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

Give him game time as a start & off the bench in the 6N's...not blanket your the 10 & that's it

I'd love to know where the irish management would have crowley if he couldn't cover 12, Frawley prob back in the equation.

Prendergast is in as 10 & that's it...proof of the pudding will be the summer tour, he needs game time & should start all summer games....let's see if that happens

What's his success rate at goal kicking? Is it even 70%?

You.play him in the AIs which they did. You play him in the summer again.

Italy isn't a dead rubber. We have to go out a d assume the Scots will beat France. 5 points is a must

Nobody is going to 'assume' that Scotland will beat France, hope is the word.

so we are down to “well the coaches think Sam is better” and not that the fact he is a poor international 10.

I’m basing this off his 6N performances across all his matches, from multiple intercepts thrown to multiple missed kicks out of hand and at goal, to having no ball in hand threat, to being a poor tackler and defender.

If Jack Crowley had performed this poorly in four 6N games I would have expected him to be dropped.

I will always believe what I’m seeing with my own eyes and not what a journalist tells me I’ve seen.

I really don't care if the coaches think/knows Sam is the better of the two, it's the bit piece appearances that Jack is being given during the 6Ns that's somewhat annoying. Posters talk about building depth and ignore the time Jack has been allowed play at outhalf. How's that building depth.

Then cast your mind back to how Jack was held accountable by posters here for the NZ loss (a match we were winning when Jack was subbed off) and the outhalf yesterday escapes the same scrutiny.

And your suggestion is ??

McCarthy's was ridiculous (on his part). It was brain dead. It was almost akin to a slap in the face to his team mates. But, when I take a deep breath, it was obviously just a disastrous decision under pressure.

Professional sport is all about making the right decisions under pressure. McCarthy's superiority in other areas is undermined by his failure in this area. I would pick Ryan ahead of him.

Nash yellow card was much more unfortunate. He had dropped for the tackle & it was more absorbing than attacking. Had it been a pen only, I wouldn't have been overly surprised but I also concede that a yellow wasn't outrageous.

When you add 2 years onto all those ages for the next RWC I think we are in massive trouble already for that competition because there isn’t the time to develop the next crop of players with enough experience playing against teams that are in the top 5 in the world, and that’s before you question the actual desire of the mgt to do it.

The question is this - In 12 months we have gone from being 21 points better than France to 15 points worse than them. What players can we bring it that will turn that around? and what changes can we make that will make us RWC contenders because this side is on a downward trajectory currently.

Would Ireland have scored our two late tries if France hadn't already put 40 on us. Personally, I think France has switched off a bit and if you look at Shaun Edwards after the game, he also thinks France were a bit more passive in defence at that stage.

It was a humbling experience for our guys yesterday.

Aside from the first 15 minutes (we didn't score) and a score at either side of halftime it was all France

indeed, South Africa has the same problem, their team is even older than the irish one, that s why Erasmus has announced extra games for 2025 in order to shape a new team…

France are a joy to watch when playing at their best. We hoped the 7-1 split would cost them and it looked very like it when Dupont had to leave the pitch but they bringing on their bomb squad at around the same time as Nash's card showed us they meant business and played some excellent rugby.

Before the game if we were told they'd be without their best player, the world's top scrumhalf and a flanker playing in the centre we'd be talking about BP wins yet we still couldn't grab hold of the game in a period where that actually happened.

I was shot down after the World Cup for suggesting a lot of the players wouldn't make it to 2037 and there was a dire need to rebuild. If there was a bit more of a spread of ages then we could have dealt with it by evolution and it's nearly every position there is a question mark over.

How many of those U20 players have broken into the senior team to be a started within 5 years? Is it one?

While it might have been an idea in certain positions back then it’s most certainly a necessity in many positions now.

Props, 6, 7, 10, are all an issue currently, and midfield, is quickly becoming a problem with the age profile.

We need to realize we are possibly in a post Furlong era now. His days of being consistently available seem gone and his lack of game time is a problem now. If he gets back it’s hard to see him lasting long without another injury