Match preview & thread: FRA vs IRE (Sat Feb 3, 1645)

mangobob

iroced wrote: »

Long time I haven't posted in here...

Just wanted to say: thank you thank you thank you Mister Jonathan Sexton !


I'm rooting and hoping for a 5 defeats campaign for Les Bleus after Bernard Laporte and Serge Simon Machfiavelian behaviour.

I was full of hope when he became president of the FFR despite knowing his politician side. But oh dear I wasn't expecting this :mad:. He has so much saucepans hanging down his arse he can't even sit :rolleyes:. Excuse my French think it means he's having many skeletons in the closet.

Anyway, he's done nothing for reforming French rugby so far but yeah he signed contracts and used lobbies to get the WC at home :rolleyes:. And he fired Novès to make it a premiere and disgustingly put all the blame on him for our bad results :eek: :mad:. Lièvremont failed but made the WC final with a misunderstanding. Saint André failed. Novès failed. And no one ever questions above? The seats are too comfortable right?! A federation full of "elephants" (both sense). Laporte was supposed to change that. With Serge Simon in control from behind he managed to do worse! That is quite some achievement.

So c'mon Scotland! C'mon Italy! C'mon England! And c'mon Wales! Ireland showed you the way. I feel deeply sorry for our players who do not deserve it but if we want to improve one day, we ab-so-lu-te-ly NEED the wooden spoon this year to stoip this farcically corrupted presidency! Making money while in charge! Bravo Bernard Simon or Serge Laporte! You make me vomit!

Why dont you stop beating around the bush and tell us what you really think Iroced :P

P.s. Too many saucepans hanging down ones arse...thats genius. It makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever, but its genius nonetheless.

Neil3030

I always thought that guy was French.

Turns out, he's Eddie O'Sullivan

Neil3030

joseywhales

Joslyn Tender Sucker wrote: »

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Ok so I love the optimism of Irish fans but really some of the posts on here are deluded. How many times have we won in France?

I don't really care how many times we've won in France. When you look at the players we had out on the pitch, a team full of extremely talented players who have been performing for their provinces, the team did not show up as the sum of its parts. I find that a bit disappointing. We can be much better than that.

I think our team is better managed but I think they might edge it in terms of player talent.
I don't think our players are more talented than the french players.
The u-20 six nations shows me that they outperform us consistently at that level, it should be a good proxy for the talent of the players a few years later over a 10 year moving average.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Nations_Under_20s_Championship

mfceiling

Neil3030 wrote: »

I always thought that guy was French.

Turns out, he's Eddie O'Sullivan

Every Tuesday morning my mate will start the morning conversation (after both of us listening to the repeat of Monday night rugby on newstalk) with "what the fcuk was O'Sullivan on about earlier?

Neil3030

mfceiling wrote: »

Every Tuesday morning my mate will start the morning conversation (after both of us listening to the repeat of Monday night rugby on newstalk) with "what the fcuk was O'Sullivan on about earlier?

And now one of you can PM iroced directly and find out!

iroced

Neil3030 wrote: »

And now one of you can PM iroced directly and find out!

Héhé :pac:... Nah I'm just a completely blasé rugby amateur who can only look at his national side (well the people in charge of it) digging deeper and deeper years after years. Maybe they think they'll find oil at some point :rolleyes:...

On Sunday in Murrayfield, it'll be 330 days since the last time we won a game :rolleyes: :pac:.

During that time, Laporte accumulated his infamous saucepans down his arse (don't you say skeletons in the closet in english?). Well he's compromised in some suspicious affairs e.g. the Les Bleus jersey sponsorship contract with Mohed Altrad, Montpellier's president, who was everything but clear ; some private contract with Altrad too ; his personal intervention to reduce some penalties Montpellier should have paid/undergone... That "mess" lead to the FFR being subject to a prequisition when Les Bleus were preparing for the 6 Nations. What a farce ?! It there weren't many millions of euros involved it could actually be funny...

jacothelad

irishbucsfan wrote: »

Can someone please explain this metaphor, its... beautiful

Is it 'shyt or get off the pot.'......:D

Neil3030

I consulted with a French friend, and apparently the reason for the saucepan idiom, is that it's impossible to walk around with a load of pots hanging out of your arse without them making a tonne of noise. So despite them being behind you, and hidden from view, they will eventually be discovered by people.

To be honest, that makes an annoying amount of sense, I was hoping it'd be a bit more bonkers.

prawnsambo

I think this isn't appreciated enough. Earls was one of the standouts of this game for me anyway.

salmocab

prawnsambo wrote: »

I think this isn't appreciated enough. Earls was one of the standouts of this game for me anyway[/IMG]

In fairness he pretty much always plays well.

Buer

Vakatawa was absolutely terrified to compete on that and risk a penalty.

prawnsambo

Buer wrote: »

Vakatawa was absolutely terrified to compete on that and risk a penalty.

Yeah, Earls was saying how it was perfectly placed for him as it was infield and he could see it all the way rather than trying to catch one coming over his head on the touchline where he'd be in danger of being pushed into touch.

lawred2

salmocab wrote: »

In fairness he pretty much always plays well.

one lad on here said Earl's position was under threat

lolz

prawnsambo

lawred2 wrote: »

one lad on here said Earl's position was under threat

lolz

Well you'd hope that we're in a place where everyone's position was under threat.

MJohnston

Under threat? No. Not guaranteed? Yes.

thomond2006

It's pretty close to guaranteed. He's in the form of his life and Schmidt has always selected him when fit.

It's more likely that I'll start the next match for Ireland* than Earls won't.

* if it was anyone other than Italy, guess he could be rotated, but he'd be straight back in for the next match.

Buer

I would say Earls is in the second group of players behind the halfbacks, Best and Furlong as someone that can expect to be named in the team every time. Henshaw, Henderson and Stander would probably be in the same group from those who played against France.

It would be a shock if any of them were dropped.

lawred2

MJohnston wrote: »

Under threat? No. Not guaranteed? Yes.

Under threat? No. Guaranteed? Yes.

MJohnston

lawred2 wrote: »

Under threat? No. Guaranteed? Yes.

Well done on creating a logical paradox. I disagree that anyone's position in the XV is guaranteed, but there's nobody even vaguely close to Earls, so it's a moot point.

lawred2

MJohnston wrote: »

Well done on creating a logical paradox. I disagree that anyone's position in the XV is guaranteed, but there's nobody even vaguely close to Earls, so it's a moot point.

obviously no one person's position in the team should be perpetually guaranteed.

But based on what we know right now - Earls' position in the team, without some major cataclysmic occurrence, is as good as guaranteed for the next match.

Jaysis some people really like to tie themselves up in exactness

Earls isn't going to be 'dropped'. He might get injured or he might get a rest but he isn't going to be dropped.

No one with a similar level of experience is playing anywhere as well this season. He's one of the first 5 names down on the team sheet.

MJohnston

lawred2 wrote: »

Jaysis some people really like to tie themselves up in exactness

Eh, you're the one who replied quoting and "correcting" my post!

AbusesToilets

Earls is who he's always been, good in attack, questionable in defense. He's on a good streak of form and worth his spot.

Faugheen

Buer wrote: »

I would say Earls is in the second group of players behind the halfbacks, Best and Furlong as someone that can expect to be named in the team every time. Henshaw, Henderson and Stander would probably be in the same group from those who played against France.

It would be a shock if any of them were dropped.

I wouldn't put Stander anywhere near there considering the depth of our back-rows.

Only back-row that would be in that bracket is Sean O'Brien I think. Stander isn't that much better than other options.

Jack Kanoff

Faugheen wrote: »

I wouldn't put Stander anywhere near there considering the depth of our back-rows.

Only back-row that would be in that bracket is Sean O'Brien I think. Stander isn't that much better than other options.

Best 8 by a country mile available to Joe.

Jack Kanoff

Jack Kanoff wrote: »

Best 8 by a country mile available to Joe.

Nah. Murray is the best 9 by a country mile and Sexton is the best 10. Furlong is the best 3 by a significant margin.

Stander maybe the best 8 but it's close. He's certainly not the best 8 at club level but may have the robustness and attitude that makes him that bit more top shelf at international level. If he got injured tomorrow and Conan played the remainder of the tournament, he could well have a job to get the 8 jersey back if Conan translates club form to International level.

Jordi Murphy plays 8 up in Ulster any great amount and who knows, he may sneak it!

Zzippy

Jack Kanoff wrote: »

Best 8 by a country mile available to Joe.

You know when you're somewhere out in the sticks and you see a signpost for the place you're looking for, and it says 8 miles. You follow that road for half a mile and see another signpost that says 5 miles. Is it one of those country miles?

errlloyd

Zzippy wrote: »

You know when you're somewhere out in the sticks and you see a signpost for the place you're looking for, and it says 8 miles. You follow that road for half a mile and see another signpost that says 5 miles. Is it one of those country miles?

If they're still waiting on the metric system they're very backward.