6N '25 Ireland v France Match Thread: Sat8th Mar 2:15 Farewell & Adieu to you POMs, Murrays & Healys

Maybe. Still won a triple crown even if maybe not in a wholly convincing manner.

prendergast was poor today but so were many others. We were well beaten.

our starting forwards were well outplayed and the bench made no difference.
But the biggest concern for me is that at positions 6 to 10 we were very very poor in both defence and attack, as bad as the 2019 WC QF.
when that happens you are on for a hammering.

prendergast should start against Italy , if he is considered the future by the management it would be wrong to drop him now.

The loss will overshadow what was yet another excellent performance from Doris. There were moments in that first half where he kept us in the game with turnovers in our own 22. He's the best 8 in the world right now and it's a shame we don't have more players if his consistency up front.

Porter, Sheehan and Beirne can all reach that level of performance but Doris backs it up game after game.

I genuinely wonder if its a confidence thing, like we don't back ourselves to go for the jugular so take the safe option which is keep it tight and hope we score…the irony being its not working and we are just wasting all our effort on nothing.

what game were you watching. I like Doris too, great player and seems like a sound chap but anonymous today.

I was watching the game where he won multiple turnovers in our half as France were heaping the pressure in our 22.

My player ratings for today's loss:

Keenan - 7. Solid and looked threatening in attack.

Osborne - 5. It's not his position. Needs to be played at 12 where he has a bright future ahead.

Henshaw - 7. Gave us go forward at times and tackled stoutly.

Aki - 5. Very quiet game. Well below par.

Nash - 3. YC aside he had a very poor game. Was at sea in defence.

Prendergast - 3. Will have better days. 2 lovely place kicks either side of half time punctuated a very poor performance. Kicking from hand was poor and was was off physically. Criminal intercept near the end.

JgP - 5. Struggled behind a retreating pack. Some loose kicks.

Doris - 8. Ireland's best player. Took it to the French physically and secured a few turnovers.

VdF - 5. Very subdued. Under pressure wlto make 1st 15 for the Lions.

POM - 6. Imperious in the lineout but couldn't make much impact in the loose. Got some classic sh*thousery in, crucially without being penalised.

Beirne - 6. Toiled hard but not to much avail. Struggled to make hay in the breakdown.

McCarthy - 2. Worst Irish player on the pitch today. Brain dead YC. Workrate in defence way off the mark. Believing the Big Joe hype and not delivering any of it.

Bealham- 6. Scrummaged very well. Worked hard in the loose without imposing himself.

Sheehan - 7. One over throw at lineout time but overall made very positive contributions.

Porter - 6. Scrummaged well but struggled a little in open play. Harshly penalised for a non existent block on Penaud.

Subs: Conan the pick of the bunch, carried well. Crowley good in defence but couldn't impact much in attack. Clarkson in trouble in the scrum. Murray tried to be greedy. Baird didn't make much impact and neither did Herring. Delighted for Healy to finish at home with a great try. Ryan should have started.

Our first choice 10 who is being afforded playing time not available to players in other positions at such a young age had a poor game and was exposed again. " He is only a young lad" "It is great experience for him" "Dan Carter wouldn't have won that game today" I would say fair enough if Sam was the only 10 available for selection, he is doing his best but we have a six nations winning 10 on the bench. Sam has been heralded by everyone in rugby as a world beater. That is why he is under such close scrutiny. I would say he is not the finished article and needs more bulk and experience.

Why dont the other players get as much stick? Osborne/ Nash started today. IMO Osborne played better than Nash. But these are our 3rd and 4th choice wingers. When fit Lowe Hansen will return. If Osborne was started ahead of Keenan today at fullback I would be more interested in his performance and critical when there is a debatable replacement on the bench.

When the other players have their hands full in a real competitive game they would like to turn around and see a confident 10 but for me he doesn't give off that aura. He still seems heavy footed and lacking game fitness.

He didn't lose the game for us today but he was a contributing factor. Would we have won if Jack had started? We will never know but we know for a fact we lost today with Sam at 10 .

"Everyone in rugby has heralded him a world beater..."

Have they? He's been noted as someone who's ceiling is likely very high but not sure who's called him a word beater, never mind "everyone".

We actually won both those 5 Nations. You have Triple Crown posters because rugby had this bizarre notion that league tables and trophies were "anti amateur".

Mod Edit

Warning issued,

that’s not true. He has been heralded as the new sexton and even some have said he will be better.
Many have said he will be lions starting 10.

I am not having a dig at him, I just think we should not try and rewrite the narrative that has been in play since the autumn internationals.

I agree. Everyone has a day off and Prendergast was having a day off from an early stage. This post is in no way a criticism of Prendergast. But after 30 minutes I wanted Crowley on. But the coaching staff had other ideas and yet none became visible.

The French were clearly the better team but honestly if you don't identify your weaknesses immediately then the game runs away from you

Mod Edit

Warning issued.

Except penaud jogged it home. So again I'm not sure what you point is