Rugby

Ireland must take best chance yet to beat France back-to-back

Sean O'Brien (above) and Rob Kearney (below) take their places in Saturday's Ireland side to face France 
Sean O'Brien (above) and Rob Kearney (below) take their places in Saturday's Ireland side to face France  Sean O'Brien (above) and Rob Kearney (below) take their places in Saturday's Ireland side to face France 

RBS Six Nations: France v Ireland


(Saturday, 2.25pm, Stade de France, live on RTÉ2 & BBC1)

THE springtime Parisian air is a lot more welcoming these days. It was grey and miserable as the swathes of green-clad supporters began to touch down at Charles de Gaulle on Thursday. Just the way we like it. 

For a decade, the Stade de France was an arena that provided little comfort for visiting teams. The French lost just two Six Nations games at home between 2002 and '11. In the past four seasons, they’ve lost four and drawn two of their 11 ties at the old coliseum.

It seemed a soulless place last Saturday. It being the first sporting event at the ground since November’s tragic terrorist attacks. This is a city that, lately, has had far more to concern its soul with than rugby. Perhaps that will stir the crowd this weekend. It was subdued last week, the traditional chorus of La Marseillaise seldom heard.

Always an electrifying place when the blue shirts are on song. Always the most damning of all when things start to go wrong. It never quite turned on them last weekend. But to suggest that it was an uncharacteristic patience being afforded to new boss Guy Noves is unrealistic. If the sell-out crowd witnesses a repeat performance on Saturday, they will surely witness defeat and they will surely deride.

Italy were hardly brilliant themselves, but they still looked like taking advantage until Jules Plisson kicked that superb late penalty. That was a rare moment of class in an otherwise erratic French display. Their performance bore all the hallmarks of a halfway house.

Guy Noves threw the baby out with the bathwater when he so readily discarded Mathieu Bastareaud. It was the first real marker of the new regime. But they didn’t back it up as Noves would have liked last weekend. Suddenly, deprived of the kind of gainline success and momentum Bastareaud, even at his worst, can provide, their backline was almost wholly uninspiring.

The early moments provided a flicker of belief that this was something altogether different. A brilliant offload from Paul Jedrasiak created the overlap on the left that let debutant Virimi Vakatawa in to touch down after 14 minutes. Ah, the new era.

By the end, it all looked very disjointed. They looked very susceptible to so much of what a limited Italian team did. The driving maul that brought their first try for Sergio Parisse was met with frighteningly little resistance.

That, allied to the disappointing performance in the scrum, has led to a few surprises from the new French head coach. Eddy Ben Arous and Rabah Slimani - sent-off by Saturday’s referee Jaco Peyper in their 2014 win over Italy - are replaced in the front-row by Jefferson Poirot and monstrous Kiwi Uini Atonio, while Alexandre Flanquart’s extra power is preferred to Paul Jedrasiak in the second-row.

The loss of Louis Picamoles is hugely significant, especially in light of the return of Sean O’Brien to the Irish side. Damien Chouly shifts across to number eight, with Yacouba Camara coming into the side.

Ireland did, by contrast to Saturday’s opponents, offload just twice in the entire 80 minutes against Wales. Joe Schmidt almost took a certain delight in instantly dismissing the post-match misconceptions last weekend. To the naked eye, it appeared a more fluid, braver Ireland.

“We kicked 17 times today, and 11 times the last day we played Wales,” he offered, to shoot down an opinion that he was shepherding in a new post-World Cup style.

However, the phases of attack, particularly in the first-half, were lengthy and, at times, very accurate. Their intensity at the breakdown gave Conor Murray quick ball to thrive with, creating the illusion of an open, free-flowing display. It certainly made Wales work hard to stop them.

Ireland trained for just 95 minutes at Carton House this week, across two sessions. Not much preparation there. In the end, Simon Zebo succumbed and Keith Earls, as expected, didn’t make it. He is certainly a loss, particularly after such a fine display last weekend. Sean O’Brien and Rob Kearney did make it and both take their place in the side, with Dave Kearney coming in to replace Earls on the wing.

O’Brien is the only change up front to a pack that felt it got a harsh press in the aftermath of their Aviva opener. They creaked in the scrum at a crucial time and allowed Toby Faletau in for the Welsh try before half-time, but they were on solid enough footing for the rest of it.

Mike Ross and Cian Healy play for Leinster this weekend and will surely come into contention for the trip to Twickenham in two weeks’ time. Nathan White and Jack McGrath have 80 minutes left to impress, the latter having done so more in Dublin.

You look at the French backline and don’t see the same power as the Welsh provided. It’s a measure of that unit that, already, they are already looking to Virimi Vakatawa to provide the inspiration. Plucked straight out of sevens rugby and thrown in at the deep end, the mixture of power and pace he possesses is indeed exciting. He is set to be tested defensively by Ireland’s kicking game though.

“As far as I'm concerned and from what I have seen, he can handle himself under high ball,” promised Guy Noves.

His attacking influence, too, will rely on the French getting their offloading game right. They may not have been perfect last weekend, but they made 22 offloads. “If it clicked, they could cut loose.” The standard synopsis of the French. But it’s been a while since they really did that.

Rather than frightening, they look vulnerable. They have only crossed the tryline more than once in any of these sides’ last seven meetings. They haven’t beaten Ireland home or away since 2011.

The fear of this old city has gone. It’s been 89 years since Ireland recorded back-to-back wins. They will never have a better chance to end that record. Ireland to win.

TEAM NEWS


Ireland: R Kearney; A Trimble, J Payne, R Henshaw, D Kearney; J Sexton, C Murray; J McGrath, R Best, N White; M McCarthy, D Toner; CJ Stander, S O’Brien, J Heaslip; Replacements: R Strauss, J Cronin, T Furlong, D Ryan, T O’Donnell, E Reddan, I Madigan, F McFadden


France: M Medard; T Thomas, M Mermoz, J Danty, V Vakatawa; J Plisson, S Bezy; J Poirot, G Guirado, U Atonio; A Flanquart, Y Maestri; W Lauret, Y Camara, D Chouly; Replacements: C Chat, R Slimani, E Ben Arous, P Jedrasiak, L Goujon, M Machanaud, JM Doussain, H Bonneval