A sloppy display from Ireland, except for a golden period just after half-time when they really got their game going. Otherwise it was a 5/10 display in terms of ball retention. Their scrum creaked; their line-out got better but was still below normal standards and they struggled to play at the pace that France set.
To give balance, you have to look at who they lost to, an in-form France who are now two/fifths of the way towards their first championship since 2010. Given how poorly Scotland and Wales performed, you’d back them to do it, even if their recent records in Cardiff and Edinburgh are poor.
As for Ireland, the grand slam has gone but their championship hopes are not finished just yet. They picked up a bonus point here; they have Italy next, then England away and finally Scotland. Three wins would put them in with a shot but they would require France to slip up against either England in Paris or away to the Scots or Welsh.
One thing that is certain, they deserved this win. They were the better side.
12 Feb 2022
6:33PM
FULL-TIME France 30-24 Ireland
12 Feb 2022
6:33PM
France have it. Ten seconds left.
12 Feb 2022
6:32PM
Keenan launches a Garryowen. Why?
12 Feb 2022
6:32PM
45 seconds to go
12 Feb 2022
6:32PM
Knock on – France have it.
12 Feb 2022
6:32PM
Ireland on the charge with Henshaw
12 Feb 2022
6:31PM
Easy kick for Jaminet. Jack Carty is on to take the restart. Two minutes to win it Jack …
12 Feb 2022
6:31PM
78 minutes – PENALTY FRANCE – (JAMINET) France 30-24 Ireland
12 Feb 2022
6:30PM
77 minutes Nonetheless France have a penalty. Score this and Ireland will need a converted try to win it.
12 Feb 2022
6:30PM
77 MINUTES NO TRY – ruled out by the TMO
12 Feb 2022
6:28PM
Original penalty given after Doris played the ball on the ground.
12 Feb 2022
6:28PM
77 minutes – onfield decision is no try, Sheehan held up Jaminet.
12 Feb 2022
6:27PM
77 minutes – TRY FRANCE (JAMINET)
TMO may look at this.
12 Feb 2022
6:26PM
76 minutes Alldritt carries; Ntamack kicks high and France regain possession. They are inside the Ireland 22 now.
12 Feb 2022
6:24PM
75 minutes Murray and Jaminet exchange kicks; Henderson carries, Murray boxkicks again; Jaminet runs into traffic, Bamba follows suit; some more kick tennis follows and Hansen miscues his clearance. France have the throw just inside their half.
12 Feb 2022
6:22PM
74 minutes Ireland win the restart.
12 Feb 2022
6:22PM
72 minutes PENALTY IRELAND (CARBERY) France 27-24 Ireland
Carbery slots it over from a reasonably easy angle and there are just three between them as Bealham comes in for Furlong and Healy replaces Porter.
12 Feb 2022
6:21PM
71 minutes - a great passage of play ends with Ireland winning a penalty. Ryan, Carbery, Hansen all involved. Ryan directs Carbery to take a kick at goal.
12 Feb 2022
6:19PM
70 minutes Ntamack kicks to touch; Ireland have the throw inside the France 22. Dupont has gone off. Ireland, somehow, have a great chance of winning this despite playing fairly poorly for most of the game.
12 Feb 2022
6:17PM
68 minutes - Henshaw gathers after a poor pass from Murray, Ireland losing 40 yards from yet another basic error.
12 Feb 2022
6:16PM
67 minutes – Tadhg Beirne has just kicked a 50:22 – but France win the lineout after Henderson failed to hold on.
66 minutes Keenan makes amends with a superb clearance from inside his own 22. France line-out on half-way.
12 Feb 2022
6:13PM
65 minutes – Another knock-on from Ireland. There have simply been too many – Hugo Keenan at fault this time.
12 Feb 2022
6:12PM
64 minutes Conor Murray has replaced Gibson-Park; Robbie Henshaw is in for Bundee Aki
12 Feb 2022
6:11PM
63 minutes – Ryan collects Sheehan’s line out on his own 22. Gibson-Park clears, Jaminet collects. Ireland get a penalty after Demba Bamba made an illegal side entry.
12 Feb 2022
6:10PM
62 minutes - TMO checked to see if Beirne obstructed Dupont as he raced forward. Sensibly they rule out foul play.
12 Feb 2022
6:08PM
60 minutes – Ireland produced some decent play there – Porter and Hansen involved – but they ran out of patience and a little luck, Dupont clears.
Off the next attack, Hansen again makes yards and France again regain possession.
12 Feb 2022
6:04PM
59 minutes – great pressure from Ireland – James Ryan unfortunate to knock it on after pouncing to try and gather a loose ball. Replacement Peter O’Mahony has had to go off for a HIA. Henderson on, Beirne shifting to the back row.
12 Feb 2022
6:02PM
57 minutes – France win a turnover, Jaminet clears. Hugo Keenan returns with interest. Line out to France, just inside their half.
12 Feb 2022
5:59PM
54 minutes – France 27-21 Ireland
Ryan had won the line-out but they failed to protect the ball, Doris isolated and from the turnover, Atonio made yards before Baille got across with power and the awareness to keep his right hand free. Jaminet missed the conversion.
12 Feb 2022
5:58PM
TRY FRANCE (Baille)
TMO checking it.
12 Feb 2022
5:57PM
53 minutes - Danger for Ireland as Penaud breaks down the left touchline; Keenan was left for dead. Andrew Conway got the key tackle. Ireland now building from inside their own 22.
49 minutes – France 22-21 Ireland (Carbery conversion)
What a score. James Ryan collected the line out when he had no right to; Furlong’s carry was powerful, Aki’s less so. But off the next phase, Sheehan got across the gainline and then Gibson-Park saw the gap and exploited it, getting across for his second international try. The game looked dead and buried about seven minutes ago. Credit Ireland for a rapid response. They didn’t play well in the first half but have just had a superb start to this half.
12 Feb 2022
5:52PM
TRY IRELAND (GIBSON-PARK)
12 Feb 2022
5:51PM
47 minutes – Hansen reclaims the restart. Keenan makes a superb break. Hansen also gets involved. Sheehan and Conway are next to get involved. Ireland win a penalty. Eight points between them. Game on. Ryan, by the way, is back on the field after his first half injury scare. Carbery kicks to the corner.
12 Feb 2022
5:49PM
46 minutes (Carbery conversion) France 22-14 Ireland
Every point counts and Carbery has just got two of them with a brilliant kick from the sideline.
12 Feb 2022
5:48PM
45 MINUTES TRY IRELAND (JOSH VAN DER FLIER)
Penalty for Ireland (at last) after Porter causes havoc at the breakdown. Super work by the loosehad. Carbery kicks to the corner. Doris collects. Van der Flier charges from there and Ireland have a badly needed score.
12 Feb 2022
5:46PM
43 minutes PENALTY FRANCE (Jaminet) France 22-7 Ireland
Huge kick. Game not quite over yet but not far off saying that.
12 Feb 2022
5:45PM
42 minutes Andrew Conway ruled offside after he rushes to gather Jamison Gibson-Park’s boxkick. Jaminet is lining up another kick at goal. Ireland have now conceded nine penalties.
12 Feb 2022
5:44PM
Second half underway and yet another Garryowen follows soon afterwards, well taken by Conway.
There is no sugar-coating that first-half. Ireland have been poor. They are in trouble at the scrum; their line-out has not functioned well, either. Their attack has been so-so, the try coming from a restart that Mack Hansen read superbly.
In contrast, France are playing at a tempo that Ireland have been unable to live with. They have built pressure, won the penalty count, and made Ireland pay, Jaminet getting 14 of their 19 points, Dupont the other five with that early try.
Can Ireland come back? Theoretically, yes, of course. But from what we have seen so far, there has been nothing to suggest that this will be anything other than a French win. Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.
12 Feb 2022
5:28PM
40 minutes PENALTY FRANCE (Jaminet) France 19-7 Ireland
James Ryan is going off with an injury, Iain Henderson coming on
12 Feb 2022
5:27PM
39 minutes – France win a scrum penalty – Jaminet has an easy enough kick coming up.
Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
12 Feb 2022
5:25PM
37 minutes Cros gathers the restart, Dupont box-kicks clear, Keenan overcooks his return kick and France have a scrum inside the Ireland half. If the next score goes France’s way, that’ll be it, you sense. They have been the better side by far.
12 Feb 2022
5:23PM
36 minutes PENALTY FRANCE (Jaminet) France 16-7 Ireland
Now the gap is nine, Jaminet with an easy kick.
12 Feb 2022
5:22PM
34 minutes Fickou, Cyril Baille (twice) and Penaud make gains – power and pace combining. Ireland concede a penalty for offside – Furlong penalised. Score coming for France.
12 Feb 2022
5:21PM
32 minutes – Penaud volleys the ball into touch; sloppy play even if it did look fancy by the French winger. Ireland have a line out deep inside their 22. Free kick awarded to Ireland when France
12 Feb 2022
5:19PM
31 minutes – Ireland’s scrum is good; Aki’s carry off the first phase is strong; Ryan and Doris struggle to make meaningful gains, though, and France regain possession. It has been their day so far.
12 Feb 2022
5:16PM
28 minutes – Cyril Baille knocks on, allowing Ireland to escape; better news follows when Marchand’s throw isn’t straight. Scrum, Ireland.
12 Feb 2022
5:15PM
27 minutes Sheehan’s first throw is exceptional; Ryan collecting it. Furlong carries into contact, Carbery kicks high off the next phase and Villiere collects easily. So far, France are on top. They are well worth their six-point lead. Ireland have yet to settle into this one.
12 Feb 2022
5:13PM
25 minutes Fickou, Marchand carry but Tadhg Beirne wins a superb turnover. Crucial steal. The last thing Ireland needed then was to concede another score. Kelleher is going off, Dan Sheehan coming on early.
12 Feb 2022
5:11PM
24 minutes – Kelleher is receiving treatment for a shoulder injury.
Dupont opens the scoring. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
12 Feb 2022
5:06PM
21 minutes Kelleher knocks on; Ryan had made a decent catch from the earlier line-out but Ireland were unable to form a maul, Willemse challenging him successfully in the air.
12 Feb 2022
5:05PM
19 minutes – Keenan takes a great catch in the air; Porter makes a decent carry and Penaud gives away a penalty for going off his feet.
12 Feb 2022
5:04PM
18 minutes – A fine carry from Hugo Keenan puts Ireland in French territory, but another penalty goes France’s way after Andrew Conway bumped Jaminet as the French full-back tried to gather Carbery’s Garryowen. Harsh decision.
12 Feb 2022
5:02PM
17 minutes PENALTY FRANCE (Jaminet) France 13-7 Ireland
Jaminet kicks a penalty from inside the Ireland 22.
12 Feb 2022
5:01PM
16 minutes Kelleher makes amends to make a big tackle on Julien Marchand. But France win another penalty after Paul Willemse does some brilliant work at the breakdown as Conan slips.
12 Feb 2022
4:59PM
14 minutes – Kelleher penalised for not retreating. Jaminet sends his kick deep into the Irish half.
12 Feb 2022
4:58PM
13 minutes – solid scrum from Ireland and Carbery feeds a clever pass inside to Gibson-Park whose grubber is well placed and ends in touch.
12 Feb 2022
4:57PM
11 minutes – Kelleher overcooks his line-out and then Gibson-Park takes the wrong option and sends a poorly directed grubber into Damian Penaud’s path. Off the next play, Bundee Aki makes a poor pass to Caelan Doris who makes mistake and Ntamack then knocks on. Amid the good play, both teams have also made some basic errors.
12 Feb 2022
4:55PM
10 minutes – Penalty awarded to Ireland inside their own half, Carbery finds touch with a conservative kick. Game is bubbling nicely.
What a score from Hansen – Carbery’s restart hangs in the Paris air and Hansen gathers it perfectly before racing clear to the line. It has been quite a start; four attacks, three scores. Sexton kicks a brilliant conversion
12 Feb 2022
4:52PM
TRY IRELAND (HANSEN)
12 Feb 2022
4:51PM
Six minutes – PENALTY FRANCE (JAMINET) France 10-0 Ireland
12 Feb 2022
4:51PM
Four minutes – Things were looking promising for Ireland there, Carbery darting infield but in a blink of an eye, France countered after Doris spilled the ball and Ireland have just conceded a penalty inside their own 22. France, basically, are playing at a level of intensity that Ireland are not coping with.
12 Feb 2022
4:49PM
2 minutes – France 7-0 Ireland
Dupont takes a clever inside line to finish off a move that stemmed from the French being prepared to take a quick line out and stretch the Irish defence. Ntamack was instrumental in the move, Atonio made a big carry and Dupont read the play superbly to score.
This piece is a deep dive into the qualities that separate Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher and Tadhg Furlong from every other front row in this tournament.
Hello and welcome to today’s liveblog as Ireland take on France in Paris. Both teams got their championship off to a winning start, Ireland comfortably disposing of the Welsh challenge in Dublin while France did what was expected of them against Italy, winning 37-10.
Chasing their first Six Nations title in 12 years, France took their players to the French Foreign Legion’s base to toughen them up. Whether that proves to be an inspirational move, or a mere gimmick, remains to be seen. What’s certain is that this afternoon’s game has the potential to decide the championship. So far, especially in light of how ordinary England looked last week and how average Scotland have been against Wales this afternoon, it is Ireland and France who have stood out.
Kick-off is under an hour away. Let us know what your thoughts are in the comments section below.
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As it happened: France v Ireland at the Stade de France, Six Nations Championship
FULL TIME – France 30-24 Ireland
A sloppy display from Ireland, except for a golden period just after half-time when they really got their game going. Otherwise it was a 5/10 display in terms of ball retention. Their scrum creaked; their line-out got better but was still below normal standards and they struggled to play at the pace that France set.
To give balance, you have to look at who they lost to, an in-form France who are now two/fifths of the way towards their first championship since 2010. Given how poorly Scotland and Wales performed, you’d back them to do it, even if their recent records in Cardiff and Edinburgh are poor.
As for Ireland, the grand slam has gone but their championship hopes are not finished just yet. They picked up a bonus point here; they have Italy next, then England away and finally Scotland. Three wins would put them in with a shot but they would require France to slip up against either England in Paris or away to the Scots or Welsh.
One thing that is certain, they deserved this win. They were the better side.
FULL-TIME France 30-24 Ireland
France have it. Ten seconds left.
Keenan launches a Garryowen. Why?
45 seconds to go
Knock on – France have it.
Ireland on the charge with Henshaw
Easy kick for Jaminet. Jack Carty is on to take the restart. Two minutes to win it Jack …
78 minutes – PENALTY FRANCE – (JAMINET) France 30-24 Ireland
77 minutes Nonetheless France have a penalty. Score this and Ireland will need a converted try to win it.
77 MINUTES NO TRY – ruled out by the TMO
Original penalty given after Doris played the ball on the ground.
77 minutes – onfield decision is no try, Sheehan held up Jaminet.
77 minutes – TRY FRANCE (JAMINET)
TMO may look at this.
76 minutes Alldritt carries; Ntamack kicks high and France regain possession. They are inside the Ireland 22 now.
75 minutes Murray and Jaminet exchange kicks; Henderson carries, Murray boxkicks again; Jaminet runs into traffic, Bamba follows suit; some more kick tennis follows and Hansen miscues his clearance. France have the throw just inside their half.
74 minutes Ireland win the restart.
72 minutes PENALTY IRELAND (CARBERY) France 27-24 Ireland
Carbery slots it over from a reasonably easy angle and there are just three between them as Bealham comes in for Furlong and Healy replaces Porter.
71 minutes - a great passage of play ends with Ireland winning a penalty. Ryan, Carbery, Hansen all involved. Ryan directs Carbery to take a kick at goal.
70 minutes Ntamack kicks to touch; Ireland have the throw inside the France 22. Dupont has gone off. Ireland, somehow, have a great chance of winning this despite playing fairly poorly for most of the game.
68 minutes - Henshaw gathers after a poor pass from Murray, Ireland losing 40 yards from yet another basic error.
67 minutes – Tadhg Beirne has just kicked a 50:22 – but France win the lineout after Henderson failed to hold on.
66 minutes Keenan makes amends with a superb clearance from inside his own 22. France line-out on half-way.
65 minutes – Another knock-on from Ireland. There have simply been too many – Hugo Keenan at fault this time.
64 minutes Conor Murray has replaced Gibson-Park; Robbie Henshaw is in for Bundee Aki
63 minutes – Ryan collects Sheehan’s line out on his own 22. Gibson-Park clears, Jaminet collects. Ireland get a penalty after Demba Bamba made an illegal side entry.
62 minutes - TMO checked to see if Beirne obstructed Dupont as he raced forward. Sensibly they rule out foul play.
60 minutes – Ireland produced some decent play there – Porter and Hansen involved – but they ran out of patience and a little luck, Dupont clears.
Off the next attack, Hansen again makes yards and France again regain possession.
59 minutes – great pressure from Ireland – James Ryan unfortunate to knock it on after pouncing to try and gather a loose ball. Replacement Peter O’Mahony has had to go off for a HIA. Henderson on, Beirne shifting to the back row.
57 minutes – France win a turnover, Jaminet clears. Hugo Keenan returns with interest. Line out to France, just inside their half.
54 minutes – France 27-21 Ireland
Ryan had won the line-out but they failed to protect the ball, Doris isolated and from the turnover, Atonio made yards before Baille got across with power and the awareness to keep his right hand free. Jaminet missed the conversion.
TRY FRANCE (Baille)
TMO checking it.
53 minutes - Danger for Ireland as Penaud breaks down the left touchline; Keenan was left for dead. Andrew Conway got the key tackle. Ireland now building from inside their own 22.
49 minutes – France 22-21 Ireland (Carbery conversion)
What a score. James Ryan collected the line out when he had no right to; Furlong’s carry was powerful, Aki’s less so. But off the next phase, Sheehan got across the gainline and then Gibson-Park saw the gap and exploited it, getting across for his second international try. The game looked dead and buried about seven minutes ago. Credit Ireland for a rapid response. They didn’t play well in the first half but have just had a superb start to this half.
TRY IRELAND (GIBSON-PARK)
47 minutes – Hansen reclaims the restart. Keenan makes a superb break. Hansen also gets involved. Sheehan and Conway are next to get involved. Ireland win a penalty. Eight points between them. Game on. Ryan, by the way, is back on the field after his first half injury scare. Carbery kicks to the corner.
46 minutes (Carbery conversion) France 22-14 Ireland
Every point counts and Carbery has just got two of them with a brilliant kick from the sideline.
45 MINUTES TRY IRELAND (JOSH VAN DER FLIER)
Penalty for Ireland (at last) after Porter causes havoc at the breakdown. Super work by the loosehad. Carbery kicks to the corner. Doris collects. Van der Flier charges from there and Ireland have a badly needed score.
43 minutes PENALTY FRANCE (Jaminet) France 22-7 Ireland
Huge kick. Game not quite over yet but not far off saying that.
42 minutes Andrew Conway ruled offside after he rushes to gather Jamison Gibson-Park’s boxkick. Jaminet is lining up another kick at goal. Ireland have now conceded nine penalties.
Second half underway and yet another Garryowen follows soon afterwards, well taken by Conway.
Here is the Hansen try.
HALF-TIME France 19-7 Ireland
There is no sugar-coating that first-half. Ireland have been poor. They are in trouble at the scrum; their line-out has not functioned well, either. Their attack has been so-so, the try coming from a restart that Mack Hansen read superbly.
In contrast, France are playing at a tempo that Ireland have been unable to live with. They have built pressure, won the penalty count, and made Ireland pay, Jaminet getting 14 of their 19 points, Dupont the other five with that early try.
Can Ireland come back? Theoretically, yes, of course. But from what we have seen so far, there has been nothing to suggest that this will be anything other than a French win. Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.
40 minutes PENALTY FRANCE (Jaminet) France 19-7 Ireland
James Ryan is going off with an injury, Iain Henderson coming on
39 minutes – France win a scrum penalty – Jaminet has an easy enough kick coming up.
37 minutes Cros gathers the restart, Dupont box-kicks clear, Keenan overcooks his return kick and France have a scrum inside the Ireland half. If the next score goes France’s way, that’ll be it, you sense. They have been the better side by far.
36 minutes PENALTY FRANCE (Jaminet) France 16-7 Ireland
Now the gap is nine, Jaminet with an easy kick.
34 minutes Fickou, Cyril Baille (twice) and Penaud make gains – power and pace combining. Ireland concede a penalty for offside – Furlong penalised. Score coming for France.
32 minutes – Penaud volleys the ball into touch; sloppy play even if it did look fancy by the French winger. Ireland have a line out deep inside their 22. Free kick awarded to Ireland when France
31 minutes – Ireland’s scrum is good; Aki’s carry off the first phase is strong; Ryan and Doris struggle to make meaningful gains, though, and France regain possession. It has been their day so far.
28 minutes – Cyril Baille knocks on, allowing Ireland to escape; better news follows when Marchand’s throw isn’t straight. Scrum, Ireland.
27 minutes Sheehan’s first throw is exceptional; Ryan collecting it. Furlong carries into contact, Carbery kicks high off the next phase and Villiere collects easily. So far, France are on top. They are well worth their six-point lead. Ireland have yet to settle into this one.
25 minutes Fickou, Marchand carry but Tadhg Beirne wins a superb turnover. Crucial steal. The last thing Ireland needed then was to concede another score. Kelleher is going off, Dan Sheehan coming on early.
24 minutes – Kelleher is receiving treatment for a shoulder injury.
21 minutes Kelleher knocks on; Ryan had made a decent catch from the earlier line-out but Ireland were unable to form a maul, Willemse challenging him successfully in the air.
19 minutes – Keenan takes a great catch in the air; Porter makes a decent carry and Penaud gives away a penalty for going off his feet.
18 minutes – A fine carry from Hugo Keenan puts Ireland in French territory, but another penalty goes France’s way after Andrew Conway bumped Jaminet as the French full-back tried to gather Carbery’s Garryowen. Harsh decision.
17 minutes PENALTY FRANCE (Jaminet) France 13-7 Ireland
Jaminet kicks a penalty from inside the Ireland 22.
16 minutes Kelleher makes amends to make a big tackle on Julien Marchand. But France win another penalty after Paul Willemse does some brilliant work at the breakdown as Conan slips.
14 minutes – Kelleher penalised for not retreating. Jaminet sends his kick deep into the Irish half.
13 minutes – solid scrum from Ireland and Carbery feeds a clever pass inside to Gibson-Park whose grubber is well placed and ends in touch.
11 minutes – Kelleher overcooks his line-out and then Gibson-Park takes the wrong option and sends a poorly directed grubber into Damian Penaud’s path. Off the next play, Bundee Aki makes a poor pass to Caelan Doris who makes mistake and Ntamack then knocks on. Amid the good play, both teams have also made some basic errors.
10 minutes – Penalty awarded to Ireland inside their own half, Carbery finds touch with a conservative kick. Game is bubbling nicely.
Here is the Dupont try.
Eight minutes – France 10-7 Ireland
What a score from Hansen – Carbery’s restart hangs in the Paris air and Hansen gathers it perfectly before racing clear to the line. It has been quite a start; four attacks, three scores. Sexton kicks a brilliant conversion
TRY IRELAND (HANSEN)
Six minutes – PENALTY FRANCE (JAMINET) France 10-0 Ireland
Four minutes – Things were looking promising for Ireland there, Carbery darting infield but in a blink of an eye, France countered after Doris spilled the ball and Ireland have just conceded a penalty inside their own 22. France, basically, are playing at a level of intensity that Ireland are not coping with.
2 minutes – France 7-0 Ireland
Dupont takes a clever inside line to finish off a move that stemmed from the French being prepared to take a quick line out and stretch the Irish defence. Ntamack was instrumental in the move, Atonio made a big carry and Dupont read the play superbly to score.
TRY FRANCE (DUPONT) 1 MINUTE, SEVEN SECONDS
We are under way.
Anthem time.
This was a decent piece of analysis.
The 42′s Murray Kinsella will have all the reaction and reports from The Stade de France – as well as a special post-match podcast for our members.
Not this time. Wales win the turnover and with that, they win the game.
FULL-TIME Wales 20-17 Scotland.
Scotland have got to half-way – 13 phases clocked up. Memories of Paris, 2018, anyone?
Russell’s clearance just goes outside the Scotland 22. One last throw of the dice.
We have two seconds left on the clock, Scotland deep inside their own 22, but they have won a penalty. One last chance to overturn a 20-17 deficit.
Scotland and Wales, meanwhile, are failing to spark in Cardiff. It is Wales by three, 20-17, with two and a half minutes left.
If you fancy some reading before today’s game, we have some tasty articles to keep you interested.
Here is Murray Kinsella’s big match preview.
This piece is a deep dive into the qualities that separate Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher and Tadhg Furlong from every other front row in this tournament.
And Murray has this piece on James Ryan.
Here are your teams for today’s game.
France:
Replacements:
Ireland:
Replacements:
Referee: Angus Gardner [RA].
Hello and welcome to today’s liveblog as Ireland take on France in Paris. Both teams got their championship off to a winning start, Ireland comfortably disposing of the Welsh challenge in Dublin while France did what was expected of them against Italy, winning 37-10.
Chasing their first Six Nations title in 12 years, France took their players to the French Foreign Legion’s base to toughen them up. Whether that proves to be an inspirational move, or a mere gimmick, remains to be seen. What’s certain is that this afternoon’s game has the potential to decide the championship. So far, especially in light of how ordinary England looked last week and how average Scotland have been against Wales this afternoon, it is Ireland and France who have stood out.
Kick-off is under an hour away. Let us know what your thoughts are in the comments section below.
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France Ireland Minute-by-Minute