capable of making mistakes. Target him with the back row all game and he'll seriously struggle. Cut off the backs good supply of ball and they'll all struggle. They just don't have the structures to function well in that scenario.

While I agree with what you're saying, part of me would much rather see Tales starting. While Freddie is far more likely to disintegrate under a bit of pressure, he's also far more likely to rip us to shreds if he has a good day. Tales is just bog-standard-ordinary. I'm just glad Trinh-Duc is at home.

molloyjh wrote: »

I'd take a 3-0 win at this stage. Or hell, even a 0-0 draw! But I wouldn't be too despondent yet either. We have never put in 2 poor performances in a row in any meaningful competition or series. We could even play well and lose. It would only be time to worry if we play badly again. Until then let's all take a breath and remember that one poor performance does not a bad side make.

I think part of the reason for the concern is that it follows on from the poor showings against England and Wales (in which we fielded very strong sides). As you say though, it's rare that we string bad games together and I'd be confident that corrective action is being taken in camp this week, even if that corrective action is psychological rather than physical/tactical.

06-10-2015 9:51am

molloyjh wrote: »

This place really has gone to the dogs. Lose or play poorly and suddenly we're dropping half the squad and predicting 2 losses in a row. People would want to get a grip tbh.

France have an incredibly talented line up and have shown an ability to both turn it on for individual games and make life very difficult for Ireland. Even the last 2 years when they have been at or near their worst. And they look better than they did at the moment (not massively mind).

That said we too have a talented squad. We've proven to be a very, very hard team to beat and have had the measure of France the last few years. That simply means that this game will be a very tight and intriguing affair. People are right be nervous, but pessimistic?

Michilak starting would be perfect for us. He showed against a Canadian team that put him under zero pressure that he is very capable of making mistakes. Target him with the back row all game and he'll seriously struggle. Cut off the backs good supply of ball and they'll all struggle. They just don't have the structures to function well in that scenario.

The big worry is their pack, which is looking very good. Particularly their back row. We need to stop them getting on the front foot. So it's going to be a huge day for our pack and our midfield. From that perspective we could really do with Payne being fit.

We also need to target Nakitaci with a vengeance. The guy is still very poor positionally and we can take real advantage of that with, yep you guessed it, a smart kicking game. Sexton and Murray have both looked good on that front so I think we can expect real headway there.

I'd take a 3-0 win at this stage. Or hell, even a 0-0 draw! But I wouldn't be too despondent yet either. We have never put in 2 poor performances in a row in any meaningful competition or series. We could even play well and lose. It would only be time to worry if we play badly again. Until then let's all take a breath and remember that one poor performance does not a bad side make.

I agree here and I don't count myself among the doomsayers. I'm still drinking the Joe koolaid but we've become a team that you associate with consistent performance but that consistency has fallen away a bit between the warm ups and the Italy game just at the one time when we want to start seeing something a bit more.

Don't forget it was the team that talked all week about raising intensity from now on and that was the primary message. It's not what we saw on the pitch at all.

Eitherway, the intensity raises in the knock outs again, but also the pressure and as previous world cups have shown if you can keep calm under pressure you will go far. If you are tough to score against you will go far. Ireland are actually perfectly suited to high pressure knock out rugby with our territory game so I'm not worried about us keeping ball in hand and opening up teams. Winning 3 points at a time is fine for me.

We have a solid well executed game plan and we are very hard to score against. No one will find Ireland an easy prospect and that's added to the fact that we are now likely the de-facto home team for the remainder of the Championship with England out.

My big fear about England was the pressure of knock out rugby and meeting them in Twikenham. Now that worry passes to other teams about us.

rrpc · 06-10-2015 9:58am

Deleted User wrote: »

We have a solid well executed game plan and we are very hard to score against. No one will find Ireland an easy prospect and that's added to the fact that we are now likely the de-facto home team for the remainder of the Championship with England out.

Don't Wales get that spot now?

heybaby · 06-10-2015 9:58am

The mindset of the Irish team is a worry for me. We were poor in the warm up games, we left points on the pitch against two very poor sides in Canada and Romania. We looked devoid of interest, intensity and focus against a blunt Italian side. Schmidt needs to be asked why his charges played with zero intensity slap bang in the middle of the biggest rugby tournament there is, it is utterly unacceptable.

I think far too much respect is being paid to Schmidt because of his CV .Can you imagine the furore in Australian media circles if Foley and co had turned up against England and had played like drains? Cheiks would have been crucified and rightly so.

Sunday's game against the French is huge for the players but more so Schmidt, forget what went on before, 6 nations titles mean nothing at this level, as Sexton said yesterday the French see the 6 nations as a nuisance and plan for the World Cup. If we lose on Sunday, this World Cup will have been a total disappointment and will make a mockery of the consensus that Schmidt is the best coach in the world.

Based on current form, would you put your house on us beating the French?

MJohnston · 06-10-2015 10:11am

heybaby wrote: »

The mindset of the Irish team is a worry for me. We were poor in the warm up games, we left points on the pitch against two very poor sides in Canada and Romania. We looked devoid of interest, intensity and focus against a blunt Italian side. Schmidt needs to be asked why his charges played with zero intensity slap bang in the middle of the biggest rugby tournament there is, it is utterly unacceptable.

I think far too much respect is being paid to Schmidt because of his CV .Can you imagine the furore in Australian media circles if Foley and co had turned up against England and had played like drains? Cheiks would have been crucified and rightly so.

Sunday's game against the French is huge for the players but more so Schmidt, forget what went on before, 6 nations titles mean nothing at this level, as Sexton said yesterday the French see the 6 nations as a nuisance and plan for the World Cup. If we lose on Sunday, this World Cup will have been a total disappointment and will make a mockery of the consensus that Schmidt is the best coach in the world.

Based on current form, would you put your house on us beating the French?

Would very much disagree on the first bolded point here - Ireland did what they needed to beat those teams with bonus points and didn't try and physically exhaust themselves going further than that. Undoubtedly the team left 1 or 2 gears unused for most of those matches. Perfect.

On the second bolded point, if they lose on Sunday, they've still got the chance to progress in the tournament, and their journey isn't over by a long shot. Win or lose on Sunday, it'll be the manner of the performance that'll be much more important.

aimee1 · 06-10-2015 10:13am

MJohnston wrote: »

Would very much disagree on the first bolded point here - Ireland did what they needed to beat those teams with bonus points and didn't try and physically exhaust themselves going further than that. Undoubtedly the team left 1 or 2 gears unused for most of those matches. Perfect.

On the second bolded point, if they lose on Sunday, they've still got the chance to progress in the tournament, and their journey isn't over by a long shot. Win or lose on Sunday, it'll be the manner of the performance that'll be much more important.

We are also ahead of france on PD so a draw and France not scoring 4+ tries favours us.

accidentprone1 · 06-10-2015 10:20am

heybaby wrote: »

The mindset of the Irish team is a worry for me. We were poor in the warm up games, we left points on the pitch against two very poor sides in Canada and Romania. We looked devoid of interest, intensity and focus against a blunt Italian side. Schmidt needs to be asked why his charges played with zero intensity slap bang in the middle of the biggest rugby tournament there is, it is utterly unacceptable.

I think far too much respect is being paid to Schmidt because of his CV .Can you imagine the furore in Australian media circles if Foley and co had turned up against England and had played like drains? Cheiks would have been crucified and rightly so.

Sunday's game against the French is huge for the players but more so Schmidt, forget what went on before, 6 nations titles mean nothing at this level, as Sexton said yesterday the French see the 6 nations as a nuisance and plan for the World Cup. If we lose on Sunday, this World Cup will have been a total disappointment and will make a mockery of the consensus that Schmidt is the best coach in the world.

Based on current form, would you put your house on us beating the French?

No, because I'd be a fool to bet my house on a match.

total former · 06-10-2015 10:20am

heybaby wrote: »

The mindset of the Irish team is a worry for me.

On this, there was a quote in the Times yesterday from Joe saying that there was complete silence on the team bus going to the game on Sunday, whereas usually there's a lot of chat going on. Maybe the team are feeling the weight of expectation?

heybaby · 06-10-2015 10:21am

MJohnston wrote: »

Would very much disagree on the first bolded point here - Ireland did what they needed to beat those teams with bonus points and didn't try and physically exhaust themselves going further than that. Undoubtedly the team left 1 or 2 gears unused for most of those matches. Perfect.

On the second bolded point, if they lose on Sunday, they've still got the chance to progress in the tournament, and their journey isn't over by a long shot. Win or lose on Sunday, it'll be the manner of the performance that'll be much more important.

We lose on Sunday and we get the All Blacks, a team we have never beaten, so our World Cup will be over. I don't see two predicted victories over two tier 2 countries and a lame performance against Italy as promising. After each game we're hearing excuses about Joe's men keeping plays hidden, about them only playing in second gear, im sorry that's not good enough, the Aussies and the All Blacks don't do second gear. This is the biggest tournament of these players' lives, a lack of intensity in a nervy game against a poor Italian team does not bode well.

Podge_irl · 06-10-2015 10:22am

heybaby wrote: »

We lose on Sunday and we get the All Blacks, a team we have never beaten, so our World Cup will be over. I don't see two predicted victories over two tier 2 countries and a lame performance against Italy as promising. After each game we're hearing excuses about Joe's men keeping plays hidden, about them only playing in second gear, im sorry that's not good enough, the Aussies and the All Blacks don't do second gear. This is the biggest tournament of these players' lives, a lack of intensity in a nervy game against a poor Italian team does not bode well.

The All Blacks have been massively underwhelming so far this tournament.

rrpc · 06-10-2015 10:25am

heybaby wrote: »

We lose on Sunday and we get the All Blacks, a team we have never beaten, so our World Cup will be over. I don't see two predicted victories over two tier 2 countries and a lame performance against Italy as promising. After each game we're hearing excuses about Joe's men keeping plays hidden, about them only playing in second gear, im sorry that's not good enough, the Aussies and the All Blacks don't do second gear. This is the biggest tournament of these players' lives, a lack of intensity in a nervy game against a poor Italian team does not bode well.

I was fairly sure I saw the All Blacks in second gear a couple of times this RWC. In fact their last game saw Dan Carter miss three kicks in a row and so many knock-ons, I lost count.

If that's top gear for them, bring it on.

heybaby · 06-10-2015 10:25am

aimee1 wrote: »

We are also ahead of france on PD so a draw and France not scoring 4+ tries favours us.

We should be playing to win, not to draw. We should have enough confidence in our ability to beat the French. Id love to see ireland beat France for the very first time in this competition, on current form it looks unlikely to me.

heybaby · 06-10-2015 10:26am

Podge_irl wrote: »

The All Blacks have been massively underwhelming so far this tournament.

So we'd beat them?

06-10-2015 10:27am

rrpc wrote: »

Don't Wales get that spot now?

Couple of English commentators reckon that Ireland are the second best supported team after England in terms of attendance. They also think that more English neutrals would fall behind Ireland over Wales due to a more long standing rivalry with Wales.

Go back beyond 10 years and it was a massive massive deal if we beat England and the English would often be very congratulatory about it, bit like if Italy beat us.

I think we'll be the home team for all our remaining matches regardless of who we face, though with Wales it would be much more even.

heybaby · 06-10-2015 10:29am

rrpc wrote: »

I was fairly sure I saw the All Blacks in second gear a couple of times this RWC. In fact their last game saw Dan Carter miss three kicks in a row and so many knock-ons, I lost count.

If that's top gear for them, bring it on.

My point was they play every game to win and to score as many points as possible , by their lofty standards they haven't played half as well but they have won their group and qualified.

vapor trails · 06-10-2015 10:34am

I work in the bookmaking industry. These are what the paid professionals would set the handicaps against each of our potential 1/4 opponents give varying degrees of performance

Beat France by 1-5 pts we'd be -5pts V Argentina
Beat France 6-10 pts we'd be -6/7pts V Argentina
Beat France by 10pts + we'd be -10/11pts V Argentina

Alternatively

Beaten by France by 1-5 pts we'd be +10pts V New Zealand
Beaten by France 6-10 pts we'd be +12pts V New Zealand
Beaten by France by 10pts + we'd be +15pts V New Zealand

lbj666 · 06-10-2015 10:35am

heybaby wrote: »

We should be playing to win, not to draw. We should have enough confidence in our ability to beat the French. Id love to see ireland beat France for the very first time in this competition, on current form it looks unlikely to me.

Thats not his point. No rugby team has ever went into a rugby match playing for a draw, you can't.

Its just something to keep in mind when you have a penalty down by 3 with 4 minutes to go and have a choice to kick to the corner or kick at goal

rrpc · 06-10-2015 10:36am

heybaby wrote: »

My point was they play every game to win and to score as many points as possible , by their lofty standards they haven't played half as well but they have won their group and qualified.

You said they didn't do second gear. I'm just pointing out that they do. They got a fright against Argentina only beating them by 10 points and have let in more points than us.

06-10-2015 10:41am

total former wrote: »

there was a quote in the Times yesterday from Joe saying that there was complete silence on the team bus going to the game on Sunday, whereas usually there's a lot of chat going on.

That's an interesting point. On Sunday morning I was up unusually early and chilled out reading the UK papers for a bit of drama soak-age. One think I noticed from all the pictures of the English team from getting off the BUS to warming up is that it looked like one long funeral procession.

It's a question of Leadership, if the bus is quiet and that's not the norm then the leaders need to be talking to people, getting things back to normal and shaking up the atmosphere. That's off the field Leadership 1.01.

Big occasions can get on top of you, get in on you. I can remember before big events having my resting heart rate sitting 20 beats per minute up a couple of hours before a competition. You're seeping adrenaline the entire time, raising your blood pressure and generally allowing your energy and composure to drain away. These guys should have dealing techniques at this level, you develop them over time to manage pre competition stress but something maybe broke down collectively on Sunday.

It will eat in on the team a bit this week, but with determination and leadership they will go back to basics and remember that they deserve to be where they are and having nothing to fear from France if they play to their capability.

Clearlier · 06-10-2015 10:44am

heybaby wrote: »

My point was they play every game to win and to score as many points as possible , by their lofty standards they haven't played half as well but they have won their group and qualified.

Although I cannot imagine a scenario where they don't win their pool it remains a fact that they have not yet won their pool. They have won all of their games so far though and qualified without playing well - sounds a bit like Ireland really.

As for the All Blacks consistency - it's a total myth. Remember that 3 test series where we probably would have beaten them in the 2nd test if Nigel Owens hadn't penalised us at a scrum? We lost the first test by 42-10 and the 3rd by 60-0. They switched off and were rubbish for the 2nd test and were incredibly fortunate to win by 22-19. Then there's their history in the world cup - how many times have they entered the world cup as favourites and come a cropper?

I want Ireland to beat France and play Argentina in the quarter final because I think that we have a mental hang up about New Zealand which we haven't got about Argentina. I think that the quarter final will be an incredibly tough match though whomever we play.

jones · 06-10-2015 10:47am

What are everyones thoughts on the holding something back theory? I've been confident so far in the group that we were building nicely which each game being a step up in intensity but then the italian game happens and we looked fairly clueless in attack. (Defence was still strong IMO)

Was it just a bad day at the office? Or is Joe really stepping up the mind games and we're literally holding all our tricks for the French game which by the players own admission has been what this group as been about since day 1. I was sure this was the case but given how tight the italian game was is it plausilbe that we wouldn't of started to use some of the "secret plays" for breathing space to ensure the win? I dont think we would of ever lost the game but its making me worry now that maybe we dont have anything up our sleeves for the french.

Thoughts?

MJohnston · 06-10-2015 10:58am

I really don't buy that they intentionally held anything back - zero chance they would have done that after half time with the very tight scoreline for example. More likely they expected a lighter bit of Italian intensity (given how the Italians looked in their previous games) and after getting the Earls try, they backed off the pedal way too much, and that intensity was hard to recover when the Italians exploited it.

bilston · 06-10-2015 10:58am

jones wrote: »

What are everyones thoughts on the holding something back theory? I've been confident so far in the group that we were building nicely which each game being a step up in intensity but then the italian game happens and we looked fairly clueless in attack. (Defence was still strong IMO)

Was it just a bad day at the office? Or is Joe really stepping up the mind games and we're literally holding all our tricks for the French game which by the players own admission has been what this group as been about since day 1. I was sure this was the case but given how tight the italian game was is it plausilbe that we wouldn't of started to use some of the "secret plays" for breathing space to ensure the win? I dont think we would of ever lost the game but its making me worry now that maybe we dont have anything up our sleeves for the french.

Thoughts?

I doubt we are holding anything back at this stage. Maybe there may be different variations of the same set plays deployed against France which could in itself catch France napping. But we will definitely not be re-inventing the wheel on Sunday afternoon.

TheAlbert · 06-10-2015 11:01am

Regarding the English fans rowing in behind Ireland now that they are out, I found that last Sunday most English fans were supporting Italy. They weren't being anti-Irish, they were just supporting the underdog.

MJohnston · 06-10-2015 11:02am

TheAlbert wrote: »

Regarding the English fans rowing in behind Ireland now that they are out, I found that last Sunday most English fans were supporting Italy. They weren't being anti-Irish, they were just supporting the underdog.

I'd imagine we haven't a potential game left in the competition where we'll be outright favourites though.

.ak · 06-10-2015 11:04am

Ah the lads were just a bit jittery and the intensity wasn't there. It's not rocket science, no need for the endless psychological debate, a bit compliant and probably a bit taken back by the intensity of the Italians as a step up from the two games.

For me it's very reminiscent of Leinster under Joe in a big pro12 game a week before a HEC knock out game. Good bruising affair. We did a lot of good things which seems to be lost in all the panic.

This team will improve as the tournament goes on. The lads know exactly what they need to do to improve.

06-10-2015 11:09am

.ak wrote: »

For me it's very reminiscent of Leinster under Joe in a big pro12 game a week before a HEC knock out game. Good bruising affair. We did a lot of good things which seems to be lost in all the panic.

Yeah that's a very good point actually.

Ireland v France [build up thread]

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