GERRY THORNLEY’S MATCH REPORT
JOHNNY WATTERSON’S PLAYER RATINGS
[ Ireland 32 France 19: How the Irish players rated after big win at the AvivaOpens in new window ]
Let’s go through the tries, shall we?
TRY NUMBER ONE: HUGO KEENAN (9 minutes)
FRENCH TRY: (DAMIAN PENAUD, 17 mins)
TRY NUMBER TWO (JAMES LOWE, 20 mins)
TRY NUMBER THREE: ANDREW PORTER (25 mins)
TRY NUMBER FOUR: GARRY RINGROSE (71 mins)
This is fun, isn’t it? Watching Ireland be the best team in the world is a terribly enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. They ran in four tries to France’s sole effort, they never let the French came back at them in the second half and they fully deserved the final score. It could have been more - France should have been down to 14 men and Ireland made a hash of four good chances on the French line. But ultimately, they roll on to another bonus point victory. Good times!
FULL-TIME: Ireland 32 France 19 A brilliant match, a world-class display by Ireland.
77 mins: France look tired now. Dupont makes a stunning break but tries to kick Penaud in for a try rather than play the simple pass and Ireland survive. The Fields of Athenry rings around Lansdowne. Ireland 32 France 19
72 mins: TRY IRELAND! Garry Ringrose is the one who gets across the line but this was down to the brute force and artist’s hands of Caelan Doris. Ireland showed all the patience they had been lacking closer to the line, with Doris eventually squirming out of a tackle and willing a flat pass to Ringrose on the left wing. He beat Macalou and that’s the bonus point. Byrne converts. Ireland 32 France 19
66 mins: This place is throbbing.
65 mins: Ireland waste another good position on the French line. After nabbing a France line-out, they pound away without actually getting over and the visitors clear their lines. By my count, that’s the fourth time they’ve been inches away from another try. Bit of white-line fever doing Ireland no favours. Ireland 25 France 19
62 mins: France Drop Goal. Quick reply from France. Thomas Ramos steps back into the pocket and Dupont finds him around 30 metres out. He splits the posts and brings the margin back to six. Ireland 25 France 19
59 mins: Huge pressure for Ireland, right on the French line. Byrne and Porter are both stopped just short and eventually Ireland take the three points. That should have been seven but they weren’t patient enough. Still, it’s a two-score game now, 20 minutes to go. Ireland 25 France 16
57 mins: A bit of kick tennnis, which suits Ireland more than it does France. James Lowe and Hugo Keenan find successive touches that France weren’t able to do at the other end. Jack Conan and Craig Casey are on for O’Mahony and Murray. Ireland 22 France 16
51 mins: The French crowd aren’t loving Wayne Barnes just now. Ethan Dumortier makes a dart down the left and chips inside, only to have his path blocked by Hugo Keenan. Barnes gives the Ireland full-back the benefit of the doubt and Ireland play on. Next phase - Dumortier and Conor Murray compete for a high ball and Barnes gives Ireland the penalty when it looked a 50/50 call. France getting their dander up now. Ireland 22 France 16
48 mins: That’s the end of Johnny Sexton’s afternoon. He limps off, shaking his head and Ross Byrne is on. Huge day for the Leinster back-up. Ireland 22 France 16
12 mins: That was such a beautifully-taken try by Keenan. Bealham put him away with a fantastic flat pass but Keenan had plenty of ground to cover all the same and the French defence barely laid a hand on him. Mighty stuff. Ireland 7 France 3
45 mins: Very similar start to the second half as the first - Ireland probing away, France trying to run it out. Frantic pahse of play ends with France getting a penalty just inside the Ireland half. Big blow for Ireland as Ramos lines it up - Tadhg Beirne limps off and his day is done, with Iain Henderson coming on. Ramos has had a brilliant day from the tee but this one drops just underneath the crossbar. Ireland 22 France 16
Here we go again, Johnny Sexton gets the second half underway.
How do you sum up a half like that? Ireland have scored three tries to France’s one. They look like scoring every time they have possession. And France are lucky to still have 15 for the second half. That looked like a red card. Certainly according to our rugby staff.
HALF-TIME: IRELAND 22 FRANCE 16.
39 mins: Penalty Ireland. France are hanging on here. Murray makes another dart for the line but Dupont saves them again. Ireland had a penalty advantage and Sexton decides to end the half with the points. Ireland 22 France 16.
38 mins: Unbelievable tackle from Antoine Dupont! France try to run the ball out of defence again but Mack Hansen intercepts to send Hugo Keenan away down the right. Keenan can’t quite make the line and puts Hansen in for a certain try. Except Dupont, all five foot and a bit of him, is having none of it. He holds Hansen up and bundles him into touch to keep France breathing. The French crowd go mental - DUPONTDUPONTDUPONT!! Ireland 19 France 16
33 mins: Penalty France. Murray gets done for not rolling away, five metres inside the Irish half. Ramos is unimpeachable again. Ireland 19 France 16
26 mins: France Yellow card. Prop Uini Antonio has gone to the bin for a high hit on Rob Herring. That’s a borderline red in anyone’s language. He came on Herring’s blind side and caught him on the cheek with his shoulder. Ireland almost got over the line for a try by Sexton in the next phase of play but ultimately it’s an Ireland scrum, five metres out. Herring goes off for a HIA. Ireland 12 France 13
27 mins: TRY IRELAND! With France a man down, Ireland bash away from that scrum and after four attempts, it’s Andrew Porter who gets over, right beside the posts. Sexton slots the conversion and Ireland lead again. Breathless stuff. Ireland 19 France 13
21 mins: TRY IRELAND! Good God lads, slow down! Ireland hit straight back with a fantastic score of their own in the corner. Right from the kick-off, the ball is worked wide to James Lowe who only has Penaud to beat. He dives through the air like a trapeze artist and despite Penaud;s best efforts, manages to touch down with his fingertips. Unbelievable finish! What a game this is. Sexton pulls the conversion just wide. Ireland 12 France 13
19 mins: TRY FRANCE! Holy balubas what a try! From broken play back in their own 22, France go the length of the pitch with a glorified one-two. Damian Penaud leads the charge ona diagonal, scorching past two flailing Irish arms. He feeds Anthony Jelonch who draws a couple of tacklers and feeds it back to Penaud who runs it in from 50 metres. Ramos converts. Stunning stuff. Ireland 7 France 13
15 mins: Penalty to France, dead centre of the pitch. Peter O’Mahony is probably unlucky to get done for not rolling away there but Ramos isn’t a bit bothered. He splits the posts and there’s a point in it. Cracking start to the game. Ireland 7 France 6
9 mins: TRY IRELAND!! Ireland come right back at France. A handling mistake by Ramos brings an Ireland line-ouyout five metres from the Franch line. A bit of bosh near the line before its spread out across the backline. Ringrose has a go, Sexton runs a dummy line and it all ends with Porter going over. Ref says it’s held up. But right away, Ireland attack from the drop out and Hugo Keenan skates through from an inside pass from Finlay Bealham. Sexton converts. Ireland 7 France 3
5 mins: Some big collisions around midfield, France battering away to get into the Ireland half. After a dozen phases or so, Wayne Barnes calls it all back for a France penalty. It’s on the 10-metre line and Thomas Ramos does the honours. Ireland 0 France 3
1 min: Haven’t seen that before. James Lowe made a clearing kick that hit the spidercam hanging over the pitch. Scrum Ireland on their own 22.
Anthems over, band gone down the tunnel, let’s go! Roman Ntamack kicks off for France and we’re away...
The teams are on the pitch. Ireland were led out by Andrew Porter, James Ryan and Dave Kilcoyne, all three of them earning their 50th cap today. Huge reception for both teams - there’s a massive French crowd here.
Gerry Thornley has been taking the temperature of the French camp. Can all the off-field turmoil really be kept outside the team bubble?
[ Gerry Thornley: Formidable France fully prepared for what they see as key testOpens in new window ]
The team news is that there’s no team news. Both sides play as selected during the week. The usual matchday rumour mill ground away this morning - it was Garry Ringrose’s turn on the treadmill, apparently. But he’s down here in front of me bouncing his way through the warm-up so he’s apparently good to go. The teams are:
IRELAND (v France): Hugo Keenan (Leinster); Mack Hansen (Connacht), Garry Ringrose (Leinster), Stuart McCloskey (Ulster), James Lowe (Leinster); Johnny Sexton (Leinster, capt), Conor Murray (Munster); Andrew Porter (Leinster), Rob Herring (Ulster), Finlay Bealham (Connacht); Tadhg Beirne (Munster), James Ryan (Leinster); Peter O’Mahony (Munster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster), Caelan Doris (Leinster).
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher (Leinster), David Kilcoyne (Munster), Tom O’Toole (Ulster), Iain Henderson (Ulster), Jack Conan (Leinster), Craig Casey (Munster), Ross Byrne (Leinster), Bundee Aki (Connacht).
FRANCE: Thomas Ramos (Toulouse); Damian Penaud (Clermont), Gaël Fickou (Racing 92), Yoram Moefana (Bordeaux-Bègles), Ethan Dumortier (Lyon); Romain Ntamack (Toulouse), Antoine Dupont (Toulouse); Cyril Baille (Toulouse), Julien Marchand (Toulouse), Uini Atonio (La Rochelle); Thibaud Flament (Toulouse), Paul Willemse (Montpellier); Anthony Jelonch (Toulouse), Charles Ollivon (Toulon), Grégory Alldritt (La Rochelle).
Replacements: Gaëtan Barlot (Castres), Reda Wardi (La Rochelle), Sipili Falatea (Bordeaux-Bègles), Romain Taofifuena (Lyon), François Cros (Toulouse), Sekou Macalou (Stade Francais), Baptiste Couilloud (Lyon), Matthieu Jalibert (Bordeaux-Bègles).
As we wait for kick-off, there’s an EU wine lake of reading for you to swim about in. To begin, Johnny Watterson has the inside story of Ireland’s week leading up to the game. I’ll post a few more here as we go.
Here we go, then. Grand Slam decider on the second weekend? Okay, bit much maybe. But at the same time, there’s no overselling this one. Ireland v France at Lansdowne Road, the vast majority of the chips in the middle of the table. I’m Malachy Clerkin and I’ll be bringing you through the next few hours. Kick-off is at 2.15. Settle in, it’s going to be real.
[ Six Nations 2023: Inside Ireland’s preparation for vital France clashOpens in new window ]
