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France must address their away day Bleus ahead of a crucial Six Nations clash against Ireland, who will be boosted by the return of influential fly-half Jonathan Sexton.
Having been narrowly beaten by England at Twickenham in their opening match of the tournament, France defeated Scotland in a full-blooded contest in Paris to get their campaign back on track.
In similar fashion, Ireland lost out to Scotland in round one but trounced Italy last time around.
Both teams can ill afford to lose in Dublin, and France have the added incentive of attempting to avoid a fifth consecutive away loss in the competition, which would represent their worst run of away defeats since the 1950s (when only five teams contested the tournament).
However, Guy Noves – who makes three changes – will be fully aware of the difficulty they face against an Ireland team that has not lost in their past nine Six Nations home games.
Furthermore, Joe Schmidt is boosted by the return of Sexton, who starts despite the impressive displays of understudy Paddy Jackson, following his recovery from a calf injury sustained playing for Leinster last month, while captain Rory Best is back after recovering from an illness.
HEAD TO HEAD
Ireland: 32
France: 56
Draw: 7
WHAT HAPPENED IN 2016?
Having drawn their opening match with Wales, Ireland were looking to get their title defence up and running but fell short 10-9 in Paris thanks to Maxime Medard’s late try.
However, Ireland were left fuming by ‘cheap shots’ from Les Bleus, with Sexton and Dave Kearney the victims of controversial late tackles from Yoann Maestri and Guilhem Guirado.
By the end of the match, Sean O’Brien and Mike McCarthy had also suffered injuries and the battered Irish were ultimately unable to defend their crown.
KEY PLAYERS
Jonathan Sexton (Ireland)
A calf complaint meant that Sexton, who has well-documented issues with injury, was absent for the opening two rounds. But the number 10 returns at a crucial stage for Ireland and his accuracy off the tee and skill with ball in hand may prove the difference against Les Bleus.
Rabah Slimani (France)
France have plenty of physicality, but Noves has opted for a more mobile option in Slimani ahead of powerhouse Uini Atonio in the front row.
THE LINE-UPS
Ireland: Rob Kearney, Keith Earls, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Simon Zebo, Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray; Jack McGrath, Rory Best (captain), Tadhg Furlong, Donnacha Ryan, Devin Toner, CJ Stander, Sean O’Brien, Jamie Heaslip.
France: Scott Spedding, Yoann Huget, Remi Lamerat, Gael Fickou, Noa Nakaitaci, Camille Lopez, Baptiste Serin, Louis Picamoles, Kevin Gourdon, Bernard le Roux, Yoann Maestri, Sebastien Vahaamahina, Rabah Slimani, Guilhem Guirado (captain), Cyril Baille.
Here’s the Ireland team to play France #TeamOfUs #ShoulderToShoulder pic.twitter.com/V9apnh9IOO
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) February 23, 2017
#XVdeFrance Découvrez votre XV de départ pour le match en Irlande avec 3 changements au coup d’envoi! #soutienslexv pic.twitter.com/fi8GrOCa9H
— FF Rugby (@FFRugby) February 23, 2017
COACH COMMENTS
Joe Schmidt (Ireland): “We have a fair bit of faith in Nigel to make sure things are kept in check and that includes us. We have to make sure that our discipline is good and we don’t transgress.” – With Nigel Owens refereeing, Schmidt is sure there will be no repeat of the ugly challenges that marred last season’s contest.
Guy Noves (France): “This is the most important match in this tournament because it is the one we play on Saturday. But it is no more important than the next match. Ireland, unquestionably, are one of the best nations. They are the only team that beat New Zealand.”
OPTA STATS
– Only one of the last 10 Six Nations games between these teams has been decided by a double-digit margin, including draws in 2012 and 2013.
– France have lost each of their last four games away from home in the Six Nations, the last time they went on a longer such streak in the tournament was in the Five Nations between 1956-1958 (5 games).
– Ireland are unbeaten at home in nine Six Nations matches (W7, D2), giving up just one potential losing bonus point in that run (v France in 2015).
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Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments