French Team for Sunday

Hamo

French team for Sunday:…

One word OUCH!!!

15-Clement Poitrenaud,
14-Yoann Huget,
13-Aurelien Rougerie,
12-Damien Traille,
11-Maxime Medard,
10-Francois Trinh-Duc,
9-Morgan Parra,
8-Imanol Harinordoquy,
7-Julien Bonnaire,
6-Thierry Dusautoir (captain),
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-Sebastien Chabal, 20-Dimitri Yachvili, 21-Yannick Jauzion, 22-Vincent Clerc

jolley123

Positives

Huget wont be as hard for Earls, imo it was stupid of the french selectors not to put him at 11.

The centre partnership(although bigger) is less creative.

Although Poitrenaud is a threat in attack, he can be weak in defense.

If FEZ and Heaslip are fit, we can easily match their back-row.

It's at home

Negatives

Their scrum

Medard will be up against the inexperienced McFadden

They'll be a lot more dangerous to kick to with Clement at the back

They looked positive last weekend, we didn't

---

I still think we're in with a shout. Especially if both Ferris and Heaslip are fit. The score line in Italy could have easily read 30+ to Ireland. We just need to drop the silly mistakes,hope all goes well at scrum-time and make a change at 9.

profitius

I think its important for Ireland not to put them on a pedestal again. Ireland are at home, not expected to win, will play better than last week and with Ross in the scrums could hold their own.

France at home beat a limited Scotland by 13pts last week. I didn't see the match but it doesn't look that great of a result.

profitius

profitius wrote: »

I think its important for Ireland not to put them on a pedestal again. Ireland are at home, not expected to win, will play better than last week and with Ross in the scrums could hold their own.

France at home beat a limited Scotland by 13pts last week. I didn't see the match but it doesn't look that great of a result.

They missed something like 1/5 of all tackles. They were well leaky in defence. This is definitely a 50/50 game.

toomevara

profitius wrote: »

France at home beat a limited Scotland by 13pts last week. I didn't see the match but it doesn't look that great of a result.

Don't want to be the voice of doom but sometimes you watch a match and afterwards you listen to the pundits and your thought is 'was I watching the same match?' Scotland were destroyed by France to my eyes, in virtually all aspects of play and, tbh, France never seemed to break a sweat. They were sloppy and disinterested at times in defence because basically they knew they could afford to be.

They were never out of their comfort zone for a minute and, had there not been a huge raft of changes at the 60 minute mark, which totally destroyed the flow of the game and removed French momentum this would have been a real hiding for the Scots. As it was had a few passes gone to hand France would have scored an extra 15-20 points. They were lethal in the set piece, superb in counter attack and played some stunning rugby, easily the stand out team of the opening weekend.

Now you can never fully write off the French capacity to implode, psychological fragility yada, yada yada, especially on an away day, but I 'd be massively, massively surprised if this weekend results in anything other than yet another French victory. Yeah we'll probably flatter to deceive , just like the Scots did, but reckon Les Frenchies will continue to have the wood over us. But what I did see last weekend, worryingly, was enough to know that Scotland will be difficult for us to beat in Murrayfield this season.

thomond2006

Looks like I have a lot of sink my teeth into this week, as long as couchsmart doesn't steal my thunder! :pac:

Erasmus is such a doss...:D

yimrsg

Hamo wrote: »

French team for Sunday:…

One word OUCH!!!

15-Clement Poitrenaud,
14-Yoann Huget,
13-Aurelien Rougerie,
12-Damien Traille,
11-Maxime Medard,
10-Francois Trinh-Duc,
9-Morgan Parra,
8-Imanol Harinordoquy,
7-Julien Bonnaire,
6-Thierry Dusautoir (captain),
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-Sebastien Chabal, 20-Dimitri Yachvili, 21-Yannick Jauzion, 22-Vincent Clerc

bugger

We really need Heaslip & Ferris for this to compete around the park and to compete in the lineout, only having 2 jumpers might pay off against Italy but we'll be destroyed by Harinordoquy & co. We'll probably be mushed in the scrums but here's hoping France miss 25 tackles again.

toomevara

yimrsg wrote: »

bugger

We really need Heaslip & Ferris for this to compete around the park and to compete in the lineout, only having 2 jumpers might pay off against Italy but we'll be destroyed by Harinordoquy & co. We'll probably be mushed in the scrums but here's hoping France miss 25 tackles again.

Just be glad there's no mermoz!

leftism

toomevara wrote: »

Don't want to be the voice of doom but sometimes you watch a match and afterwards you listen to the pundits and your thought is 'was I watching the same match?' Scotland were destroyed by France to my eyes, in virtually all aspects of play and, tbh, France never seemed to break a sweat. They were sloppy and disinterested at times in defence because basically they knew they could afford to be.

They were never out of their comfort zone for a minute and, had there not been a huge raft of changes at the 60 minute mark, which totally destroyed the flow of the game and removed French momentum this would have been a real hiding for the Scots. As it was had a few passes gone to hand France would have scored an extra 15-20 points. They were lethal in the set piece, superb in counter attack and played some stunning rugby, easily the stand out team of the opening weekend.

Now you can never fully write off the French capacity to implode, psychological fragility yada, yada yada, especially on an away day, but I 'd be massively, massively surprised if this weekend results in anything other than yet another French victory. Yeah we'll probably flatter to deceive , just like the Scots did, but reckon Les Frenchies will continue to have the wood over us. But what I did see last weekend, worryingly, was enough to know that Scotland will be difficult for us to beat in Murrayfield this season.

100% agree with you on this! The scoreline in Paris was very flattering for the Scots. The French looked effortless for the majority of the game. It was such a contrast to an hour or two before in Rome where the Irish struggled to string passes together and looked desperate for large portions of the game. The passing, offloading and handling of the French was sublime in many phases. I was literally laughing at the telly when Harinordoquy ran over the 3rd try after taking a ridiculous underleg pass from Trinh-Duc.

Even with Heaslip and Ferris back and (please God) TOL banished to bench, there is no way this game is 50/50. I would have the French 70/30 favourites no matter where the game is being played.

yimrsg

Clerc has been France's most dangerous player against us for years, he must have some grievance with us as he's always an arch tormentor. The step on Hayes in Croker and the try in the world cup still fresh in my mind. He plays out of his skin against us and inevitably crosses our try line.

I dread him more than the in form Medard.

LeeroyJones

Ireland XV announcement has been delayed until Friday - hopefully is an indication that Heaslip/Ferris are still in with a shout and they're giving them every opportunity.

BoarHunter

leftism wrote: »

100% agree with you on this! The scoreline in Paris was very flattering for the Scots. The French looked effortless for the majority of the game. It was such a contrast to an hour or two before in Rome where the Irish struggled to string passes together and looked desperate for large portions of the game. The passing, offloading and handling of the French was sublime in many phases. I was literally laughing at the telly when Harinordoquy ran over the 3rd try after taking a ridiculous underleg pass from Trinh-Duc.

Even with Heaslip and Ferris back and (please God) TOL banished to bench, there is no way this game is 50/50. I would have the French 70/30 favourites no matter where the game is being played.

If it's the same weather than the Ulster - Biarritz match then it will be 50/50

Podge_irl

stephen_n

French are unpredictable at the best of times and last week was a case of from the sublime to the ridiculous in a matter of minutes. On paper that French team is a complete world beater and a fairly scarey proposition for any team but as we all know untill 5 minutes after the final whistle we will never know what team will turn up to play.

They should dominate the set piece and certainly will if we don't have Heaslip or Ferris at the tail. The scrum they should have the advantage in but I don't think they will destroy us. Scotlands defence wasn't great last week and ours should be better although some of the stuff the French did you can't defend against.

All in all given that selection I'd say 60/40 in favour of the french and as was said thank god no Clerc

pappyodaniel

It's a really settled pack Lievremont has picked, probably the best he could have chosen. Destructive scrummagers, big ball carriers, lineout specialists and link-men. I think our pack is in for a torrid time. I'm really hoping we have at least one fit player between Ferris and Heaslip. I shudder to think what Mas will do Healy. Outside the pack they are very strong, the only change I can see is Mermoz out, Poitrenaud in and a change of position with Traille moving to 1st centre...settled is definately the word to describe this team. And, outside of Guirado and Chabal, their bench is top quality and would easily be good enough to start for Ireland.

I expect a better performance from last week, but saying that I fully expect France to blow us off the park, leading by 20+points around the 55min mark before Lievremont makes whole-sale changes. Ireland may then go on to scoring a few soft tries leaving a more flattering score on the board. My prediction would be 37-22 French win.

profitius

I'll have to watch it again on RTE player to see the next world champions in action!

BoarHunter

pappyodaniel wrote: »

It's a really settled pack Lievremont has picked, probably the best he could have chosen. Destructive scrummagers, big ball carriers, lineout specialists and link-men. I think our pack is in for a torrid time. I'm really hoping we have at least one fit player between Ferris and Heaslip. I shudder to think what Mas will do Healy. Outside the pack they are very strong, the only change I can see is Mermoz out, Poitrenaud in and a change of position with Traille moving to 1st centre...settled is definately the word to describe this team. And, outside of Guirado and Chabal, their bench is top quality and would easily be good enough to start for Ireland.

I expect a better performance from last week, but saying that I fully expect France to blow us off the park, leading by 20+points around the 55min mark before Lievremont makes whole-sale changes. Ireland may then go on to scoring a few soft tries leaving a more flattering score on the board. My prediction would be 37-22 French win.

I really don't see france that pretty... i'd like to be that confident but i don't really see the big harm in the back line apart from Medard and poitrenaud ... Traille - Rougerie is nothing quick and D'Arcy - O'Driscoll have something to do around them.

ebbsy

pappyodaniel wrote: »

It's a really settled pack Lievremont has picked, probably the best he could have chosen. Destructive scrummagers, big ball carriers, lineout specialists and link-men. I think our pack is in for a torrid time. I'm really hoping we have at least one fit player between Ferris and Heaslip. I shudder to think what Mas will do Healy. Outside the pack they are very strong, the only change I can see is Mermoz out, Poitrenaud in and a change of position with Traille moving to 1st centre...settled is definately the word to describe this team. And, outside of Guirado and Chabal, their bench is top quality and would easily be good enough to start for Ireland.

I expect a better performance from last week, but saying that I fully expect France to blow us off the park, leading by 20+points around the 55min mark before Lievremont makes whole-sale changes. Ireland may then go on to scoring a few soft tries leaving a more flattering score on the board. My prediction would be 37-22 French win.

You are probably not far off the mark there. Everything comes in cycles and our golden cycle is coming to an end in my view. Problem with France is that when they are on fire no team in the world can live with them.

Sangre

ebbsy wrote: »

You are probably not far off the mark there. Everything comes in cycles and our golden cycle is coming to an end in my view. Problem with France is that when they are on fire no team in the world can live with them.

I think any SH team would have put France to the sword if they had played against them over the weekend.

Now I agree that France do look impressive, particularly the pack and the set pieces but, as Boarhunter has said, this isn't their most creative backline.

However, the biggest thing people seem to be forgetting is that France missed TWENTY-FIVE tackles against Scotland, who are a pretty average team in attack. This wasn't just in the last 10 minutes or following the substitutions, France were falling off tackles through-out the game. I don't think any team, no matter who they are, can expect to compete against the top teams after missing that many tackles and expect to win. If France had missed that many tackles against New Zealand they would have been hammered.

Of course, all that being said and done, this is still a very good French team and I would have them as favourites against Ireland however, not by as big a margin as some people are talking about! This is still very much an unfinished team.

BoarHunter

I so would like to see Florian Fritz instead of Rougerie ... well he's banned until monday after his red in Hcup so he couldn't have played anyway.

ShamoBuc

pappyodaniel wrote: »

I expect a better performance from last week, but saying that I fully expect France to blow us off the park, leading by 20+points around the 55min mark before Lievremont makes whole-sale changes. Ireland may then go on to scoring a few soft tries leaving a more flattering score on the board. My prediction would be 37-22 French win.

I couldn't agree with you more.
Ireland should of course improve from the Italian game - not hard - and a few changes - fitness depending in particular- should give us far more options. However, this is France. A team well capable of scoring from anywhere, while conceeding scores they shouldn't also.
Our problem is - as the history books clearly show - our record isn't exactly fantastic against them and I think we will perform well but still cough up enough scores to lose by 15.

cson

BoarHunter wrote: »

I really don't see france that pretty... i'd like to be that confident but i don't really see the big harm in the back line apart from Medard and poitrenaud ... Traille - Rougerie is nothing quick and D'Arcy - O'Driscoll have something to do around them.

You don't need the creativity in the backline tbh; the pack is going to steamroll us, we are going to be on the back foot from the first minute and after that all you need is the backline to finish it off. Your wingers will run in at least a try each as far as I'm concerned, Medard will likely get 2.

Some teams just have this thing over other teams and france generally tend to have it against us bar the very odd occasion. England have it over France @ Twickenham. Pretty odd phenonmen but that's the way it is I guess.

The 37-22 prediction is depressingly realistic.

profitius

I watched the first half. It finished 17 - 7. The Scots had most of the ball but the French counter attacked very quickly. They tried to play very fast and keep the ball alive as much as possible. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not.

Their first try was from a Scottish mistake. Scotland were also very predictable and got turned over alot. The French defended in a way that left gaps behind the defensive line. Ireland can take advantage of that if they're smart. Maybe France want teams to kick in behind them so they get a chance to counter attack.

The main difference was the scrum. Take that away and it would have been a very close half. Thats the thing I'm most concerned about. If Ireland can survive in the scrums then the game is there for the taking.

Like Boarhunter, I don't think Frances rugby was that good. They did handle better than Ireland did against Italy though!

Key man for France will be Servat. Probably the best hooker in the world.They've a few players who can make mistakes and they seem obsessed with the limited Traille and Trin-Duc blows hot and cold.

toomevara

profitius wrote: »

Key man for France will be Servat. Probably the best hooker in the world..

+1, an absolute genius.

cson

toomevara wrote: »

+1, an absolute genius.

Sound lad to boot too by all accounts; few mates of mine met him in Trevor Brennan's bar and stayed for a lock in.

Ciaran-Irl

toomevara wrote: »

Just be glad there's no mermoz!

Don't agree. Mermoz is an outside centre. Would have preferred him to Traille & Jauzion.

sock puppet

toomevara wrote: »

Now you can never fully write off the French capacity to implode, psychological fragility yada, yada yada, especially on an away day, but I 'd be massively, massively surprised if this weekend results in anything other than yet another French victory.

I don't agree with this at all (well other than a French victory:P). Imo the last time France played very well was in 2009 against New Zealand. Since then they haven't been all that good at all. They seem to have no creativity whatsoever. If we can stop their counter-attacks we should win. Easy eh?

I think the French will win because we'll play poorly rather than they'll play well. I can't see them serving up anything other than the usual.

duckysauce

sock puppet wrote: »

I don't agree with this at all (well other than a French victory:P). Imo the last time France played very well was in 2009 against New Zealand. Since then they haven't been all that good at all. They seem to have no creativity whatsoever. If we can stop their counter-attacks we should win. Easy eh?

I think the French will win because we'll play poorly rather than they'll play well. I can't see them serving up anything other than the usual.

french soup you don't know what you get , its what is that and then Jayuuus.

Come on Ireland RIP them a NEW ONE

thebaz

if he could , would this be lucky Deccy's starting 15

Kearney
Bowe
D'Arcy
Brian O'D.
Fitzgerald
O'Gara,
O'Leary
Court
Best
Hayes
O'Connell
O'Callaghan
Ferris
Heaslip
Wallace

perhaps his dream World cup winning team