French opinion

The French view: 'If they (Ireland) do not understand why they have played badly they won't win again'

Most of the focus in the weekend's French papers was on their probable entry into the quarter-finals. Daily sports paper L'Equipeconfirmed French TV station TF1 established new viewing figures record with 16.6 million people tuning into the France-Ireland game. The paper said that a "solid French team discovered the fundamentals of their game against Ireland yesterday in Stade de France and assured themselves of a probable place in the quarter-finals".

Le Mondefocused on the Irish centre pairing of Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy, who came into the World Cup expecting to make an impression.

"Brian O'Driscoll and the much vaunted Irish backline have not had much opportunity because they have lacked the ammunition," said the paper. "They have not been able to get quality ball in order to score. That was one of the reasons for the French victory."

The report noted: "After unimpressive victories against Namibia and Georgia Ireland revealed a lack of quality in their game. If they do not understand why they have played badly they won't win again.

"On Friday they played better than they have done but they lost. Irish coach Eddie O'Sullivan was not able to explain why they were not making immediate improvements."

In Le Parisien, France coach Bernard Laporte, naturally acting out of French interest, wished Ireland all of the best in their final pool match against Argentina. "I wished Ronan O'Gara good luck and said it was in our interest that Ireland get a win," he said.

Finally L'Equipe, under the headline "Believe in a miracle", offered three reasons why Ireland could beat Argentina and three reasons why they couldn't.

Why they could: "After the match one felt the Irish players weren't too despondent and that they could recover their morale. Maybe they felt that beating France last Friday was beyond them. They know they have destiny in their own hands but that it will require a miracle to make the knock-out stages.

"All the matches against Ireland have been very close. In nine games (5-4 to Ireland) there have been only two occasions when the final scoreline has exceeded an eight-point margin. When playing the the last three matches with a full team, Ireland have won. That psychological stimulant might inspire The Greens.

"Ireland have been very conservative to date in the tournament. On Sunday, they will have to be less cautious in trying to score four tries. The Irish have shown in the past they are capable of scoring lots of tries - they used England at Croke Park as an example - and if they can release their back line, they have the quality.

Why they can't: Since August nothing has gone right for Ireland. For reasons that are unclear they have been unable to reproduce the form they showed in the Six Nations Championship. A classic example would be Ronan O'Gara, their playmaker and goal-kicker who is normally very accurate but since the start of this tournament he has only succeeded with 50 per cent of his penalty attempts/conversions.

"They seem physically off the pace and certain players are struggling to find their rhythm and are not making an impact. It's risible to think Ireland will find the perfect physical conditioning and power to score four tries against Argentina. Too many turnovers, too much indiscipline.

Conclusion: Given their current form it'll take a miracle for them to make the quarter-finals.