RUGBY:THE WORLD Cup looms closer into view with Monday's deadline for the final 30-men squads, but for Ireland to have visions of making a real impact in New Zealand a little winning momentum wouldn't go amiss. Besides, save for the absent Rob Kearney, Tommy Bowe and now David Wallace, this could pretty much be Ireland's first-choice team. There are psychological barriers to be overcome in the southern hemisphere, but in the meantime they have to deal with their blue nemesis.
There was plenty of encouragement in last week’s performance in Bordeaux, but that still constituted a 10th defeat in the last 11 meetings with the French. And the feel good factor generated by that sole victory since 2003, at the outset of the 2009 Six Nations in Croke Park, was the catalyst for a Grand Slam.
Brian O’Driscoll, who truly announced himself on the world stage with that hat-trick in Paris 11 years ago, is even at a slight loss as to why this is so. “I didn’t know those stats but that shows the level of difficulty that we have in playing against them. When we’ve beaten them in the past we’ve been able to match them physically. A big thing at the weekend was how they started the game. If they can get on top and get a bit of fluidity in their game they play with that freedom.
“A lot of it is about staying with teams like France and then trying to close games out in the last 10 or 15 minutes. That’s inevitably how we’ve done it in the past when we have won. It’s great that in the build-up to a World Cup that you get really tough games like this and like next week and last week. It’s fantastic because you want to play against the best opposition to see where you are .”
Indeed, these matches with the French are probably the most meaningful, full-on warm-up matches ever undertaken prior to a World Cup, and Les Bleus will test Ireland right across the park. If anything, their scrum looks stronger, their secondrow more experienced and their backrow provides as much lineout athleticism and ball-carrying oomph with the Toulouse bulwark Louis Picamoles restored.
Relief that the human wrecking ball Thierry Dusautoir was due to rest up has been tempered by the news that he is restored to the bench because of Raphaël Lakafia’s slight groin strain. With Morgan Parra on kicking duties, there is a more balanced running threat if less of a kicking game in the back three, while Dusautoir is joined on the bench by Dimitri Yachvili, Francois Trinh-Duc and the dastardly Vincent Clerc (eight tries in eight Tests against Ireland).
Marc Lièvremont admitted yesterday that he knows the names of his final 30-man squad to be announced tomorrow, in other words which two players will be culled, barring injury. Declan Kidney would never go that far, but in all probability he and his fellow coaches are probably most of the way there, with Felix Jones having a great opportunity to cement his place on his home debut and first full start today.
Admittedly, Wallace’s tight hamstring leaves him, like Bowe, without any matches thus far, and thus has muddied the water slightly, and perhaps opened the door for Shane Jennings today.
Most of all, though, Ireland are looking for a step up in performance, notably in their lineout execution, quick efficient scrum engagements – whereas the French would prefer a war – the collisions (committing more numbers and more effectively at the breakdown), the speed of their ruck ball and Tomás O’Leary’s service, thereby retaining the ball and breaking their seasonal try duck.
“Declan Kidney has called back his most valiant players to start against us. That’s a strong signal to the team but we don’t need that kind of signal about how tough a game against Ireland in Ireland can be,” smiled Lièvremont yesterday. “Of course,” he conceded, “a win would be good for confidence but more than the win will be the way that we play which I will be focused on.”
Kidney would have similar sentiments, all the more so with injuries avoided, but with home advantage and the all-too-recent memory of yet another defeat to Les Bleus, a win would do nicely. With a better team this week, containing more leadership, Paul O’Connell as a focal point, more midfield penetration, that is achievable as well as desirable.
REPLACEMENTS
IRELAND: J Flannery (Munster), T Court (Ulster), M McCarthy (Connacht), S Ferris (Ulster), E Reddan (Leinster), R O’Gara (Munster), L Fitzgerald (Leinster).
FRANCE: G Guirado (Perpignan), F Barcella (Biarritz Olympique), J Pierre (Clermont Auvergne), T Dusautoir (Toulouse), D Yachvili (Biarritz Olympique), F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), V Clerc (Toulouse).
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa).
FORECAST: Ireland to win.
