RWC '15: Pool D General Chat [FRA/IRE/ITA/CAN/ROM]

.ak

Pool of Potential Glory

Some say it's an easy group for Ireland, others say it's littered with banana skins, some even say France and Italy will prove too much for little old Ireland. The way the pool is drawn really suits both Ireland and France, allowing them potentially easy games before what could be a decider at the end of the pool on October 11th... Ofcourse Italy will have something to say about that, and it will surely depend on, you guessed it, which France decides to turn up. One thing's for sure; nothing is true, everything is permitted, and the pool is certainly not a fait accompli...

Prediction:
Gerry Thornley


Fixtures:
Date | Teams | Venue

19 September |Ireland v Canada |Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
19 September |France v Italy |Twickenham Stadium, London
23 September |France v Romania |Olympic Stadium, London
26 September |Italy v Canada |Elland Road, Leeds
27 September |Ireland v Romania |Wembley Stadium, London
1 October |France v Canada |Stadium mk, Milton Keynes
4 October |Ireland v Italy |Olympic Stadium, London
6 October |Canada v Romania |Leicester City Stadium, Leicester
11 October |Italy v Romania |Sandy Park, Exeter
11 October |France v Ireland |Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Scythica

Just realised we have the same amount of games in Cardiff as Wales do... and they have their "easy games" there.

Well played RFU.

I'm terrified to make a prediction but I'm going to 3 of the matches and it'd be nice if we won those

Zzippy

I'm very worried about France. People assuming we'll beat them just because that's the trend of recent history is very shortsighted. In the last 4 years we've drawn twice with them, and beaten them twice by a combined margin of 9 whole points. We haven't beaten them by more than a score in a long time. IMO there is very little between the teams on a given day. France at a WC are a different animal, instead of a normal 6N with the French clubs limiting their players' time with the national squad, they've now had 2/3 months together and will be a much more cohesive unit.

.ak

I agree Zzippy... However the whole France in the WC are a different animal thing puzzles me a bit... Surely 2011 is a brilliant example of how that's not strictly true. They were awful in the pool stages, stuttered against England, scrapped past a 14 man Wales, and whilst playing brilliantly in the final I don't think they deserved to be there, and certainly had the opportunity to close the game out but messed it up several times.

dub_skav

Zzippy wrote: »

France at a WC are a different animal, instead of a normal 6N with the French clubs limiting their players' time with the national squad, they've now had 2/3 months together and will be a much more cohesive unit.

Or, you could say they've had 2/3 months undiluted St Andre without frequent breaks back to the sanity of their coaches at club level.

crisco10

amazing stat for me is that france have gotten to 6 semi finals and 3 finals in the 7 tournaments to date. That is the same record as the All Blacks. France just havent converted their final appearances into championships.

France are a good world cup team. NO doubt about it. Ireland record against France at World Cups consists of 3 hammerings, 1995 (36-12), 2003 (43-21) and 2007 (25-3).*

So absolutely agree that this group is far from a fait d'accompli




*thank god for the internet.

Huntergonzo

I hate saying it but I actually think France will top the group, they have a tradition of playing well at the RWC and they're notoriously hard to gauge, one day France could go out and blitz NZ the next they're losing to the likes of Tonga. Having said that if we can stay relatively injury free then we're definitely in with a shout of topping the Pool.

We really have to try and make a mark at the RWC this year, we've come on immensely over the last 10-15 years but the 2 big failures of Irish rugby remain = 1) beating New Zealand, 2) win a KO game at the RWC, wouldn't it be great to do both this year....a lad can dream :-)

crisco10

Huntergonzo wrote: »

I hate saying it but I actually think France will top the group, they have a tradition of playing well at the RWC and they're notoriously hard to gauge, one day France could go out and blitz NZ the next they're losing to the likes of Tonga. Having said that if we can stay relatively injury free then we're definitely in with a shout of topping the Pool.

We really have to try and make a mark at the RWC this year, we've come on immensely over the last 10-15 years but the 2 big failures of Irish rugby remain = 1) beating New Zealand, 2) win a KO game at the RWC, wouldn't it be great to do both this year....a lad can dream :-)

If we lose to France, but beat Italy, we will need to do both those things at the same time to get to a semi final.

Huntergonzo

crisco10 wrote: »

If we lose to France, but beat Italy, we will need to do both those things at the same time to get to a semi final.

I know and even though it would be great to kill those 2 birds with one stone I'd still far rather we win the pool and avoid NZ till a later stage. But then again any team with ambitions of winning must face the top sides eventually, can't hide forever.

Akrasia

Zzippy wrote: »

I'm very worried about France. People assuming we'll beat them just because that's the trend of recent history is very shortsighted. In the last 4 years we've drawn twice with them, and beaten them twice by a combined margin of 9 whole points. We haven't beaten them by more than a score in a long time. IMO there is very little between the teams on a given day. France at a WC are a different animal, instead of a normal 6N with the French clubs limiting their players' time with the national squad, they've now had 2/3 months together and will be a much more cohesive unit.

France always seem to bring their A game when they play Ireland. They can be absolutely woeful against other teams, like Italy or Wales, but they tend to play well against us. the last 7 times we played there was only one score between us at the final whistle including 2 draws

But, the game is still there for Ireland to lose. If we play to our full potential France aren't good enough to beat us.

vienne86

Zzippy wrote: »

I'm very worried about France. People assuming we'll beat them just because that's the trend of recent history is very shortsighted. In the last 4 years we've drawn twice with them, and beaten them twice by a combined margin of 9 whole points. We haven't beaten them by more than a score in a long time. IMO there is very little between the teams on a given day. France at a WC are a different animal, instead of a normal 6N with the French clubs limiting their players' time with the national squad, they've now had 2/3 months together and will be a much more cohesive unit.

Me too. We have done well against them of late. But they have a great squad - they are just so fickle.

.ak

vienne86 wrote: »

Me too. We have done well against them of late. But they have a great squad - they are just so fickle fickou.

Glaring pun opportunity missed.

Zzippy

.ak wrote: »

Glaring pun opportunity missed.

Smart bastareaud, aren't ya!

total former

French team named to play Italy. I'd be nervous enough about Ireland running out against this XV.

1. Eddy Ben Arous
2. Guilhem Guirado
3. Rabah Slimani
4. Pascal Pape
5. Yoann Maestri
6. Thierry Dusautoir (captain)
7. Damien Chouly
8. Louis Picamoles
9. Sebastien Tillous-Borde
10. Frederic Michalak
11. Noa Nakaitaci
12. Alexandre Dumoulin
13. Mathieu Bastareaud
14. Yoann Huget
15. Scott Spedding

Replacements:
16. Benjamin Kayser
17. Vincent Debaty
18. Nicolas Mas
19. Bernard Le Roux
20. Alexandre Flanquart
21. Morgan Parra
22. Remi Tales
23. Gael Fickou

.ak

Well they have their best halfbacks on the bench so I'd be alright with that.

rrpc

.ak wrote: »

Well they have their best halfbacks on the bench so I'd be alright with that.

Don't worry, they'll get it right for us no doubt. :eek:

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Sounds awful, I know, but maybe they'll pick up a few knocks before they get to us. Obviously Paulie's Padre Pio in his sock will protect us from doing the same.

hype101

Cave (read McCloskey) comes into the starting 15 at 12.. Rob Kearney's knee is still a touch sore and, still shaky over Zebs, JS opts to shift Payne to fullback.. Henshaw moves to his natural position at 13.. Ireland destroy Canada with a triple-figure score, instigated by McCloskey powering through lumberjack-beardered defenders at will and feeding Henshaw who is running lines to die for.. Payne chips in - "thank f*** we have a fullback who can counterattack," everyone thinks.. McCloskey's giving new meaning to the term 'bolter'.. Even the mascot, an actual grizzly bear, doesn't fancy a piece of em.. Sexton finally has something to really wrap-around.. With the Canadian defence refocused on the midfield in the second half the ball goes wide to the wings where Bowe cuts lose and finds some form.. "We've finally found a 12," the RTE (TV3) panel declare.

Not wanting to rock the boat in light of Ireland's newfound stinging attack, JS sticks with the same 15 for the next games, summarily dismissing Romania and Italy.. Right on cue, the French are embrollied in a Crimson Tide-like mutiny after an underwhelming one point victory over Italy after which PSA called everyone s***.. "Jeez, Darcy's chucked on a few pounds!" Fofana says to himself at they take their positions.. Confused by the conflicting tactics coming from PSA and the rebelling cabal of senior players, France can't cope with Ireland's new attack and we run out three-score winners.. Ian Madigan comes on at 9 for game-time.. Stephen Jones lauds Ireland as 'the new frontier' in terms of attacking play.. Neil Francis manages to write an article which doesn't insult someone.. Ireland for the RWC!

Then I woke up - Was dreaming nicely until I realised that Cave (read McCloskey) was only coming into the 15 because Henshaw's injured.

Flipper22

hype101 wrote: »

Right on cue, the French are embrollied in a Crimson Tide-like mutiny after an underwhelming one point victory over Italy after which PSA called everyone s***..

This would do nicely.... I could see it happening too! They seem to hate Croydon anyway. 'J'habite un dump', someone tweeted :pac::pac:

SteelyDanJalapeno

I'd take a France with Parra wasting away on the bench all day

Losty Dublin

crisco10 wrote: »

amazing stat for me is that france have gotten to 6 semi finals and 3 finals in the 7 tournaments to date. That is the same record as the All Blacks. France just havent converted their final appearances into championships.

France are a good world cup team. NO doubt about it. Ireland record against France at World Cups consists of 3 hammerings, 1995 (36-12), 2003 (43-21) and 2007 (25-3).*

.

They aren't called the surrender monkeys over just WW2, you know :-)

Stheno

Flipper22 wrote: »

This would do nicely.... I could see it happening too! They seem to hate Croydon anyway. 'J'habite un dump', someone tweeted :pac::pac:

Another was apparently whinging about lack of sleep due to the hotel being noisy

PTH2009

if we lose to france and beat Italy and the rest of course it will be a qf with the all blacks (if they top group c) and that will be some occasion.

super sunday the 11th oct cant wait for it

Hermy

.ak wrote: »

...which France decides to turn up...

What Ireland team do people think will turn up?

- the team that on it's day can put the best of the southern hemisphere to the sword

- the team that struggle to make light work of the weaker sides in the group stage

- or the team that grinds out wins as we've done in recent Six Nations

Grinding out the wins is fine if it gets results but what about the intensity of the All Blacks game in 2013? I suppose that's what we'd all like to see but is it possible or likely?

.ak

Hermy wrote: »

What Ireland team do people think will turn up?

- the team that on it's day can put the best of the southern hemisphere to the sword

- the team that struggle to make light work of the weaker sides in the group stage

- or the team that grinds out wins as we've done in recent Six Nations

Grinding out the wins is fine if it gets results but what about the intensity of the All Blacks game in 2013? I suppose that's what we'd all like to see but is it possible or likely?

I was only thinking about this yesterday, probably because I wrote the above part and it made me think... Before Joe we used to be wildly inconsistent. I think the 'which team will turn up phrase' actually applied to us more than anyone, we had so many 'false dawns' in November tests only to fail miserably at 6n. It was soul destroying.

What Joe has brought has been consistency. Sure, we might never have played at the intensity we did against NZ but then against I'm sure Joe will look at that game and realize we lost, no matter how well we played, so something had to change. Intensity was great, but why couldn't we close the game out? A cold analytical view was required there.

We've just won 6Ns, back to back, and not by grinding out wins, we were utterly dominant against France and England this year, apart from a purple patch from France.

Let that sink in. Back to back 6n championships... When I was growing up watching us get hockeyed by France every year, us as plucky underdogs every year, if you were to tell me we'd be back to back 6n champs I'd have laughed at you.

We didn't win the championship twice by being wildly inconsistent. It's the complete opposite. We've been incredibly consistent under Schmidt. Our ethos, values, and professionalism is something that never existed in our environment before.

People may seem to think there's a variation in intensity levels, but for me there isn't, just different approaches to different game plans.

So me I think we'll look to build on that consistency on the back of the 6n (and not the warmups). The guys will be going into each game as 6n champs, and they'll remind themselves of that and that they have to play to a standard expected of them.

Akrasia

.ak wrote: »

Before Joe we used to be wildly inconsistent.

We need an acronym to refer to the pre Joe Schmidt era in Irish international rugby

I don't think 'BJ' or 'BS' are appropriate for some reason.

.ak

I think those two acronyms are already taken....

Hermy

This is also the Joe before the World Cup era.

Joe's influence on the team has been massive but now we get to see how that translates on the biggest stage.
I'm sure it's gonna be great but then the what ifs start to creep in...

rrpc

Hermy wrote: »

This is also the Joe before the World Cup era.

Joe's influence on the team has been massive but now we get to see how that translates on the biggest stage.
I'm sure it's gonna be great but then the what ifs start to creep in...

This is also the first time that Joe has had (and will have) unlimited access to the players for a protracted period of time. Much is made of the fact that France always perform better at World Cups because they stay in camp for the entire period and the squad size is limited to 31. The same has to be true for us.

thomond2006

Remy Grosso has been called up as Yoann Huget's replacement.

total former

Not surprisingly, France have changed nearly everyone for their game against Romania. Fofana is back from injury, le Roux is named at lock as France only have three locks in the squad.

Dulin; Guitoune, Fickou, Fofana, Nakaitaci; Tales, Parra; Debaty, Szarzewski, Atonio, Le Roux, Flanquart, Nyanga, Ouedraogo, Picamoles.

Replacements: Kayser, Ben Arous, Mas, Maestri, Chouly, Kockott, Michalak, Bastareaud.

.ak

That's a pacey looking French squad. Should rack up a serious score.

I actually think under a different coach that'd be closer to their 1st choice! Outrageous options.

Is Tales likely to kick or will it be Parra?

.ak

Deleted User wrote: »

Is Tales likely to kick or will it be Parra?

I'd say Parra, or both, but don't come hunting me because you suck at fantasy rugby. :pac:

.ak

.ak wrote: »

I'd say Parra, or both, but don't come hunting me because you suck at fantasy rugby. :pac:

It has nothing to do with fantasy rugby. Just some other thing, that is going to be stuff.

stadedublinois

.ak wrote: »

I'd say Parra, or both, but don't come hunting me because you suck at fantasy rugby. :pac:

Most likely Parra. Talès isn't really a place kicker. PSA named Michalak, Parra and Kockott as his kickers when announcing the squad.

Ceadog

Risky starting Le Roux in the second row. The Romanian scrum is very good and it seems a big risk not to have the bulk and scrummaging expertise of a specialist in the engine room.

.ak

Updated OP with current standings

thomond2006

Tough deal for Romania: They play France on Wednesday and Ireland on Sunday.

.ak

thomond2006 wrote: »

Tough deal for Romania: They play France on Wednesday and Ireland on Sunday.

Imagine they beat us both!

rrpc

thomond2006 wrote: »

Tough deal for Romania: They play France on Wednesday and Ireland on Sunday.

There's a fair bit of that every world cup. The minnows generally get a poor shake of the match schedule.

However NZ have another match on Thursday and although you'd feel for Romania, France are in much the same boat having just played on Sunday, so it's not all minnows.

total former

rrpc wrote: »

There's a fair bit of that every world cup. The minnows generally get a poor shake of the match schedule.

However NZ have another match on Thursday and although you'd feel for Romania, France are in much the same boat having just played on Sunday, so it's not all minnows.

Yeah, most teams have some element of this in their schedule, Ireland and England are really the only exceptions.

bilston

Any chance Romania could take Italy? That would throw the cat amongst the pigeons regarding the promotion/relegation debate for the 6Ns if it happened.

The Lost Sheep

bilston wrote: »

Any chance Romania could take Italy? That would throw the cat amongst the pigeons regarding the promotion/relegation debate for the 6Ns if it happened.

Not really with the way the fixtures are laid out for each side. Romania play France tomorrow and then us Sunday then 9 days off then 2 games in 5 days while Italy have a game a week
Don't think Romania would be good enough anyway.

.ak

bilston wrote: »

Any chance Romania could take Italy? That would throw the cat amongst the pigeons regarding the promotion/relegation debate for the 6Ns if it happened.

The France game will be really interesting tomorrow.

Romania have been cat. Our emerging squad demolish them yearly. But I really know nothing about their squad, if the guys the emerging squad play are B-side or not... Or are they pulled together a few days before each game or what.

The Lost Sheep

.ak wrote: »

The France game will be really interesting tomorrow.

Romania have been cat. Our emerging squad demolish them yearly. But I really know nothing about their squad, if the guys the emerging squad play are B-side or not... Or are they pulled together a few days before each game or what.

The Romanian side our emerging side is far from their test team. More like an A team.

Stheno

Romania only have a total of something like 34 players to choose from for their squad and they literally have twice as many forwards as backs.

matthew8

You wouldn't rule anything out at this world cup and Italy were a complete shambles against France. That was their big game and they really went out with a whimper. The 2 sides met in 2007 and Italy won 24-18.

matthew8

matthew8 wrote: »

You wouldn't rule anything out at this world cup and Italy were a complete shambles against France. That was their big game and they really went out with a whimper. The 2 sides met in 2007 and Italy won 24-18.

I'd say Italy could very much be targeting us as their big game so wouldn't necessarily jump to that conclusion.

Unless Italy have a collapse in form they should beat both teams. I suspect both France and ourselves will absolutely destroy Romania by 40+ and I wouldn't think that way about Italy. We already put 50 past Canada so I can't see anything other than two wins for Italy here.

Italy have a better chance of toppling us than Romania do of toppling them. Well.. maybe similar odds.

efb

Come on Romania!!! 🇷🇴

My bf just scored a pen for France 🇫🇷

efb

So alone????

Hello? Hello? Euro Itchy and Scratchy land!

My children need wine!!!