The French are coming, you say? Jesus, Mary Joseph and the wee donkey.
Ireland vs France tomorrow is – in the view of many people – the match to decide the destination of the 6 Nations championship and put the winners on course for a Grand Slam. These are not so common in Irish rugby history to be sniffed at, so while other nations experiment with an eye on the autumn’s RWC, Ireland keep with the tried-and-tested and changes are very much enforced. Sheehan’s hard autumn and winter has finally caught up with him, so Herring gets a chance with the returning Kelleher looking over his shoulder. Bealham continues in place of Furlong.
Ireland had a nice tune up last week – as they say in GAA circles “to blow out the dirty petrol” in preparation for sucking diesel. The game vs Wales was won to all intents and purposes after 30 mins. Wales fought back after half time but Ireland – if not completely at ease – rode out the storm and closed the game out with a BP try. In many ways, reminiscent of Ireland’s trip to Paris in 2022: in command at half-time, France rode out Ireland’s 2nd half comeback and won comfortably enough.
France had a nasty scare last week and any complacency is probably now long dispelled – so we can assume no chance for Ireland to catch France cold. It could also be said that given the big changes in the Welsh panel that maybe the win last week wasn’t as impressive – did Gatland really decide to let this one go and give AWJ and Tipuric a farewell at home before making changes for the remainder of the tournament? Who knows? Maybe we overthink these things.
The big doubt about Ireland, expressed in many places, is that their “kryptonite” is a big pack. Leinster have come unstuck repeatedly against big packs (La Rochelle x 2 and Bulls) and the signing of Jason Jenkins was intended to give them a heavier presence. Ireland won out vs South Africa in the autumn, but they lucked out with SA’s choice of experimental halfbacks and no reliable kicker. So the jury remains out. Beirne and Ryan are not a traditional type of second-row pairing, and in many ways Beirne is something of a hybrid. Many would put him at 6, and have Henderson, who is more of a traditional second row – to bring heavyweight ballast. Of course, back row is where Ireland are pretty well stocked, so the question then becomes how to fit in a player with Beirne’s gifts into the team and not disturb a settled and effective backrow.
On the other games, Scotland followed last year’s win over England with a fairly dreadful performance against a Wales team that had been soundly defeated by Ireland – and here we are again. Lightning doesn’t strike twice, does it? Scottish fans will hope not and that they can build on the promise of last week. Huw Jones looks to back to the form of 2017/2018. Wales will be looking to start a bit quicker and maybe still be competitive at half-time. The regions had shown an upswing in the matches in the weeks running up to the 6N, notably the Ospreys in the Heino.
England vs Italy – England have tended to make hard work of this in recent years but they were forewarned by the Italy / France game. One would expect a backlash from last week’s defeat from England.
From the crystal ball of Mystic Triskaidekaphobia
Onna telly this week
Friday 10th February
| England v Italy (U20s) | 19:00 | BBC iPlayer |
| Scotland v Wales (U20s) | 19:15 | BBC iPlayer / S4C |
| London Irish v Northampton | 19:45 | BT Sport 3 |
| Ireland v France (U20s) | 20:00 | BBC iPlayer / RTÉ2 |
Saturday 11th February
| Ireland v France | 14:15 | ITV1 / RTÉ2 |
| Scotland v Wales | 16:45 | BBC1 / S4C |
Sunday 12th February
| Exeter v Sale | 13:00 | BT Sport 3 |
| England v Italy | 15:00 | ITV1 / RTÉ2 |
Ovally Balls 
SBT – :-)
I am so fucking nervous!
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First scrum looked very shaky for Ireland.
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How does the Sexton wrap around still work?
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Refit – I dunno, but our maul seems to have been figured out. And what Dab said about the scrum too.
TRY Ireland!
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Oof, that was some move by Ireland.
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Good try! Ireland look like they have so many options with the ball.
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Second scrum better.
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That was beautiful by France. *grinds teeth*
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Top tip for international teams – don’t allow France space in broken play.
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Oh wow! Old school try from France. Beautiful.
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Wow, France caught the madness from italy. Wow.
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On-field try! Hell of a finish!
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Oof, that’s the closest of close things.
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Wow!
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Bloody Ireland and their imported players /s
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We’re all sounding like Kate Bush.
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Some finish there. On field try, middle of ball down before the edge of the ball hits the whitewash.
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Amazing effort, but that foot touched the grass and the ball hit the line. Nonsense decision. Scrap the technology, scrap the replays and let the ref and touch judge decide!
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Dab – on-field decision was try, so same result.
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Red card. Has to be.
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Sexton does have a weird running action.
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Bollocks decision.
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@Thaum – I’m happy with the on field decision and we all just roll with it.
Barnes bottled that card. Bullshit about force through the arm??
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He was wrapping the left, yellow OK.
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TRY Porter!
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The number of French passes that have gone to grass is quite amazing.
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@SBT – Shirley a wrapping left doesn’t excuse a shoulder to the head?
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How the hell did Dupont stop Hansen there???
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Jesus that tackle by Dupont!!!!
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This is a proper Test match.
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Phew! We can all breathe now. What a match!
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Dab, no, yellow was lenient, but stopped ruining the game. I thought it was a fair decision as he did make main contact with the chest mostly, and the chin was a whiplash slight contact with shoulder. Lucky boy, but I am happy with it. Upgraded to red post game and a ban would also be a possibility ?
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Herring hasn’t come back from his HIA. Low danger, my arse.
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Does Dupont have a secret side-hustle as a farmer or a brick-layer?
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Fickou should have kept that in the hands.
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Tadgh Beirne looking fucked as he goes off. Hendo on.
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I wish Harrison could make it through a passage of play without adding additional facts, embellishments or flourishes. Just describe what’s happening man.
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Sexton off.
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McCloskey replaced by Aki. Oh dear.
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Ringrose furrraaaa liiinnnneeeeee and the BP TRY!
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Bloody hell. Ireland look the real deal.
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Fuck, I thought Dupont was through there.
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PHEW!
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Well done Ireland. France never really looked organised enough to win, for me.
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A proper test match and Ireland come out comfortable victors. Will be a shock if they don’t get the grand slam. Despite that one wonderful try, France overall lacked guile with ball in hand. Too easy for an excellent Irish defence to smother them.
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France are so dangerous in broken play, especially Dupont. Impressed we stopped them except for that once.
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Great contest and well done Ireland.
1. Ireland look fine without Sexton
2. I think France can take more from that than Ireland – in that they have more opportunities to improve on that performance. Ireland look to have found the ‘sunny uplands’ – peaking too soon, of course. Great team, though.
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Ulsterman Tom O’Toole did really well when he came on too. Very fast for a prop. And he’s only 24, so not yet at his prime.
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Yes, quite the game, Ireland really closed that out like the number 1 team in the world. France look ridiculously French again. French + Sean, so pretty damn good side well beaten.
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Nice pre-match interview with McDuhan who thanked Scotland, slightly tearfully, for sticking with him when he wasn’t sure if he’d play again.
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