Iain Henderson’s charge-down of Mathieu Jalibert’s clearance kick bouncing straight into the hands of Gabin Villière in the first minute of Ireland’s clash with France today was a microcosm of how the game went for the home team: incredible effort on their part, but fortune not favouring them. In hindsight, it was an achievement that … Continue reading Dog Day Afternoon
Category: France
Acid Test
“When Antoine, Virimi and Gaël had the ball, we could feel the panic in the Irish defence,” Ntamack told Midi Olympique. “It’s nice to see the fear on the Irish faces against French players.” -Romain Ntamack, October 31st, 2020. While I can understand the elation that Romain Ntamack and his teammates felt in the aftermath … Continue reading Acid Test
Crash Landing
In the aftermath of Ireland’s defeat to France, a lot has been made of their decision-making when they were awarded penalties. Maybe it had something to do with the result of the England-Italy game changing what they needed to do in order to win the Championship, but Ireland seemed to fall between two stools with … Continue reading Crash Landing
Tall Order
There have been several false dawns in French rugby throughout the past decade, but there is something different about the clear-out that Fabien Galthié has done since RWC 2019. France gave a good account of themselves in that tournament, and were a moment of ill-discipline away from reaching the semi-finals, but Galthié decided that personnel … Continue reading Tall Order
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