[mikedragon32]

Wow. Wednesday and no offical match thread so here ye go... My first!

For Ireland it's very much a case of plus ca change, plus ca meme chose with an unchanged team from that which beat Italy last Saturday.

France have Medard ruled out through injury, replaced by Poitrenaud. Otherwise their squad remains unchanged from that which beat Scotland on Sunday.

The teams (for those who need to see them!):

Ireland:
15 - Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
14 - Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 - Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
12 - Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 - Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
10 - Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
9 - Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)
1 - Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
3 - Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
4 - Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 - Paul O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster) (capt)
6 - Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
7 - Sean O'Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
8 - Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)

Replacements:
16 - Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
17 - Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
18 - Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
19 - Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster)
20 - Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
21 - Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
22 - Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster)

France:

15 – Clement Poitrenaud – Toulouse
14 – Vincent Clerc – Toulouse
13 – Aurelien Rougerie – Clermont Auvergne
12 – Wesley Fofana – Clermont Auvergne
11 – Julien Malzieu – Clermont Auvergne
10 – Francois Trinh-Duc – Montpelier
9 – Morgan Parra – Clermont Auvergne
8 – Imanol Harinordoquy – Biarritz
7 – Julien Bonnaire – Clermont Auvergne
6 – Thierry Dusatoir – Toulouse (Captain)
5 – Yoann Maestri – Toulouse
4 – Pascal Pape – Stade Francais
3 – Nicolas Mas – Perpignan
2 – Dimitri Szarzewski – Stade Francais
1 – Jean-Baptiste Poux – State Toulousain

Replacements:
16 – William Servat – Toulouse
17 – Vincent Debaty – Clermont Auvergne
18 – Lionel Nallet – Racing Metro 92
19 – Louis Picamoles – Toulouse
20 – Julien Dupuy – Stade Francais
21 – Lionel Beauxis – Stade Francais
22 – Maxime Mermoz - Perpignan

Now, have at ye!

[dub_skav]

No shock there, but it's official, kidney is a moron

[BoardsMember]

It's "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"

That's a better post than any contentious comment about Conor Murrays continued inclusion, which might derail this thread, or result in it being closed

[Tox56]

Well, at least we have a chance, it is a two-horse race.

[mikedragon32]

Originally Posted by BoardsMember

It's "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"

That's a better post than any contentious comment about Conor Murrays continued inclusion, which might derail this thread, or result in it being closed

Knowlege of where (and indeed how) to insert a circumflex and French grammar are not my strong suits. Much less so cedillas!

[Principal Skinner]

Originally Posted by Tox56

Well, at least we have a chance, it is a two-horse race.

And if we're lucky we might come second

[.ak]

Originally Posted by Tox56

Well, at least we have a chance, it is a two-horse race.

Shergar vs Rodney's Reliant

[BoardsMember]

Originally Posted by mikedragon32

Knowlege of where (and indeed how) to insert a circumflex and French grammar are not my strong suits. Much less so cedillas!

Je copy et paste!

[dub_skav]

Originally Posted by Tox56

Well, at least we have a chance, it is a two-horse race.

The French eat horse, don't they

[andrewdcs]

Originally Posted by BoardsMember

Je copy et paste!

Mez Oui This is how we select teams in Irlande!

[rrpc]

I can't say I'm surprised. It's getting more like the EOS days as the years roll on. The more people scream for a change to be made, the deeper the heels are dug in and the greater the change is resisted...

Perhaps if there were general choruses of 'Ryan and Reddan out', the situation might reverse itself.

Or not.

To be brutally honest, I'd kinda given up on anything other than a poor 6N. It looks more likely now, but there's always the possibility of a porcine V-formation going overhead.

Good luck the U20s

[BoardsMember]

Isn't it a weird situation we find ourselves in. There are a couple of players in particular, Ryan & Reddan, that have come on and to the naked eye, seem to have done much better than the players they replaced.

I can understand Kidney's line regarding you have to take into contention what the players had done before they arrived. But how then does playing well off the bench get you into the team? I mean, it's a bit of a weird situation really. Damned if you do, damned if you dont.

Particularly for Ryan - he's deposed O'Callaghan in Munster, but still cant get in.

I also find Kidneys argument very dodgy regarding Reddan/Murray - does the preference for a slow passing, indecisive scrum half getting caught up in rucks improve your overall chances of winning a game because he's a good defender? Are we not better off starting the guy who is clearly playing better at being a SH?

I'm prepared for the game, watching it through my fingers as usual. We'll hav a great last 20 minutes, I'm sure of that.

[BoarHunter]

Originally Posted by dub_skav

The French eat horse, don't they

you have no idea how good it taste

ç ê easy ! Alt136 and Alt135 ( use keypad )

[dub_skav]

Originally Posted by BoarHunter

you have no idea how good it taste

I'm sure it's delicious, but I'm not looking forward to my national team being the meat

[andrewdcs]

From the last few games, I worry about what happens when we "switched off" as we did against Wales and Italy for periods, possibly for the lack of BOD but I dunno.

gameplan was shocking vs wales (kick it, go lateral, drift, dont attack their line...) better against Italy *(ie . what we did in the world cup, dismantle them)

We do seem to give france 30 points and then try to catch them, some kind of inside joke I'm sure, but I'm also pretty sure if we go in at half time 30 points down, we'll end the game 5 points down.

Lets pretend we're 30 points down to begin with! Unlike France who wouldn't bother, we see to love the challenge..

and selections.... bah.