FRANCE V IRELAND
Rugby : Six Nations
Saturday, 11 February 2012 - Kickoff 20:00 (local)
- Stade de France

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Match Analysis

Although Italy posed one or two problems for France in their opening Six Nations clash, Phillipe Saint-Andre’s side ended up running out comfortable 30-12 winners over Italy at the Stade de France.

France scored four well-taken tries in their 30-12 win including one each for centres Aurélien Rougerie and superb debutant Wesley Fofana and one for wing Vincent Clerc. I don’t expect France to make wholesale changes for this match but they may have to perform better than they did last time out.

The new French coach was pleased with the win but warned his team that they would have to improve against this weekend’s opponents. He said: “It’s good to win but there is a lot of room for improvement. We will have to play at another level against Ireland next week.

“On the plus side, we scored four tries, we were disciplined and we did not concede any try. On the negative side, we should gain more possession, we lacked aggression, especially at the beginning.”

However, it will be a tougher match for his team this weekend as the World Cup finalists welcome Ireland.

Declan Kidney’s Irish side are licking their wounds after a last-gasp 22-24 home defeat to Wales, so can Ireland secure their first win in France in over a decade?

It was a fantastic game of Six Nations rugby but Ireland will be ruing the mistakes that cost them victory over Wales at the Aviva Stadium. A last minute Leigh Halfpenny penalty gave Wales a win in a match where the lead changed hands five times.

Coach Declan Kidney believes that Ireland will have to take their chances in the rest of the tournament. After the defeat, he said: “It is extremely disappointing. We had a lead early in the second half but we did not build on it. When we do press ahead we have to go for the jugular. We are going to have to look at being more ruthless.”

Captain Paul O’Connell highlighted individual mistakes as the reason for Ireland’s defeat and the skipper believes it will be tough at the Stade de France this Saturday. He said: “Two mistakes, one by me and one by Stephen Ferris, cost us eight points. With five minutes to go, you would have fancied us to win it but we did not take the chance.

“It is going to be tough, the six-day turnaround for the France game. We have the quality and experience but have to put it together for 80 minutes and not play in fits and starts. You cannot do that against quality sides.”

Head to head

France have won all seven of the most recent head to head clashes between the two sides that have been played in France - although two of the last three wins have been by close margins of just 5 and 7 points.

- 06 Apr 2002 France 44-05 Ireland at Stade de France
- 14 Feb 2004 France 35-17 Ireland at Stade de France
- 11 Feb 2006 France 43-31 Ireland at Stade de France
- 21 Sep 2007 France 25-03 Ireland at Stade de France
- 09 Feb 2008 France 26-21 Ireland at Stade de France
- 13 Feb 2010 France 33-10 Ireland at Stade de France
- 13 Aug 2011 France 19-12 Ireland at Bordeaux

The Betting Verdict

You have to go back to 2000 for the last time Ireland won in Paris and the Irish have conceded 137 points in their last 4 matches in France.

Indeed, the Irish have only won one of the last 12 fixtures against Les Bleus who have become something of a bogey team over recent years.

Considering there was a full programme of Top 14 rugby the week before their Six Nations opener, I think France did a terrific job in beating Italy.

With an extra week of training and with France's excellent home record I expect them to make it two wins out of two and take a step towards what could be a Grand Slam season.

The Pick :

France to win

HANDICAP BETTING :

Back France to overcome the -9 point handicap at 10/11 (at Irish bookmaker Paddy Power).