France vs Ireland buildup

thomond2006

Picamoles has been recalled by France and Szarzewski is available after injury. 30 man squad is below.

Forwards:
Debaty, Domingo,
Guirado, Mach, Szarzewski,
Mas, Slimani,
Flanquart, Maestri, Papé, Vahaamahina,
Bruni, Lapandry, Lauret, Le Roux, Chouly, Picamoles.

Backs:
Doussain, Machenaud,
Plisson, Tales,
Bastareaud, Fickou, Lamerat, Mermoz,
Huget, Andreu, Médard, Bonneval, Dulin.

With Ireland's 49 points difference superiority over England it looks like it will just be about the win in Paris to take the championship!

Podge_irl

I'm not sure I've mentioned this on the board at any point, but I'll be there.

Pudsy33

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

Glad Parra hasn't been brought back in.

Fireball07

We will win comfortably imo.

Tox56

As if any other proof was needed the team that thrashed France just looked well off the pace against England, they're crap, as long as we don't get a RWC final repeat we should be winning this

Podge_irl

Pudsy33 wrote: »

Glad Parra hasn't been brought back in.

Surprised by that given the complete lack of control from the halfbacks for France.

[Jackass]

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

This will be a real measure of where this Ireland team is under Schmidt in his first year.

He's sort of got us into a strange position of all or nothing now. If we win the championship it will obviously be considered a massive success and will bring a real feel good factor back to Irish rugby, building on our last outing in November. If we lose, it will be a bit of a disappointment, we didn't show up like we expect in Twickenham and then if we lose to a reasonably poor French team I think there'll be massive deflation after the tournament.

It's a strange one. I think we'll do it, but this is a massive, massive test and will say a lot about us depending on how we perform.

We start with a 49 point head start on whatever score England manage against Italy, so England will need at least a 55+ point winning margin or so to bring points back into play and I think they'll give that target a real go, but I don't think Italy will allow it to happen. Probably will be something more like a 30 / 35 point margin for England I'd say which will make it irrelevant come kick off time in Paris.

Exciting climax. Can't wait.

danthefan

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

ZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBO

There's the Zebo quota for the thread done. Expect the same team with POM starting, that's it.

Fireball07

danthefan wrote: »

ZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBOZEBO

There's the Zebo quota for the thread done. Expect the same team with POM starting, that's it.

How about Tommy Bowe? :P


It doesn't matter what the team is, we're good enough to win.

CatFromHue

Fireball07 wrote: »

We will win comfortably imo.

Not many teams win comfortably in France. Since we last played there and drew they've

walloped Australia, Argentina, Tonga, and Italy (all by over 15pts)
beaten Samoa, Scotland, and England
narrowly lost to England (by 2)
and been beaten by Wales (by 10), NZ (by 7), and SA (by 9)

I'd be very very happy with just a win of any kind.

Podge_irl

I will be incredibly disappointed if we can't beat that France team. Nothing will ever convince me we aren't a significantly better team and if we fail to win there is something deeply wrong with the psyche of Irish players.

Fireball07

CatFromHue wrote: »

Not many teams win comfortably in France. Since we last played there and drew they've

walloped Australia, Argentina, Tonga, and Italy (all by over 15pts)
beaten Samoa, Scotland, and England
narrowly lost to England (by 2)
and been beaten by Wales (by 10), NZ (by 7), and SA (by 9)

I'd be very very happy with just a win of any kind.

But they're a shambles this season. I know they beat England, somehow, but bar a major improvement, they're simply not good enough to match us.

danthefan

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

Fireball07 wrote: »

How about Tommy Bowe? :P


It doesn't matter what the team is, we're good enough to win.

Bowe just didn't get enough games under his belt I think. Which is a pity because he's a class act.

thomond2006

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

If Bowe can promise a repeat performance of 2012 then he should be picked!

Swiwi.

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

I reckon this is THE defining game of Schmidt's tenure to date.

There is no excuse for a loss to the French with their form in the 6N.

It will be all in the head, if the players are as anyway spooked as the rest of ye.

jprender

Should be a really exciting game seeing as France will be trying to beat us by 40 points.

molloyjh

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

England will need to score 51+ points against Italy. In all reality Italy will score so England will need at least 60. They scored 57 in their first 3 games. So they'll need to score more points away to Italy than they did away to France and Scotland and home against us.

England are very good in a lot of ways but they haven't been scoring lots of tries. They're on 7 in 4 games. Italy will have Parisse back and are targeting this game. They're going to have a hard time catching us on points difference.

Swiwi.

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

molloyjh wrote: »

England will need to score 51+ points against Italy. In all reality Italy will score so England will need at least 60. They scored 57 in their first 3 games. So they'll need to score more points away to Italy than they did away to France and Scotland and home against us.

England are very good in a lot of ways but they haven't been scoring lots of tries. They're on 7 in 4 games. Italy will have Parisse back and are targeting this game. They're going to have a hard time catching us on points difference.

Let's not debate the points diff anymore!! England are good, but they are not a try-scoring machine.

Ireland need any sort of victory, and the 6N is in the bag.

danthefan

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

Swiwi. wrote: »

I reckon this is THE defining game of Schmidt's tenure to date.

There is no excuse for a loss to the French with their form in the 6N.

It will be all in the head, if the players are as anyway spooked as the rest of ye.

I don't really like that sort of talk because you need to see how they show up on the day. If they play like they did against Wales or Scotland and we go and play worse than that again, there's no excuse. If all their talented players show up on the day and play cohesive rugby at the top of their game (admittedly this is unlikely) then they could well beat us.

CatFromHue

Fireball07 wrote: »

But they're a shambles this season. I know they beat England, somehow, but bar a major improvement, they're simply not good enough to match us.

They've been a shambles for awhile really but in the game against England they were still losing going into the last few mins and scored a good try to win.

Hagz

Swiwi. wrote: »

There is no excuse for a loss to the French with their form in the 6N.

Except if we play well and they play better..

sydthebeat

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

France have only looked good when they feed off mistakes.

Of e keep our possession secure and cut down risky plays, we should grind them up and spit them out.

danthefan

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

On thing that's been hugely impressive has been our discipline. We give up so few kickable penalties. Need to keep that up.

Swiwi.

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

danthefan wrote: »

I don't really like that sort of talk because you need to see how they show up on the day. If they play like they did against Wales or Scotland and we go and play worse than that again, there's no excuse. If all their talented players show up on the day and play cohesive rugby at the top of their game (admittedly this is unlikely) then they could well beat us.

Hagz wrote: »

Except if we play well and they play better..

I see your point gentleman. But Ireland can control their destiny, rather than let France dictate play. I know France can pull games out of the hat, however I really don't see it under PSA. Ireland just need to make sure they start well, and get the home crowd whistling their own team.

Podge_irl

danthefan wrote: »

I don't really like that sort of talk because you need to see how they show up on the day. If they play like they did against Wales or Scotland and we go and play worse than that again, there's no excuse. If all their talented players show up on the day and play cohesive rugby at the top of their game (admittedly this is unlikely) then they could well beat us.

I see where you're coming from but ultimately Ireland are simply a better team than France at the moment. And I don't doubt the levels of our players individually either.

If we lose, to my mind, it will be similar to England losing all those GS games in the early 2000s. Yes the oppo will have played very well but it's still bloody weird that you lost.

molloyjh

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

Swiwi. wrote: »

Let's not debate the points diff anymore!! England are good, but they are not a try-scoring machine.

Ireland need any sort of victory, and the 6N is in the bag.

Or there's this more succinct version of what I wanted to say from Swiwi above...

I really think we'll win this. France have been beyond bad. Just look at Hoggs try yesterday, it was joke shop stuff. They are sure to be better at home and will have a bit of confidence after finally winning an away game. But I just can't see how they are going to beat us. As long as we don't play too loosely and retain possession well I've no idea how or where France can hurt us. Other than counter attacks from broken play and intercepts they've looked incredibly poor.

And we need to start being ok with saying these things. We need to be able to say we expect to win in Paris. Because for as long as we're afraid of saying it we're afraid of actually doing it. We don't deserve the trophy if we can't beat these guys. The only team that's beaten us this year has been one that's used an incredibly structured game that they executed very well. And they only beat us by a single score while we were a little off. How can a rabble like this French team, and they are just a rabble at this stage, manage it?

Swiwi.

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

molloyjh wrote: »

Or there's this more succinct version of what I wanted to say from Swiwi above...

I really think we'll win this. France have been beyond bad. Just look at Hoggs try yesterday, it was joke shop stuff. They are sure to be better at home and will have a bit of confidence after finally winning an away game. But I just can't see how they are going to beat us. As long as we don't play too loosely and retain possession well I've no idea how or where France can hurt us. Other than counter attacks from broken play and intercepts they've looked incredibly poor.

And we need to start being ok with saying these things. We need to be able to say we expect to win in Paris. Because for as long as we're afraid of saying it we're afraid of actually doing it. We don't deserve the trophy if we can't beat these guys. The only team that's beaten us this year has been one that's used an incredibly structured game that they executed very well. And they only beat us by a single score while we were a little off. How can a rabble like this French team, and they are just a rabble at this stage, manage it?

No Dusautoir. No Lamaison. No Dominici. No Michalak (on a good day). They have that horribly ponderous scrumhalf and Plisson in the halves, the not remotely subtle tank in the midfield, and a pretty average tight 5.

BeardySi

France are playing to win the 6N for England... That has to give us a psychological edge - much better that than they were playing with everything to lose... Next weekend will be huge, can't wait!

Prawo_Jazdy

It's just been confirmed that Zebo will be the referee for next week's game against france

Eod100

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

Swiwi. wrote: »

Let's not debate the points diff anymore!! England are good, but they are not a try-scoring machine.

Ireland need any sort of victory, and the 6N is in the bag.

England could score 7 tries matching Ireland's, get all the conversions and get a penalty or 2 and keep Italy on zero. Hopefully they won't but not beyond the bounds of possibility. Don't see Italy scoring a try vs England but they'll prob get a penalty or 2. Think Ireland will win overall if they beat France though.

Swiwi.

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

Eod100 wrote: »

England could score 7 tries matching Ireland's, get all the conversions and get a penalty or 2 and keep Italy on zero. Hopefully they won't but not beyond the bounds of possibility. Don't see Italy scoring a try vs England but they'll prob get a penalty or 2. Think Ireland will win overall if they beat France though.

Italy in Rome are actually pretty decent. Maybe at Twickenham.

Red Pepper

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

Swiwi. wrote: »

Italy in Rome are actually pretty decent. Maybe at Twickenham.

Will Parisse/Castro start?

Red Pepper

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

danthefan wrote: »

On thing that's been hugely impressive has been our discipline. We give up so few kickable penalties. Need to keep that up.

France not too hot at kicking them either so even better.

MayoSalmon

Swiwi. wrote: »

There is no excuse for a loss to the French with their form in the 6N.

:rolleyes::rolleyes:

The Irish have to be some of the most delusional sports fans in the world

Tox56

MayoSalmon wrote: »

:rolleyes::rolleyes:

The Irish have to be some of the most delusional sports fans in the world

Lol :pac:

Swiwi.

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

MayoSalmon wrote: »

:rolleyes::rolleyes:

The Irish have to be some of the most delusional sports fans in the world

I'm now an honorary Irishman. Nice :pac:

Red Pepper

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

Swiwi. wrote: »

There is no excuse for a loss to the French with their form in the 6N.

France 10/11 v Ireland 10/11

Agree with PP, it could go either way.

Fireball07

Swiwi. wrote: »

I'm now an honorary Irishman. Nice :pac:

Our delusion as supporters is only surpassed by the Kiwis, you know

Pudsy33

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

MayoSalmon wrote: »

:rolleyes::rolleyes:

The Irish have to be some of the most delusional sports fans in the world

Have you watched France at all?

bilston

Fireball07 wrote: »

It doesn't matter what the team is, we're good enough to win.

It's matters a bit!

phog

All we need is a win, can't see England passing us out on PD.

England must be kicking themselves for that 80th main loss in Paris, it's their GS gone.

Fireball07

bilston wrote: »

It's matters a bit!

Within reason obviously :P


But I really can't see us losing, bar a miracle French performance or some if all our team got sick or decided not to tackle on the day or something.

MayoSalmon

Pudsy33 wrote: »

Have you watched France at all?

France is France...they got to the World Cup final playing worse rugby and arguably should of won.

Form goes right out the window when they decide they want to play

phog

jprender wrote: »

Should be a really exciting game seeing as France will be trying to beat us by 40 points.

If England beat Italy then France can kiss their 6Ns goodbye unless Ireland choke.

Hagz

Points difference doesn't matter in my opinion. England have only ever beaten Italy by more than 49 points once, in 2001, in Twickenham. Italy are a damn sight better than they were back in 2001. If England somehow manage to get more than 49 points, they deserve the championship.

Fireball07

MayoSalmon wrote: »

France is France...they got to the World Cup final playing worse rugby and arguably should of won.

Form goes right out the window when they decide they want to play

It wasn't worse rugby.


And who says they'll want to play? As ROG has been saying, they don't have the structure in their game, PSA is a terrible coach and if we play a solid, structured game, we should win.

Red Pepper

Dimitri Szarzewski's impeccable head of hair

MayoSalmon wrote: »

France is France...they got to the World Cup final playing worse rugby and arguably should of won.

Absolutely, they would have won that final only the ref (Joubert) had been too afraid to allow NZ lose.

corny

Apply regimental structure to the game (bit like England did against us last year) and the French will crumble badly.

PSA is the antithesis of JS. Schmidt will prepare a game plan that will see every player know his job at all times. France look confused calling a set piece move, SA is that poor a coach.

Honest objective opinion.... only one winner.

MayoSalmon

Fireball07 wrote: »

It wasn't worse rugby.


And who says they'll want to play? As ROG has been saying, they don't have the structure in their game, PSA is a terrible coach and if we play a solid, structured game, we should win.

Yes it was...there loss to Tonga was pathetic and there were also dire against Wales in the semi.

I am not saying they will but you need to throw the form book out when it comes to games like this against France.

Reminds me of the 2003 WC Quarter Final...we had the better team and form coming into the game losing to Australia only by a point in the group. There was huge optimism from the media and country alike.....Alas we got a right battering by them.

Podge_irl

France are useless.

They might pull it out of the fire for the Ireland game (and even if they did I would consider it a 50/50 game) but so far they are abject, rudderless and disinterested.

They're crap.

Podge_irl

MayoSalmon wrote: »

Reminds me of the 2003 WC Quarter Final...we had the better team and form coming into the game losing to Australia only by a point in the group. There was huge optimism from the media and country alike.....Alas we got a right battering by them.

The 2003 RWC were France's smallest winning margin in the pool stages was 22 points?