France v Ireland - 6 Nations 2020

[de_Selby]

Wow! France finishes second of the 6N, having beaten England and Ireland in the process

We now have a pair of half backs who are international standard and our backline is threatening again

We struggled in the rucks battle against Ireland and have much work to do in that area both in defense and on the attack.

Set piece was solid.

That young team is off to a good start, I hope they continue building on that.

As for Ireland, plenty of gritt as usual, deadly in the one pass game but as soon as they had to string together more than 3 passes it became wobbly, saving France on a number of occasions.

Let's roll onto next year.

You should have had a grand slam.
There's a lot more in this team too. The future looks good for France, good bet for 2023

[Mr. Very Popular]

On reflection, the pack did ok bar maybe Ryan (but that's only because we all hold him to a very high standard).

Sexton and Stockdale can get ta fudge. Keenan probably had potential and Conway did SFA (which is annoying as he can be very good).

It'd be great to never have to see Johnny in green again but I don't think Farrell has the balls to drop him.

You're talked about all 3 back 3 players there, but the biggest problem is at centre and has been since Payne left the scene. Aki, Henshaw and Farrell are blackholes. Farrell being the worst. Not a hope he is better than McCloskey

Oh fück it lads, Ulster can save us, why haven't Irish coaches seen it?

[Willie Falloon]

On reflection, the pack did ok bar maybe Ryan (but that's only because we all hold him to a very high standard).

Sexton and Stockdale can get ta fudge. Keenan probably had potential and Conway did SFA (which is annoying as he can be very good).

It'd be great to never have to see Johnny in green again but I don't think Farrell has the balls to drop him.

You're talked about all 3 back 3 players there, but the biggest problem is at centre and has been since Payne left the scene. Aki, Henshaw and Farrell are blackholes. Farrell being the worst. Not a hope he is better than McCloskey

Oh fück it lads, Ulster can save us, why haven't Irish coaches seen it?

Farrell is Ulster born and bred (& developed).

We also have a better side the Munster

[Mr. Very Popular]

JGP was far superior to Murray

I though Murray was ok today. Played a lot faster than usual. Outside of him was the problem.

JGP was faster though

Oh well, that makes all the difference.

[Derwyn]

France had none of the ball or territory

Scored 4 tries and won by 8?


Ireland are changing they way they play I'm actually not too upset with it.
We created a lot of chances! What killed us was the set piece. But we developed a lot of chances despite that.

A lot of new faces. Stockdale has potential at fb. And our pack held up despite having very few caps. (and despite the set piece)

[feckwanker]

On reflection, the pack did ok bar maybe Ryan (but that's only because we all hold him to a very high standard).

Sexton and Stockdale can get ta fudge. Keenan probably had potential and Conway did SFA (which is annoying as he can be very good).

It'd be great to never have to see Johnny in green again but I don't think Farrell has the balls to drop him.

ULSTER

[feckwanker]

France had none of the ball or territory

Scored 4 tries and won by 8?


Ireland are changing they way they play I'm actually not too upset with it.
We created a lot of chances! What killed us was the set piece. But we developed a lot of chances despite that.

A lot of new faces. Stockdale has potential at fb. And our pack held up despite having very few caps. (and despite the set piece)

[Mr. Very Popular]

On reflection, the pack did ok bar maybe Ryan (but that's only because we all hold him to a very high standard).

Sexton and Stockdale can get ta fudge. Keenan probably had potential and Conway did SFA (which is annoying as he can be very good).

It'd be great to never have to see Johnny in green again but I don't think Farrell has the balls to drop him.

You're talked about all 3 back 3 players there, but the biggest problem is at centre and has been since Payne left the scene. Aki, Henshaw and Farrell are blackholes. Farrell being the worst. Not a hope he is better than McCloskey

Oh fück it lads, Ulster can save us, why haven't Irish coaches seen it?

Farrell is Ulster born and bred (& developed).

We also have a better side the Munster

We'll see about that soon enough Winnie, and you'll be wrong about that as well.

[nardol]

A bobbling ball can make anyone look like a fool

[Laurent]

A loss and it's civil war. Never change my friends.

Quite happy with the win that team discipline has to improve though

[franch fan]

On reflection, the pack did ok bar maybe Ryan (but that's only because we all hold him to a very high standard).

Sexton and Stockdale can get ta fudge. Keenan probably had potential and Conway did SFA (which is annoying as he can be very good).

It'd be great to never have to see Johnny in green again but I don't think Farrell has the balls to drop him.

Sexton I thought was very good in the first half, at the heart of most of Ireland good plays.

[franch fan]

Top 4 in the rankings are now South Africa, New Zealand, England, France.

Looks about right and I think these 4 teams will be dominant for the next 4 years

1.NZ
2.England/SA
small gap
4.France/Australia

That would be my current top 5.

[franch fan]

Wow! France finishes second of the 6N, having beaten England and Ireland in the process

We now have a pair of half backs who are international standard and our backline is threatening again

We struggled in the rucks battle against Ireland and have much work to do in that area both in defense and on the attack.

Set piece was solid.

That young team is off to a good start, I hope they continue building on that.

As for Ireland, plenty of gritt as usual, deadly in the one pass game but as soon as they had to string together more than 3 passes it became wobbly, saving France on a number of occasions.

Let's roll onto next year.

You should have had a grand slam.
There's a lot more in this team too. The future looks good for France, good bet for 2023

I actually think France missed a big chance of winning a 6N this year.
With england and Ireland away next year for them, can't see them dethroning England unless they suddenly find a world class pack.

[nardol]

Top 4 in the rankings are now South Africa, New Zealand, England, France.

Looks about right and I think these 4 teams will be dominant for the next 4 years

1.NZ
2.England/SA
small gap
4.France/Australia

That would be my current top 5.

It's the permanent top 5 if they just had their organisations sorted.


Celtic nations RIP. Covid is going to gut them for a generation.... Along with oz

[Cartman]

I would switch Ireland with Aus in that

[Nolanator]

ULSTER

[franch fan]

I would switch Ireland with Aus in that

You may be right although Oz are showing more promise than Ireland despite their last result (against admittedly an unplayable NZ team)

[Luckycharmer]

I would switch Ireland with Aus in that

You may be right although Oz are showing more promise than Ireland despite their last result (against admittedly an unplayable NZ team)

Not if you saw them this morning they were awful allergic to catching and tackling.

[franch fan]

I would switch Ireland with Aus in that

You may be right although Oz are showing more promise than Ireland despite their last result (against admittedly an unplayable NZ team)

Not if you saw them this morning they were awful allergic to catching and tackling.

Every team in the world can look like that when they are facing a NZ team on fire.

[Ulsters Red Hand]

On reflection, the pack did ok bar maybe Ryan (but that's only because we all hold him to a very high standard).

Sexton and Stockdale can get ta fudge. Keenan probably had potential and Conway did SFA (which is annoying as he can be very good).

It'd be great to never have to see Johnny in green again but I don't think Farrell has the balls to drop him.

Sexton I thought was very good in the first half, at the heart of most of Ireland good plays.

His identified the space well on Rattez' wing early on but that was about it, felt he sat too deep and when he didn't he really made it obvious who was going to be getting the ball time and again

[Ulsters Red Hand]

I would switch Ireland with Aus in that

You may be right although Oz are showing more promise than Ireland despite their last result (against admittedly an unplayable NZ team)

Not if you saw them this morning they were awful allergic to catching and tackling.

Every team in the world can look like that when they are facing a NZ team on fire.

They are doing what Ireland don't want to do and actually playing some lads with potential over more experienced heads

They also have a brilliant coach

[Rugby2023]

Well done France

[diarm]

As for Ireland, plenty of gritt as usual, deadly in the one pass game but as soon as they had to string together more than 3 passes it became wobbly,

French lad summing up Irish rugby in a nutshell.

Suspect your set of halfbacks are a little bit better than just international standard as well. Dupont is sheer class and Ntamack is improving more and more every time I see him.

[franch fan]

As for Ireland, plenty of gritt as usual, deadly in the one pass game but as soon as they had to string together more than 3 passes it became wobbly,

French lad summing up Irish rugby in a nutshell.

Suspect your set of halfbacks are a little bit better than just international standard as well. Dupont is sheer class and Ntamzack is improving more and more every time I see him.

Agree about Ntamack, one thing that has always impressed me each time I saw him play has been his composure.
Still not world class in my opinion but he can definitely be.
And playing with such a great 9 definitely takes some pressure off him.

[redderneck]

Well done France - really could have won that by a fair few more points than you did. Halfback pairing is a joy.

[Mullet 2]

On reflection, the pack did ok bar maybe Ryan (but that's only because we all hold him to a very high standard).

Sexton and Stockdale can get ta fudge. Keenan probably had potential and Conway did SFA (which is annoying as he can be very good).

It'd be great to never have to see Johnny in green again but I don't think Farrell has the balls to drop him.

Bar Ryan? Welcome to rugby young fella. Did you enjoy your first game?

[TheFrog]

Top 4 in the rankings are now South Africa, New Zealand, England, France.

Looks about right and I think these 4 teams will be dominant for the next 4 years

1.NZ
2.England/SA
small gap
4.France/Australia

That would be my current top 5.

And N'Tamack is still a pretty average fly-half. Doesn't attack the line...

[TheFrog]

Well done France - really could have won that by a fair few more points than you did. Halfback pairing is a joy.

We would have needed a better pack. Our discipline has been poor against Wales and Ireland.

[franch fan]

Top 4 in the rankings are now South Africa, New Zealand, England, France.

Looks about right and I think these 4 teams will be dominant for the next 4 years

1.NZ
2.England/SA
small gap
4.France/Australia

That would be my current top 5.

And N'Tamack is still a pretty average fly-half. Doesn't attack the line...

Lol i never said he was average, just said I still doubted he was world class.
And I certainly wasn't the one to reproach to not attack the line enough.
I've also always lauded his composure.

[Lemoentjie]

Remarkable how many Irish forwards are going down injured.

It's the difference between natural man strength from a magnificent gene pool (the French pack) and manufactured gym strength from a limited gene pool (Ireland's pack).

What about
Herring and Porter are Anglo names
Healy has Russian genetics
Stander is south african

The fact you have to resort to picking mediocre South Africans like Stander and Herring, who wouldn't make the Bok C squad, underlines the limitations of your gene pool.

Stander would be competing against Vermuelen, Whiteley, Jean-Luc du Preez, Notsche. He'd be behind all of them.

[mdaclarke]

Remarkable how many Irish forwards are going down injured.

It's the difference between natural man strength from a magnificent gene pool (the French pack) and manufactured gym strength from a limited gene pool (Ireland's pack).

What about
Herring and Porter are Anglo names
Healy has Russian genetics
Stander is south african

The fact you have to resort to picking mediocre South Africans like Stander and Herring, who wouldn't make the Bok C squad, underlines the limitations of your gene pool.

Stander would be competing against Vermuelen, Whiteley, Jean-Luc du Preez, Notsche. He'd be behind all of them.

I think this is the problem with "Project Players" young South Africans and New Zealanders don't grow up dreaming of playing for Scotland or Ireland. If they are good enough they will play for the Boks or All Blacks. Therefore (with a few exceptions, Stander? Van Der Merwe? Ribbans?) you are trying to be successful with another countries B Team players.

[DragsterDriver]

Ireland have been on the slide for a while but Farrell should make a grand job of nailing the coffin shut. France are looking to be on the up but being France who knows?! Dupont is some player.

[eldanielfire]

The only Irish player to come out with any credit tonight is Healy.

James Ryan had a great game.

The rest were total shite

Such bollox. Away to France and we had enough done to win. Healy, Porter, Ryan, Beirne, Connors, Doris, StanderAnd even Herring all gave it 110%
Can’t ask for more than that

Eh? France where comfortable for most of the game. Not doubting the effort, but Ireland didn't play well, the backs were all terrible.

[Monk Zombie]

Don't know what was so great about Ryan's performance yesterday - I only really noticed him when he was on his arse wincing at a grassburn while France had possession and on the move.

[TheBouncer]

Well done France and England. Table looks fine though the chasm between 2nd and the rest probably not well reflected. I'm fine with the championship, Ireland are a long way off competing and will just need to grind it out and hope to hit on some young guys soon, especially in the backs.

Good to have it back, I enjoyed yesterday.

[TheFrog]

Remarkable how many Irish forwards are going down injured.

It's the difference between natural man strength from a magnificent gene pool (the French pack) and manufactured gym strength from a limited gene pool (Ireland's pack).

What about
Herring and Porter are Anglo names
Healy has Russian genetics
Stander is south african

The fact you have to resort to picking mediocre South Africans like Stander and Herring, who wouldn't make the Bok C squad, underlines the limitations of your gene pool.

Stander would be competing against Vermuelen, Whiteley, Jean-Luc du Preez, Notsche. He'd be behind all of them.

I think this is the problem with "Project Players" young South Africans and New Zealanders don't grow up dreaming of playing for Scotland or Ireland. If they are good enough they will play for the Boks or All Blacks. Therefore (with a few exceptions, Stander? Van Der Merwe? Ribbans?) you are trying to be successful with another countries B Team players.

I'd point out Kolbe as an example of when sometimes countries overlook obvious stars in the making. Kobe's career was saved by his moving to Toulouse. Granted, he now plays for the Boks but he has been disregarded by the country initially.

In the past, a player like Pieter De Villiers was a world class player who ended up playing for France rather than for his country of birth. Tony Marsh is another example of a fine player and fine example.

[TheFrog]

The only Irish player to come out with any credit tonight is Healy.

James Ryan had a great game.

The rest were total shite

Such bollox. Away to France and we had enough done to win. Healy, Porter, Ryan, Beirne, Connors, Doris, StanderAnd even Herring all gave it 110%
Can’t ask for more than that

Eh? France where comfortable for most of the game. Not doubting the effort, but Ireland didn't play well, the backs were all terrible.

Ireland forwards saved the day (mmm... set piece aside). But their work in the tight, pick'go and rucks had the French on the back foot. It's the backs who had a mare really.

[mdaclarke]

What about
Herring and Porter are Anglo names
Healy has Russian genetics
Stander is south african

The fact you have to resort to picking mediocre South Africans like Stander and Herring, who wouldn't make the Bok C squad, underlines the limitations of your gene pool.

Stander would be competing against Vermuelen, Whiteley, Jean-Luc du Preez, Notsche. He'd be behind all of them.

I think this is the problem with "Project Players" young South Africans and New Zealanders don't grow up dreaming of playing for Scotland or Ireland. If they are good enough they will play for the Boks or All Blacks. Therefore (with a few exceptions, Stander? Van Der Merwe? Ribbans?) you are trying to be successful with another countries B Team players.

I'd point out Kolbe as an example of when sometimes countries overlook obvious stars in the making. Kobe's career was saved by his moving to Toulouse. Granted, he now plays for the Boks but he has been disregarded by the country initially.

In the past, a player like Pieter De Villiers was a world class player who ended up playing for France rather than for his country of birth. Tony Marsh is another example of a fine player and fine example.

Agreed there are exceptions

[franch fan]

What about
Herring and Porter are Anglo names
Healy has Russian genetics
Stander is south african

The fact you have to resort to picking mediocre South Africans like Stander and Herring, who wouldn't make the Bok C squad, underlines the limitations of your gene pool.

Stander would be competing against Vermuelen, Whiteley, Jean-Luc du Preez, Notsche. He'd be behind all of them.

I think this is the problem with "Project Players" young South Africans and New Zealanders don't grow up dreaming of playing for Scotland or Ireland. If they are good enough they will play for the Boks or All Blacks. Therefore (with a few exceptions, Stander? Van Der Merwe? Ribbans?) you are trying to be successful with another countries B Team players.

I'd point out Kolbe as an example of when sometimes countries overlook obvious stars in the making. Kobe's career was saved by his moving to Toulouse. Granted, he now plays for the Boks but he has been disregarded by the country initially.

In the past, a player like Pieter De Villiers was a world class player who ended up playing for France rather than for his country of birth. Tony Marsh is another example of a fine player and fine example.

Tony Marsh was a fine player but let's be honest, he would have probably never got close to start a test with the ABs considering the depth they had there (Umaga, Mauger, Carter at the beginning).

[Zico]

Well done France and England. Table looks fine though the chasm between 2nd and the rest probably not well reflected. I'm fine with the championship, Ireland are a long way off competing and will just need to grind it out and hope to hit on some young guys soon, especially in the backs.

Good to have it back, I enjoyed yesterday.

I can vaguely remember being very worried by our opening performances v Wales and Scotland. Hogg dropped the ball over the line and we were generally not impressive. England blew us away then the Covid break.

It was reasonable to think that a new coaching set up needed time to bed in and here was a miraculous break in the season to do that.

A functional display against Italy was marred by a try at the end from failure to receive a restart.

I knew Ireland were f**ked against France from the failure at kick off. How do you start a game with the same mistake that ended your last game?

Farrell is going to get way more rope than any coach in Irish history, the Autumn Nations let's him try perfect his tactics with little consequence.

He'll start 2021 with his own deck fully loaded on his terms.