France v Ireland

:00:55. > :01:02.COMMENTATOR: Could this be a famous day for Ireland? It's Brian

:01:03. > :01:06.O'Driscoll, virtually under the post. Ireland have won in Paris.

:01:07. > :01:10.Brian O'Driscoll will be the toast of the whole of Ireland tonight.

:01:11. > :01:18.What a start for the home side. France in front. Mix up in the Irish

:01:19. > :01:23.defence - Ireland are in disarray. France are putting Ireland to the

:01:24. > :01:28.sword. He's through. More poor Irish

:01:29. > :01:36.tackling. Oh, yes they are back in this game! He's going to score.

:01:37. > :01:43.They've snatched the game back. He's there, number eight scores!

:01:44. > :01:47.Beautiful. The Irish captain has ripped through the park. I'm just

:01:48. > :01:52.hearing the match is off. Why is it at the last minute. This is a course

:01:53. > :01:58.of bemusement for the crowd. COMMENTATOR: Great try for Ireland,

:01:59. > :02:01.two in rapid succession. Has on Jonathan Sexton. -- has to be

:02:02. > :02:06.Jonathan Sexton. Ireland are the Six Nations champions.

:02:07. > :02:09.There have been classic encounters, always eventful when France play

:02:10. > :02:14.Ireland. The Irish arrive chasing a fourth win in a row against the

:02:15. > :02:19.French, a feat they haven't managed since the 19 #20sz. After the

:02:20. > :02:23.opening draw, the coach will be glad to welcome back Sean O'Brien and Rob

:02:24. > :02:30.Kearney, whose brother Dave also come into the side. France make six

:02:31. > :02:33.changes. Tomas brought in on the wing and five players promoted from

:02:34. > :02:37.the bench. Welcome to the Stade de France. We thought spring had sprung

:02:38. > :02:40.last weekend. It was a false dawn. It's been raining all night and all

:02:41. > :02:45.morning. Grey skies are overhead. Normal service resumes. I have some

:02:46. > :03:03.sunshine in the studio in the form of two Irishmen and a Frenchman.

:03:04. > :03:17.COMMENTATOR: Paul O'Connell, what a start to an international career.

:03:18. > :03:44.And O'Connell puts a green lid on it.

:03:45. > :04:14.And the captain scores. Welcome Paul O'Connell and congratulations on an

:04:15. > :04:16.incredible career. But it wasn't quite supposed to end this way. When

:04:17. > :04:20.did you realise, when was the moment that you had to concede that the

:04:21. > :04:24.body wasn't going to go on like that any more? It kind of comes over you

:04:25. > :04:29.slowly. I suppose I've any more? It kind of comes over you

:04:30. > :04:39.where I wanted to be and any more? It kind of comes over you

:04:40. > :04:44.ago, I decided any more? It kind of comes over you

:04:45. > :04:49.and had a chat with the guys over there, went for a swim. Literally

:04:50. > :04:54.dipped your toe in the water of what could have been two years

:04:55. > :04:54.dipped your toe in the water of what and everything. Yeah, it was going

:04:55. > :04:57.to be great. I grew up and everything. Yeah, it was going

:04:58. > :05:00.and played at Munster all and everything. Yeah, it was going

:05:01. > :05:04.But it was an opportunity to do something different. I would love to

:05:05. > :05:08.have done it. Unfortunately the injury that happened in the World

:05:09. > :05:13.Cup against France was just one too many for me. I couldn't overcome it.

:05:14. > :05:17.In some ways, it's not a decision that your mind gets made up for you

:05:18. > :05:22.by the injuries. Nothing you can do. Taken out of your hands. Yeah. We

:05:23. > :05:26.saw some of the great and good of rugby, the quotes this week,

:05:27. > :05:29.everyone clamouring to say wonderful words about Paul's career and about

:05:30. > :05:33.what kind of man he is off the pitch. Can you put into context the

:05:34. > :05:42.impact on the game both in Ireland and abroad? He personified a total

:05:43. > :05:45.mind shift change in Irish rugby, winning became the norm. Times

:05:46. > :05:51.before that, Ireland would do OK, peaks and troughs. But there was a

:05:52. > :05:56.sustained period of time when Brian O'Driscoll and Paul O'Connell

:05:57. > :06:00.together were two totems for the Irish team. Nearly anything became

:06:01. > :06:04.possible. There was unparalleled level of achievement in the Ireland

:06:05. > :06:09.jersey and the red jersey of Munster. Six Nations folklore,

:06:10. > :06:14.certainly raised Ireland's game up to be the one that all nations have

:06:15. > :06:18.to aspire to. Yes, it's always hard for the French players to play

:06:19. > :06:22.against Ireland. Ireland is like James Bond, you think you've killed

:06:23. > :06:26.him, but they're never dead. They have a great group of players, great

:06:27. > :06:31.leaders. You think, OK, O'Connell is not there, Keith Wood is not there,

:06:32. > :06:37.O'Driscoll is not there. But they're still there. OK 007, what's the

:06:38. > :06:41.highlight of this career, he called you Bond there, is it possible to

:06:42. > :06:45.just pick a moment that personifies those great times in a green shirt?

:06:46. > :06:49.It's hard to pick a moment. I'll go for winning the championship here.

:06:50. > :06:54.I've only beaten France once in Stade de France, I've played them a

:06:55. > :06:58.lot of times here. So winning the championship here in the fashion

:06:59. > :07:02.that we did it in, lifting the trophy was an incredible night,

:07:03. > :07:06.incredible day in my career. I have a poor record against France, but

:07:07. > :07:10.the last few years have been kind and that was a great day and a great

:07:11. > :07:16.night. Rugby hasn't lost you, has it? I can't imagine with your

:07:17. > :07:22.knowledge you're going to walk away from the game. A coach perhaps? Some

:07:23. > :07:26.days I think it's what I want to do. The other days it's the last thing I

:07:27. > :07:31.want to do. I see coaches growing old in front of me and so I'm not

:07:32. > :07:35.too sure. I'm really enjoying what we're doing today. I enjoyed last

:07:36. > :07:38.night, meeting some of the BBC crew. So we'll see what happens. You

:07:39. > :07:41.didn't have to say that. You've got the gig - you're here till the end

:07:42. > :07:46.of the match we're loving having you. Let's concentrate on the

:07:47. > :07:52.action. The opening weekend of the Six Nations produced some incredible

:07:53. > :07:59.rugby, introducing new characters into a predictably gripping plot.

:08:00. > :08:07.Never in short supply in the Six Nations, defiance. Italy deemed

:08:08. > :08:14.useless, defiant. Canna their new find. France seeking precision to

:08:15. > :08:17.the nearest millimetre. Virimi Vakatawa, their new find. The

:08:18. > :08:26.universal quest passes out of context. Campanaro short by a

:08:27. > :08:34.millimetre. The eight-man assault V number eight, Parisse. France's come

:08:35. > :08:41.back. Jonathan Danty, Hugo Bonneval. Parisse of course, high tackle? No.

:08:42. > :08:50.Jules Plisson and France - defiant. Italy's last chance. Parisse of

:08:51. > :08:55.course... Not this time. The Calcutta cup match, the oldest

:08:56. > :09:03.rivalry, new campaigns to launch. England and orders to be more

:09:04. > :09:11.aggressive. Check. Play with a little edge, be nasty. Check.

:09:12. > :09:17.Scotland under instruction to convert possession and chances into

:09:18. > :09:24.points. Work in progress. Don't be afraid to express yourself. Vunipola

:09:25. > :09:32.the passing prop. England not the finished article, but an away win -

:09:33. > :09:39.it will do. The forecast - grim. The reigning

:09:40. > :09:44.champions, struck by injury. But all Irish defiance and CJ Stander from

:09:45. > :09:49.the land of the other green shirt, Conor Murray helping build the lead.

:09:50. > :09:57.Wales' passing game going aerial. The start of their comeback. From

:09:58. > :10:04.eight man, to one-man drive. Theme of the day - boom. Deft touches,

:10:05. > :10:12.few. And in a game of boom, Wales with an edge. Priestly. Jonathan

:10:13. > :10:17.Sexton with a difficult kick of his own. A little draw to make this a

:10:18. > :10:22.draw. Or would it be? George North going forward. Rhys Priestland back

:10:23. > :10:30.for the drop goal. Ireland-Wales defiantly even.

:10:31. > :10:34.So, England and France top the RBS Six Nations table after round one.

:10:35. > :10:39.France will take a lot of encouragement from the first win.

:10:40. > :10:45.Wales against Scotland for you later on, BBC One this afternoon. Let's

:10:46. > :10:49.talk a bit about CJ Stander, Paul, a man you know well from Munster. I

:10:50. > :10:53.know you've given so much encouragement since his arrival. Man

:10:54. > :10:56.comes from South Africa, gets his nationality, pops into a green shirt

:10:57. > :11:02.and everything is hunky corpsery. But it wasn't -- dory, but it wasn't

:11:03. > :11:07.like that. No, people think he's a overnight success. He came over here

:11:08. > :11:12.at 22 years of age. This is an amazing try. He broke his hand in

:11:13. > :11:18.that game. He was never really first choice for 12, almost 18 months.

:11:19. > :11:24.He's really earned it. The last 12 months for Munster, he's been

:11:25. > :11:29.incredible. He has been a two-to player in -- go-to player. Off the

:11:30. > :11:34.pitch incredible character, totally bought into Munster, into Limerick.

:11:35. > :11:38.He was so proud to be capped last week, as proud as any Irishman. I'm

:11:39. > :11:43.delighted for him. He's a relentless player. He has a few frills to his

:11:44. > :11:48.game, but he doesn't always choose to use them. 23 carries last week.

:11:49. > :11:54.You wouldn't be surprised at that work rate? No, that is - Munster

:11:55. > :11:59.fans and players will be familiar with those kind of stats. He's

:12:00. > :12:09.relentless, both in defence and attack. How pleased will Joe Schmitd

:12:10. > :12:12.be to have Sean O'Brien back? He's one of the main ball carriers all

:12:13. > :12:17.the time. It's great to see him back in the jersey. I'm looking forward

:12:18. > :12:22.to see how they function as a back row, to see Stander and him together

:12:23. > :12:25.as big ball characters. You know from Sean O'Brien, time after time,

:12:26. > :12:30.he's stuck in the midst of half the rucks. He will get a few turnovers.

:12:31. > :12:35.They need a few of those today. We get onto France in a moment, don't

:12:36. > :12:39.you worry. Now we hear from a man who enjoys playing in Paris very

:12:40. > :12:46.much. Four years ago, it was 17-17 and quite a first half from Tommy

:12:47. > :12:49.Bow. He scored a stunning second to give Ireland a healthy lead before

:12:50. > :12:55.the French fought back for a draw. He's injured at the moment. So he's

:12:56. > :13:04.going to be in our commentary box. He's on the touchline now.

:13:05. > :13:09.The French fullback that day is still having nightmares about that

:13:10. > :13:14.chip over his head from Tommy. You got a lucky bounce there, didn't

:13:15. > :13:19.you? I think Rob Kearney is still not talking to me after not passing

:13:20. > :13:23.it to him. I won't claim a lucky bounce, all planned. You mention Rob

:13:24. > :13:27.Kearney he returns at fullback today after hamstring injury. How big a

:13:28. > :13:29.boost is that for Ireland given the conditions today? Massive.

:13:30. > :13:33.boost is that for Ireland given the that's coming in now, I think

:13:34. > :13:36.looking at Dave Kearney, Rob Kearney, Andrew Trimble, with the

:13:37. > :13:37.conditions here, they're three safe pair of hands. There will

:13:38. > :13:41.conditions here, they're three safe of ball going into the air. With Rob

:13:42. > :13:44.in the middle, it's a huge strength for Ireland going into this game and

:13:45. > :13:53.something we can look to exploit in the French team. Gaby will talk

:13:54. > :13:57.about Virimi Vakatawa, on the other wing today, Teddy Tomas is playing

:13:58. > :14:01.for the first time in a year. Is that something Ireland can exploit?

:14:02. > :14:05.I think it was the Ireland game last year, I was playing that game, I was

:14:06. > :14:11.talking about there is going to be space behind the French back three.

:14:12. > :14:14.Going to be putting the back on top of Vakatawa. Another area that

:14:15. > :14:21.Ireland will look to exploit today. Two guys with the ball in hand and

:14:22. > :14:26.they're dangerous. You make an excellent brolly holder. Thank you.

:14:27. > :14:30.OK, Vakatawa is the seventh player that played 15-man rugby for a

:14:31. > :14:37.couple of years. He caught the eye last week. Lots of connection on

:14:38. > :14:41.Vakatawa. He didn't -- expectation on Vakatawa. He's got very good

:14:42. > :14:46.sets. His physicality, he can make the difference. He didn't stay on

:14:47. > :14:50.his wing. He came around Jules Plisson and gave an option all the

:14:51. > :14:56.time. He's hard to stop, very strong with his upper body. He can run and

:14:57. > :15:00.come into you too. If he runs around you, you might be taken. If he gets

:15:01. > :15:06.into you, he can offer up the ball and give the ball like he did like

:15:07. > :15:09.on that phase. There are elements in his game that we can Italy were

:15:10. > :15:13.exploiting as well. He wasn't as good coming back. You think in

:15:14. > :15:17.Andrew Trimble Ireland have a man to tackle that speed and size. You need

:15:18. > :15:23.an experienced guy marking him and a clever guy marking him. Andrew has

:15:24. > :15:27.perfected this over the years with Ulster and with Ireland. He holds

:15:28. > :15:30.off, obviously Wales have an overlap. He waits till the ball is

:15:31. > :15:34.in the air before he makes his decision. He shoots out of his line

:15:35. > :15:41.and hits that. Jones is a big man as well. He nearly gets the turnover.

:15:42. > :15:45.Same again later on in the game, with Liam Williams, here we have it

:15:46. > :15:48.here. A great decision. He looks at coming up, then holds off, and

:15:49. > :15:52.smashes Liam Williams. Holds him up and nearly gets the choke. That's

:15:53. > :15:56.the thing with Andrew, he's not necessarily defending. He's almost

:15:57. > :15:58.attacking without the ball. He nearly

:15:59. > :16:00.attacking without the ball. He without the

:16:01. > :16:02.attacking without the ball. He of his game.

:16:03. > :16:06.attacking without the ball. He marking Vakatawa. Trimble

:16:07. > :16:09.attacking without the ball. He huge level of exposure

:16:10. > :16:13.attacking without the ball. He those decisions. There's no panic.

:16:14. > :16:18.He turns those things into attack. Let's talk about Jonathan Danty, one

:16:19. > :16:19.of those players for France, seemed to be involved in the best

:16:20. > :16:26.of those players for France, seemed compared to Ireland's two. He was at

:16:27. > :16:30.the heart of many of those. Yeah, he's very different from the rote

:16:31. > :16:36.type of centre that we had -- rote type of centre that -- prototype of

:16:37. > :16:41.centre that we had. His skills are very good. He can make yards in the

:16:42. > :16:46.defence and attract the defenders. He makes the breaks and creates gaps

:16:47. > :16:51.for the new phase. The French forwards are too slow to get into

:16:52. > :16:56.position. They will have to speed their game today. He will make the

:16:57. > :17:01.difference. He will target two players and make the pass at the

:17:02. > :17:07.right moment. He's got very good feet on the point of contact and he

:17:08. > :17:11.has a stutter pass at times. On that point of the off-loads. It can't

:17:12. > :17:16.just about be off-loads. It is about having balance in your game. France

:17:17. > :17:19.had 20 off-loads but looked disjointed at times. Ireland had

:17:20. > :17:23.two. I'd like to see Ireland with a few more, maybe not today on the

:17:24. > :17:28.dirty conditions - It's not a stat you're dwelling on. Not too much. I

:17:29. > :17:30.just wanted to make a point. But it's the type of game that France

:17:31. > :17:35.wants to play. it's the type of game that France

:17:36. > :17:39.Paul said it was the highlight of his career, the Six Nations trophy,

:17:40. > :17:45.lifted by Paul O'Connell and Ireland two years ago. The one and only time

:17:46. > :17:49.Joe Schmitd had coached Ireland. Fond memories. He's been speaking to

:17:50. > :17:54.us. Do you allow yourself to reminisce?

:17:55. > :17:57.There's not much time for it to be honest. We didn't get to reminisce

:17:58. > :18:02.because the changing room is so different. It didn't look like the

:18:03. > :18:09.same place. There's been special moments here for me personally with

:18:10. > :18:15.Clermont Auvergne as well. It's not an unpleasant place to come. How big

:18:16. > :18:21.a test is this given the injuries and the six-days turn around. That

:18:22. > :18:25.makes it complicated for us. We had to test the fitness of a number of

:18:26. > :18:29.players post the Thursday training session. They seem in pretty good

:18:30. > :18:34.spirit and hopefully they'll demonstrate their full fitness

:18:35. > :18:40.running about the park today. And they're out. A point that I read

:18:41. > :18:43.this week, which I thought was interesting, saying this is very

:18:44. > :18:47.much a 23-man game, which we saw at the World Cup, it's carried on into

:18:48. > :18:51.the Six Nations. These six changes today, we shouldn't read too much

:18:52. > :18:56.into it. For him, every player is a starter. Yeah, he tries to find his

:18:57. > :19:00.best team. He made four changes in the pack. The pack was average

:19:01. > :19:06.against Italy. He expects much better performance. I feel putting a

:19:07. > :19:09.shot across the bow. The front row last week for France were very lazy,

:19:10. > :19:14.walked around the field a lot. They're dropped now. There's a

:19:15. > :19:21.couple of big puppies inside there, 145 kilos for one of the props, he's

:19:22. > :19:24.looking for a big game. 24 stone in old money. Paul, that owe meegsal --

:19:25. > :19:47.emotional moment. The anthems now. # We have come to answer

:19:48. > :19:59.our country's call # From the four proud provinces

:20:00. > :20:04.of Ireland # Allons enfants de la Patrie Le

:20:05. > :21:27.jour de gloire est arrive # Contre nous de la tyrannie,

:21:28. > :21:39.# Entendez-vous dans les campagnes Mugir ces feroces soldats

:21:40. > :21:54.# Aux armes, citoyens Formez vos bataillons

:21:55. > :22:19.# Qu'un sang impur Abreuve nos sillons

:22:20. > :22:51.Different weather conditions this week. A grey, rainy day.

:22:52. > :23:00.Ireland have seven in their team who are over 30. Nathan White 34, Mike

:23:01. > :23:04.McCarthy 34. Rory Best 33. Sean O'Brien returns and brings late

:23:05. > :23:12.20-something youthfulness to the pack.

:23:13. > :23:18.Against Wales Conor Murray made 98 passes, 12 more than any other

:23:19. > :23:22.player in round one of the Six Nations.

:23:23. > :23:31.Ireland have more experience on the bench. Nobody has less experience

:23:32. > :23:40.than Camille Chat who wins his first cap if he comes on, just 20 years

:23:41. > :23:45.old. A little ceremony before the match starts, in aid of charity for

:23:46. > :23:50.under privileged youngsters. Brian Moore good afternoon. Good

:23:51. > :23:55.afternoon. I'm expecting today the Irish half backs to be very

:23:56. > :24:00.important. 100 caps between them against eight only for France. Very

:24:01. > :24:05.inexperienced half back partnership. That could be vital, especially if

:24:06. > :24:12.the weather here is not good, the surface underneath I don't think

:24:13. > :24:16.will help Ireland. The big powerful scrums - you have to weigh one thing

:24:17. > :24:20.against the other. Kearney brothers, big job at the back. Ireland could

:24:21. > :24:25.cause France a lot of problems, aggressive defence. I think looking

:24:26. > :24:32.at the nine and ten for Ireland today with Murray and Sexton, with

:24:33. > :24:35.the weather conditions, with two wingers with Thomas coming in, first

:24:36. > :24:39.game in over a year, it's a lot of pressure. Jules Plisson starts.

:24:40. > :25:00.France-Ireland. A confident start, simple catch

:25:01. > :25:09.a good and long kick. A confident start, simple catch

:25:10. > :25:10.the French side straight away. Let's see if the French decide to move the

:25:11. > :25:54.ball like they did last week. CJ Stander, 23 carries off

:25:55. > :25:57.rolling away. Not getting out of the way. I'm surprised at the

:25:58. > :26:00.rolling away. Not getting out of the France. Can you explain that

:26:01. > :26:06.tactically? Something and France. Can you explain that

:26:07. > :26:09.me. No, looks like a miskick to me. Kick it straight down Andrew

:26:10. > :26:11.Trimble's throat, I think that was definitely a miskick. Can you see

:26:12. > :26:17.from France, their first definitely a miskick. Can you see

:26:18. > :26:25.running straight at Jonathan Sexton, trying to get into his channel.

:26:26. > :26:30.He will say, I couldn't get out of the way. Everyone else will say,

:26:31. > :26:35.it's your fault for being there in the first place, mate, so don't lie

:26:36. > :26:41.there. He knows the rules. He knows the

:26:42. > :26:43.laws. Enough, enough. Yacouba Camara at the tail of the

:26:44. > :27:31.French line-out. That was a good pass in the end,

:27:32. > :27:33.wasn't it really. Slightly more conventional now through Yoann

:27:34. > :27:43.Maestri. That's a great start for Ireland.

:27:44. > :27:47.Putting the ten under pressure. Two bad kicks from him, Plisson.

:27:48. > :27:49.Disappointed with the first line-out. A good line-out now

:27:50. > :27:52.Disappointed with the first a bit of pressure on. An underthrow

:27:53. > :27:55.there. Interesting because a bit of pressure on. An underthrow

:27:56. > :28:01.French journalists I was talking a bit of pressure on. An underthrow

:28:02. > :28:04.before the game were saying that he wanted the French side to play with

:28:05. > :28:07.before the game were saying that he more pace in everything they do.

:28:08. > :28:09.They've looked less They've looked less ind lent than

:28:10. > :28:24.last week. -- indolent. Sean O'Brien back in the team after

:28:25. > :28:50.injury. Henshaw takes it quite brilliantly.

:28:51. > :29:02.Advantage being played Ireland's way.

:29:03. > :29:24.A safe catch by Vakatawa, but no advantage, we'll go back to the

:29:25. > :29:30.penalty. The penalty was there, so why not try it. One of the other

:29:31. > :29:33.things, we were looking across, the French line twice on defence were at

:29:34. > :29:37.least two yards in front of the back foot. I'm amazed they weren't picked

:29:38. > :29:41.up. The French are putting massive line speed on the inside. We talked

:29:42. > :29:44.about the conditions earlier. Those cross-field kicks I expect to see

:29:45. > :29:47.more and more of those, two inexperienced wingers for France

:29:48. > :29:49.with two relatively experienced wingers and good guys in the air for

:29:50. > :29:58.ired. -- Ireland. Here we go, Jonathan Sexton puts

:29:59. > :30:15.them into the corner, a five-metre line-out, Irish throw.

:30:16. > :30:27.Alexandre Flanquart is against Devin Toner.

:30:28. > :30:33.All the back row is involved. They are all dragged into it now.

:30:34. > :30:46.Knock-on. Relief for France. Good defence. Solid. France have got out

:30:47. > :30:50.of a situation where, subject to the scrum and clearing their lines,

:30:51. > :30:55.obviously, that Ireland haven't registered a point when - was it on

:30:56. > :31:01.there to pass to Rory Best? Probably not. And head up, looking at the

:31:02. > :31:05.cattle! They are running right into where France are strong. You can see

:31:06. > :31:09.how many people are lined up waiting for that tackle. Ireland will be

:31:10. > :31:12.disappointed. They have had two opportunities in the opposition 22

:31:13. > :31:19.to come away, potentially, with nothing, it is something we will

:31:20. > :31:24.address. Ireland can feel good. It will be interesting that - you say

:31:25. > :31:29.this time and time again, the surface looks great. Wait till they

:31:30. > :31:34.scrummage on it... Well, Brian, they have put down a new pitch. Have

:31:35. > :31:40.they? Remember how it dug up in the last few matches here? OK, let's

:31:41. > :31:44.see. It will not help either side when they are scrummaging. If one

:31:45. > :31:50.pack gets a nudge and you cannot get purchase, there is only one way -

:31:51. > :31:52.backwards! I don't think Euro 2016 wanted a pitch that had been

:31:53. > :32:14.destroyed again by rugby scrums. Jaco Peyper will give the old

:32:15. > :32:21.rituals before the front rows go down. What pressure can they exert

:32:22. > :32:25.on this French put-in? This angle does show how straight or otherwise

:32:26. > :32:31.the props are. France pretty straight there. And they

:32:32. > :32:35.the props are. France pretty through scrum-half Sebastien Bezy,

:32:36. > :32:41.not the longest clearance, though. He shakes his head. Another good

:32:42. > :32:45.chance for Ireland here, in the French 22. We have to capitalise on

:32:46. > :32:46.these opportunities. Against France, you can't let them get

:32:47. > :32:55.these opportunities. Against France, steam up. We need to come away with

:32:56. > :32:58.some points. There's Flanquart. Before him, Yoann Maestri. Ireland's

:32:59. > :33:18.throw. He is saying offside. Once the ball

:33:19. > :33:21.does go beyond the 15, there is no offside, so he must have concluded

:33:22. > :33:33.he went beyond before the ball was played. It was a low one but it's

:33:34. > :33:38.turned into a very good kick. It looked to me as though - it comes

:33:39. > :33:46.down outside the 15. That is a very close call. France's line-out.

:33:47. > :33:50.That's not straight either. Play on says the referee. Ireland have

:33:51. > :33:56.shirts on the floor. They will need to get up and defend this. Toner

:33:57. > :34:02.tries to grapple and wrestle. He's done a good job. Now, then, Jonathan

:34:03. > :34:11.Danty - there's the power of the 17 stone centre. Ireland have held him

:34:12. > :34:21.up. Now they have gone to ground. Turned over. Turnover, Ireland. Well

:34:22. > :34:39.played, the Irish defence. Maxime Medard watched it bounce.

:34:40. > :34:46.Ireland in possession through Sexton. That is a knock-on.

:34:47. > :34:59.Again, you saw France trying to read the Sexton channel. He is a very

:35:00. > :35:08.tenacious player and he played a big part. He is in there, he must

:35:09. > :35:15.have... Well, he must have deceptive upper body strength. Absolutely. He

:35:16. > :35:19.tackles upright. You can see him holding up Danty to get the

:35:20. > :35:24.turnover. It is going to be a scrum. Ireland got the turnover and they

:35:25. > :35:33.cleared their lines. France's second row - and there's the huge men in

:35:34. > :35:46.the French front row. This is Uini Atonio here. He may be 23 and a half

:35:47. > :36:03.stone. Bezy comes away. Plisson. It's a knock-on by Vakatawa.

:36:04. > :36:08.I don't know if you heard that - he was telling the two French locks to

:36:09. > :36:12.bind on to each other. He was Danty rather than Vakatawa

:36:13. > :36:25.who dropped it in the end. Let's see if they are binding on to

:36:26. > :36:39.each other. Keep an eye on them, Brian!

:36:40. > :36:46.They seemed to be. It's a good scrum from Ireland.

:36:47. > :36:56.Good enough to earn them the penalty. Before the game, I'd looked

:36:57. > :37:05.at the front rows as well and France have the experience there, the edge,

:37:06. > :37:22.and it is important that the Irish front row do...

:37:23. > :37:29.There is an arm missing there. He's split completely. So he is not being

:37:30. > :37:39.effective. It is technically not right, but he is not helping France

:37:40. > :37:42.at all. CJ Stander wins the line-out. Good angle from Jared

:37:43. > :38:14.Payne. 22-years-old, he is a puppy in this

:38:15. > :38:17.Irish side, Robbie Henshaw. Trimble nearly got hold of that. Trimble

:38:18. > :38:25.being so far upfield, means there is a gap which is covered by Henshaw.

:38:26. > :38:34.We are having an aerial phase. Medard brings it down to earth. The

:38:35. > :38:46.pass is on. Danty takes it in the end standing still.

:38:47. > :38:50.Knock-on by the French forward trying to give those off-loads. A

:38:51. > :39:02.chance for Ireland. Jared Payne has dropped the ball. So

:39:03. > :39:15.we go back to the penalty. Of more concern to Ireland is they

:39:16. > :39:24.have a player down. I think it is Jonathan Sexton down. It is, yes.

:39:25. > :39:29.That all came from a great kick chase by Ireland, Mike McCarthy made

:39:30. > :39:34.the tackle on Medard and it shows how slippy the ball is out there

:39:35. > :39:37.with a lot of these knock-ones. Conversely, a French kick, no chase

:39:38. > :39:41.at all, allowing Ireland to make ground

:39:42. > :39:45.at all, allowing Ireland to make Absolutely. It is something the

:39:46. > :39:50.Irish team know work so hard on. Kicking is a huge part of the

:39:51. > :39:51.Irish team know work so hard on. chase. That is what players talk

:39:52. > :39:55.about. A super kick chase. That is what players talk

:39:56. > :40:01.Ireland will help us as this game goes on.

:40:02. > :40:12.The contact on Jonathan Sexton looked - well, let's have a look.

:40:13. > :40:18.Ooh, that is a late shot! It was right in front of the referee. That

:40:19. > :40:25.is what it is for. Rather - the TMO has said something about a shoulder.

:40:26. > :40:32.They spend their time looking at that rather than technical

:40:33. > :40:36.scrummaging bits, which they don't know about anyway! Jonathan Sexton

:40:37. > :41:11.has recovered enough to take this shot at goal.

:41:12. > :41:20.Straight by Sexton. The team in green leads 3-0. On the balance of

:41:21. > :41:23.play, that is absolutely fair. Ireland will be unhappy that it is

:41:24. > :41:28.not more. They needed those points and they need to accumulate as much

:41:29. > :41:34.as they can. France look a bit shaky. We need to try and get as

:41:35. > :41:41.many points as we can. I wonder if he is missing it!

:41:42. > :42:02.Very aggressive French tackling. Will Conor Murray go for touch? He

:42:03. > :42:07.will. Damien Chouly not wishing to take it quickly. Yeah, it was

:42:08. > :42:10.aggressive defence from France. But still the exit from Ireland

:42:11. > :42:16.relatively comfortable. A very good catch by Toner. No panic. And a good

:42:17. > :42:39.kick from half-backs. Atonio - he is good in open play.

:42:40. > :43:13.Medard. Flanquart, the other second row.

:43:14. > :43:21.Rory Best tries to slow everything up. The referee waving play on. It

:43:22. > :43:29.is there. France have to pile a lot of bodies in to get that back.

:43:30. > :44:02.That's a penalty. George Ayoub, the TMO, dubbed that a neck grab. It is

:44:03. > :44:11.a penalty, five metres out. Come to the sideline. Which sideline? Which

:44:12. > :44:18.one, George? It is a penalty against 8 Blue. Neck grab on the ground. It

:44:19. > :44:25.is not helpful... Where I am? Which one? Where am I going? No... The

:44:26. > :44:32.penalty is towards the sideline. Five metres out from the sideline.

:44:33. > :44:50.That one isn't. 8, around the neck? Yes. Got it! It's an arm around the

:44:51. > :44:54.neck. Clear 8, around the neck, Damien Chouly, penalty. In case you

:44:55. > :44:59.are wondering why, we haven't seen multiple replays of that cheap shot

:45:00. > :45:08.from behind on Jonathan Sexton, it is because we have got French TV

:45:09. > :45:12.pictures. It will be a case to answer. Absolutely. The shoulder in

:45:13. > :45:14.the back when the ball had gone, that could definitely be brought up

:45:15. > :45:28.again. Jonathan Sexton very delicately

:45:29. > :45:33.places it down field. Maxime Medard kept it in but the Touch Judge gives

:45:34. > :45:38.Ireland the throw. That was a very good kick by Sexton. Very little

:45:39. > :45:41.angle to work with as well. It is important Ireland capitalise on

:45:42. > :45:53.this. This is yet another chance deep in French territory.

:45:54. > :46:17.France did well. They slowed it up. Sean O'Brien almost rolled into

:46:18. > :46:22.France's hands there. Have you seen him before, Brian? In club rugby,

:46:23. > :46:40.yes. Yacouba Camara. Hands off was... You need to see

:46:41. > :46:44.just before then, whether or not he was let go, whether or not he had a

:46:45. > :46:50.chance to throw the ball, whether or not he did in fact not play it. The

:46:51. > :46:54.Stade de France is full. Ireland come away with it. Sean O'Brien, a

:46:55. > :47:00.lovely dummy, lovely sidestep by the wing forward.

:47:01. > :47:04.Jonathan Sexton, after his little mistake, puts boot to ball. Nice

:47:05. > :47:14.bounce. Maxime Medard, not much ground made

:47:15. > :47:21.there. Sean O'Brien looks like he's hurt here as well. France's

:47:22. > :47:29.full-back glances over and, yeah, you are right, Tommy - these are the

:47:30. > :47:30.fit French players. Sean O'Brien, here he is, poleaxed near the

:47:31. > :47:49.halfway line. Did he hurt himself with the

:47:50. > :47:56.sidestep? If he did get a bang to the side of

:47:57. > :48:11.the head, it's not readily apparent. The captain looking on. His team are

:48:12. > :48:18.3 now down. France haven't come to -- 3-0 down. France haven't come to

:48:19. > :48:19.life. Here is his replacement, Tommy O'Donnell, getting ready to replace

:48:20. > :48:24.Sean O'Brien. It's a leg injury. O'Donnell, getting ready to replace

:48:25. > :48:34.think he did it as he landed for the sidestep. There. There. Oh, yeah. Is

:48:35. > :48:38.that the lateral? It doesn't look nice, when you see somebody like

:48:39. > :48:42.Sean O'Brien go down. He is a strong boy, so he must be pretty sore. He

:48:43. > :48:46.Sean O'Brien go down. He is a strong looks quite sore. That is worrying

:48:47. > :48:51.for Ireland. It looked like he strained the lateral as he put

:48:52. > :48:56.weight on it and it give way. He is so powerful. When he does do a

:48:57. > :49:03.sidestep like that, it is serious. I hope he is alright. CJ Stander wins

:49:04. > :49:08.the line-out for Ireland and Rory Best, as he's done for many a year

:49:09. > :49:10.now, sets up the driving maul, steering it from the number 2 shirt

:49:11. > :49:30.at the back. Sexton again. Tommy O'Donnell, the

:49:31. > :49:38.new man. CJ Stander. He may become even more of a principle runner now

:49:39. > :49:42.that Sean O'Brien is off. Sebastien Bezy with the tackle. Andrew Trimble

:49:43. > :49:48.sets it up. Conor Murray has to go to ground.

:49:49. > :50:19.Sexton. It is there for Murray. No way through.

:50:20. > :50:35.Stander - it's gone loose. France come away with it. Bezy. Rob Kearney

:50:36. > :50:41.is back there. No advantage, it went forward from Ireland.

:50:42. > :50:56.is back there. No advantage, it went wants a word with Jonathan Sexton.

:50:57. > :51:05.REFEREE: Rugby values... Rugby values? Which one? Don't push

:51:06. > :51:07.me! It is just a scrum for the knock-on. There's

:51:08. > :51:13.me! It is just a scrum for the end of the Irish movement. It is CJ

:51:14. > :51:17.Stander who loses it. What on earth did that mean? A guess anyone? A bit

:51:18. > :51:22.of lip, Brian, a bit of chit-chat. did that mean? A guess anyone? A bit

:51:23. > :51:28.think he might have said something not too pleasant - just a guess!

:51:29. > :51:38.Fair enough. Rugby values - don't swear!

:51:39. > :51:53.There is a split in the Irish front row there. Yeah. Rory Best and Jack

:51:54. > :52:01.McGrath didn't bind. I like the spider-cam, the one overhead.

:52:02. > :52:09.REFEREE: Getting separated from his prop, and it collapsed.

:52:10. > :52:18.Just a reminder, straight after this game - here is the Irish scrum that

:52:19. > :52:24.collapsed in the front row. Rory Best he does completely. Sad sight

:52:25. > :52:26.for Ireland, Sean O'Brien just back from one injury, hobbling off with

:52:27. > :52:38.another. A slightly ironic cheer as France

:52:39. > :52:39.win their own line-out. And then the roar increases as the drive sets

:52:40. > :52:52.off. REFEREE: You separated. You are not

:52:53. > :52:58.down. Technical detail... Yoann Maestri

:52:59. > :53:14.not impressed. Again, Ireland's scrum in France's

:53:15. > :53:17.half. Ireland need to transfer all this pressure into points. Ireland

:53:18. > :53:24.have been into the France half so many times. Not least because

:53:25. > :53:30.Ireland have looked much more organised than France. One or two

:53:31. > :53:43.bits of imprecision, I think. The slippy ball, there's probably been

:53:44. > :53:47.four knock-ones in the -- four knock-ons in the France 22. A lot of

:53:48. > :53:51.coaching going on in the coaching booths.

:53:52. > :54:03.Conor Murray to feed this scrummage, not quite yet.

:54:04. > :54:15.After this game, Wales versus Scotland at the Millennium Stadium,

:54:16. > :54:21.the Principality Stadium, rather and tomorrow Italy versus England. All

:54:22. > :54:28.the weekend news and action and reaction on Rugby Special tomorrow.

:54:29. > :54:38.Scrum V in Wales. The French number 5 is trying to bind on to the

:54:39. > :54:42.hooker. He is trying to put more pressure through Rory Best from his

:54:43. > :54:47.loose head. If they get the pressure on early enough and the left-hand

:54:48. > :54:51.lock stays square, that will work. If it doesn't, it is a negative

:54:52. > :54:54.thing because it will split the French scrum, so it is a risk. At

:54:55. > :54:56.the moment, it isn't working for them. That is what he is trying to

:54:57. > :55:00.do. He is not binding again. We are

:55:01. > :55:39.under way. Robbie Henshaw. Henshaw. Ireland are on the move.

:55:40. > :55:47.Big Devin Toner. That is better recycling from Ireland.

:55:48. > :56:02.Oh my word! He was clattered. Rob Kearney, his brother, keeps the move

:56:03. > :56:09.going, Dave Kearney is back on his feet. Here he is.

:56:10. > :56:22.Toner tackled by Atonio, the prop. Sexton. It is coming Dave Kearney's

:56:23. > :56:27.way. He's lost it forward. REFEREE: Ripped by Blue. So an

:56:28. > :56:39.advantage is being played. Henshaw sets it up. CJ Stander. France

:56:40. > :56:46.penalised. HOME FANS BOO

:56:47. > :56:51.You have to hand it to France, it is excellent defence from them. Ireland

:56:52. > :56:55.need to go through the phases, hold on to the ball. We know the French

:56:56. > :57:02.indiscipline will give them penalties, like we seen there. Will

:57:03. > :57:09.you kick this? I think they will take the points, yes. Another thing,

:57:10. > :57:13.the French middle are coming up so fast, I wouldn't mind seeing a few

:57:14. > :57:14.kicks to the corners like we saw in the first couple of minutes, that

:57:15. > :57:24.worked very well for us. That's Dave Kearney finding out that

:57:25. > :57:25.cutting into the line off your wing doesn't always work. He looks

:57:26. > :57:35.alright. Or does he? He is receiving

:57:36. > :57:49.treatment as Jonathan Sexton prepares for this kick at goal.

:57:50. > :58:31.Sexton. Very safely through the middle. France 0, Ireland 6. Another

:58:32. > :58:39.three points for Ireland, but at a cost. There you see another man has

:58:40. > :58:46.gone off. Dave Kearney wasn't able to shake off that tackle by Guilhem

:58:47. > :58:50.Guirado. Ireland will have to call on a second replacement after only

:58:51. > :58:59.half an hour. Conor Murray sends one high. Well-taken by the number 6.

:59:00. > :59:05.France have spent very little time in this Irish half.

:59:06. > :59:15.Now they might be able to conjure something up - Plisson, Medard - and

:59:16. > :59:39.they have dropped it again. It went backwards, though, so they have

:59:40. > :00:27.Irish shirts lying on the ground. Another injury.

:00:28. > :00:39.McFadden is on. He didn't really look at the ball. Just collided.

:00:40. > :00:44.No-one was really looking at the ball there. Irrespective of that,

:00:45. > :00:49.that's the sort of offence that was not needed. France have been awful,

:00:50. > :00:54.frankly. They had a five or three there. They didn't even make it

:00:55. > :01:00.count. They were going nowhere. Good defence by Ireland. A soft penalty.

:01:01. > :01:05.They were playing the penalty advantage. They knew they could come

:01:06. > :01:09.back to this. Plisson, who wasn't giving the kicking duties to begin

:01:10. > :01:17.with last week, starts this week and puts France on the board.

:01:18. > :01:26.The balance of play, to me, has been vast majority have been more

:01:27. > :01:30.organised play has been Ireland. It's just from their point of view

:01:31. > :01:36.it's a great pity they are only three points in front. They've been

:01:37. > :01:38.better team. It will be a concern for Ireland that they lead by only

:01:39. > :02:57.three. This is

:02:58. > :03:15.fluency to their movement, more speedy delivery

:03:16. > :04:17.Unsuccessful. One area that will concern Joe Schmidt, Owen Farrell is

:04:18. > :04:21.coming in, but at the moment, they are defence coachless, I understand.

:04:22. > :04:26.If you watch the realignment, too many times they are getting front

:04:27. > :04:31.row and forwards defending. France have not been able to take control

:04:32. > :04:35.of that and capitalise on that. But if that continues, giving those

:04:36. > :04:45.chances, those mismatches away will count. Mike McCarthy will go off for

:04:46. > :04:51.treatment to that. There's Yoann Maestri. That's France's best

:04:52. > :05:00.passage of play. It's taken another toll on Ireland. Ireland lead by

:05:01. > :05:05.they're losing players. They've lost Dave Kearney, Sean O'Brien and

:05:06. > :05:11.they're losing players. They've lost goes Mike McCarthy. They make the

:05:12. > :05:23.change. On comes Donnacha Ryan, second row for second row.

:05:24. > :05:39.Sexton goes long just to get Ireland back down into the French half.

:05:40. > :06:07.France more confident now on the ball.

:06:08. > :06:52.Medard watches those and it will be a scrum back for France. ( Jonathan

:06:53. > :06:56.Sexton was aiming for the right-hand corner. It was a poor kick. The

:06:57. > :07:00.intent was right. The space was there. Good defending. At the

:07:01. > :07:07.moment, the Irish just need to trust their defence. The French are not

:07:08. > :07:10.making ground. Provided they solve the problem with getting slower men

:07:11. > :07:17.in the outside channels, they're fine at the moment.

:07:18. > :07:25.He took a hefty clout, a cheap clout early on in this game Johnny Sexton,

:07:26. > :07:30.one of the many Irish casualties in this bruising first half. But they

:07:31. > :07:35.lead. The thing that is worrying, Ireland

:07:36. > :07:41.can cover that because they have a decent bench. But these players

:07:42. > :07:45.ordinarily would have been used as impact players, with 20 minutes to

:07:46. > :07:49.go, now are playing a much different role.

:07:50. > :07:56.Ireland get the better of the scrummage. A penalty. After a period

:07:57. > :07:58.of defence, will Johnny Sexton say, let's get more

:07:59. > :07:59.of defence, will Johnny Sexton say, Yeah, completely.

:08:00. > :08:05.of defence, will Johnny Sexton say, Just before halftime as well. It

:08:06. > :08:15.will be interesting to see if they show a high shot of the scrum. As

:08:16. > :08:18.soon as you get pressure on, with the second row, the scrum splits

:08:19. > :08:24.completely. As an attacking ploy it works. Once under pressure, you have

:08:25. > :08:29.the second row not bound, it's awful. To me, it's a risky tactic.

:08:30. > :08:34.There are all sorts of notions of modern mechanics and everything, but

:08:35. > :08:40.if you're not tightly bound, as a front five, things go wrong. The

:08:41. > :08:43.reason it's not used more often is it's stupid really. Thank you,

:08:44. > :09:13.Brian, thank you. Sexton, low, tumbling, straight.

:09:14. > :09:24.France 3, Ireland 9. Reward for a very good Irish scrummage.

:09:25. > :09:34.Also paying credit to McGrath would stuck in there. The ball came down

:09:35. > :09:39.through the fine rain, Devin Toner couldn't catch that one.

:09:40. > :09:44.France will pour through on this. They have earned the penalty.

:09:45. > :09:51.The first time Devin Toner's hands have let him down at the restart.

:09:52. > :09:53.There could be a price here. France might fancy a little corner line-out

:09:54. > :10:03.and rumble. Well, let's see. No. Simple there. He'll be disappointed

:10:04. > :10:19.in that. No, he returned the ball there.

:10:20. > :10:22.How many times does that happen, going you know, get points on the

:10:23. > :10:26.board, not deal with the restart. It's one of the weird ones, isn't

:10:27. > :10:27.it? No pressure really on Devin Toner. He's caught more difficult

:10:28. > :10:39.balls than that. This will be the last kick of the

:10:40. > :10:41.first half. Unless it bounced off a post and thingedz get a little

:10:42. > :10:43.hairy. -- things.

:10:44. > :11:16.We're into overtime. The referee checks whether 40

:11:17. > :11:19.minutes have been played. Oh, for God sake. It is half time. Thank

:11:20. > :11:22.you. Halftime at the Stade de France, the

:11:23. > :11:35.away team, Ireland, lead by 9-3. STUDIO: So Ireland leading France 9

:11:36. > :11:46.pave 3. At times it was an attritional and

:11:47. > :11:49.turgid, tough first half. It was not for the faint hearted. Not too

:11:50. > :11:54.pretty and it took a long time before the crowd got going really.

:11:55. > :11:59.Ireland sticking to their plan of not committing themselves to the

:12:00. > :12:05.off-load too much. It hasn't made any difference to what was really a

:12:06. > :12:10.lack of attacking play. I guess possession also, I missed the final

:12:11. > :12:13.total of the half, at one point France down to 31, 32%. If you

:12:14. > :12:17.haven't got the ball, you can't attack. At the moment, it's 50-50,

:12:18. > :12:21.the last ten minutes or so, France got into the game. Your thoughts

:12:22. > :12:24.then, Keith? The conditions are difficult. The ball is greasy out

:12:25. > :12:33.there. It's hard going into contact. It has been a half of defences. The

:12:34. > :12:36.defences worked well, even for the purple patch at end, Ireland were

:12:37. > :12:41.comfortable. They were able to contain it. It's a bit of shadow

:12:42. > :12:44.boxing. There's been a sway. And France are lucky and unlucky. They

:12:45. > :12:48.could have had that three points there. Could have been just three

:12:49. > :12:51.points down. Kicking was the problem last week. Plisson came in for Bezy

:12:52. > :12:56.and thank goodness for Jonathan Sexton, because it could come down

:12:57. > :13:00.to that. Plisson saved us last week, but this week, even defensively, I

:13:01. > :13:03.think the line is more aggressive. We were getting to the Irish. But

:13:04. > :13:05.the Irish they have the ball most of the time. We cannot produce

:13:06. > :13:10.anything. We cannot rely only the time. We cannot produce

:13:11. > :13:15.Vakatawa or an individual efforts to make the yards. We need to play more

:13:16. > :13:19.like a team. At the moment we don't have any balls to do that. I think

:13:20. > :13:22.days like today, in wet conditions, when it's hard to get the ball

:13:23. > :13:25.through the hands, you're going to affect the score board probably with

:13:26. > :13:29.penalities. Winning the penalty count is really important. Ireland,

:13:30. > :13:34.there's going to be more scrums. Ireland have been on top in the

:13:35. > :13:39.scrum. 2-1 in the penalty count on scrums. You have to kick the

:13:40. > :13:45.penalties when you get them. Johnny has kicked one, Plisson has missed

:13:46. > :13:49.one. Your fist-pumping coach there, who knows where the game could be

:13:50. > :13:54.won or lost. Let's look at physical France. There were times where it

:13:55. > :14:00.felt there was deliberate targeting of Jonathan Sexton. At the very

:14:01. > :14:04.start, the ball was bounding off the top, you could see a target straight

:14:05. > :14:08.up into the middle. It's the second one we're looking for. Jonathan

:14:09. > :14:13.Sexton is in it. You see Yoann Maestri going in. Johnny is too high

:14:14. > :14:20.there. I mean it's one of my bug bears. He stackles too high. He's

:14:21. > :14:24.wincing, shaking his shoulder. He hurt that last week. You want to

:14:25. > :14:30.keep that guy on the field as much as you can. As we said, he should

:14:31. > :14:33.keep that guy on the field as much avoid that type of contact

:14:34. > :14:35.keep that guy on the field as much helped by the back rows. He's a

:14:36. > :14:40.target from the French players. Every time they can put him on the

:14:41. > :14:45.field or try to, you know, get a hit on him, they try to do it. That's a

:14:46. > :14:50.yellow card. All day long, I have to say, the match director here in the

:14:51. > :14:55.ground did not replay that at all. But it's a yellow card. I doubt it

:14:56. > :14:59.overly hurt Jonathan Sexton either. It's three points Ireland. Ireland

:15:00. > :15:05.will be delighted if France want to do that kind of thing. It's just too

:15:06. > :15:08.easy to give away three points like that, on the day when the penalty

:15:09. > :15:14.counts is going to be massive, it's clumsy play. It will go to review.

:15:15. > :15:18.It was Maestri the first one, potentially miss a few matches. When

:15:19. > :15:22.you have a team of Ireland, you're coming on your field and they don't

:15:23. > :15:26.kick the first penalty, it means they are full of confidence. The

:15:27. > :15:31.French players, they've been very much rated bit coach, but they're a

:15:32. > :15:34.bit upset about that here. The atmosphere here is infinitely better

:15:35. > :15:40.than last week. There's a buzz to the whole thing. We were chatting

:15:41. > :15:44.earlier on. France will raise their game to the team they're playing

:15:45. > :15:47.against. They seem to have more of a buzz about them this week, even

:15:48. > :15:50.though they're not in great control with the ball in hand. That's been a

:15:51. > :15:56.problem for Ireland. A few handling errors. Will Joe Schmidt feel at the

:15:57. > :15:57.point they were 65% possession, Ireland should have made more of

:15:58. > :16:02.that possession. Ireland should have made more of

:16:03. > :16:06.here. Ireland were in the Green Zone, where you just have to hammer

:16:07. > :16:09.away at the line. France necessarily don't need to miss a tackle here for

:16:10. > :16:14.Ireland to get over the line. Ireland just have to keep making

:16:15. > :16:18.metres and eventually they score. But they turned it over. Ireland are

:16:19. > :16:23.normally effective here in the opposition 22. That's disappointing

:16:24. > :16:28.from an Irish point of view. They have been dominant. At times, when

:16:29. > :16:32.you are spending large tracks of time in the 22, you want to get

:16:33. > :16:35.something out of it. You know, as the game goes along, France will get

:16:36. > :16:39.a period of time when they're in control. You need to take those

:16:40. > :16:41.opportunities. I think the French bench, especially in the forwards,

:16:42. > :16:45.we are quite powerful. We will bench, especially in the forwards,

:16:46. > :16:51.some changes. That might change maybe the game. Particularly scrum

:16:52. > :16:55.time. France potentially have a stronger scrummaging front row to

:16:56. > :16:58.come off the bench. As we said, in wet conditions there is going to be

:16:59. > :17:03.knock-ones. There's opportunities to gain penalties off scrums.

:17:04. > :17:06.Particularly pleasing with strengthening upfront and thinking

:17:07. > :17:13.he might have the upper hand, but Ireland were earning the penalties.

:17:14. > :17:17.I don't know if the front row today are the strongest scrummaging front

:17:18. > :17:22.row. If he'd known the weather when he picked the team, maybe, Slimani

:17:23. > :17:28.would have started. Yeah it could affect the game. Brian Moore picked

:17:29. > :17:30.up on the fact that affect the game. Brian Moore picked

:17:31. > :17:34.binding in the French second affect the game. Brian Moore picked

:17:35. > :17:40.back row wasn't tight enough. I thought Ireland got low, hips very

:17:41. > :17:44.low, got in a very good position. Great strength

:17:45. > :17:46.low, got in a very good position. side. You can see it here. Suddenly

:17:47. > :17:48.there's a shunt. A great sense of balance in the middle of it.

:17:49. > :17:51.there's a shunt. A great sense of comfortable with that. A lot of

:17:52. > :17:56.these just led to penalties, as this one did.

:17:57. > :18:01.That's the best way of exiting from your own half. If you don't have to

:18:02. > :18:05.take the ball out of the scrum, if you can just win a penalty,

:18:06. > :18:09.especially in these conditions. Ireland under Joe have been positive

:18:10. > :18:13.and always liked and wanted to play-off scrum balling. On days like

:18:14. > :18:17.this, if you have to keep the ball in, penalties are golden. They are

:18:18. > :18:24.and the coach knew it as well. That was for 9-3. Plisson missed his

:18:25. > :18:27.kick. Joe Schmidt was fist pumping at that. Exactly, when playing

:18:28. > :18:31.against a guy who's 24 stone and he decides not to push straight, you

:18:32. > :18:38.wonder what he's doing. If he stays straight, he puts Ireland under more

:18:39. > :18:43.pressure. Jack McGrath is giving him a nudge. It looks like he's to

:18:44. > :18:47.blame, and he was on a couple of them. You would have loved that few

:18:48. > :18:51.minutes spent scrummaging there. This time last week we were

:18:52. > :18:55.celebrating the likes of Danty and Vakatawa. It took a long time before

:18:56. > :18:58.we remembered Vakatawa was even on the field of play today. Because the

:18:59. > :19:03.French backs didn't get the ball. We spoke about the scrums, but when you

:19:04. > :19:06.don't have clean balls from the scrums it's very hard. You can see

:19:07. > :19:10.there that Vakatawa, when he's got the ball, all the time you need two

:19:11. > :19:15.free defenders to get on him and stop him. Ireland need to be

:19:16. > :19:19.vigilant. At the start of the game, they made some high balls to test

:19:20. > :19:24.him. He was there. Catch that ball was very important. Ireland

:19:25. > :19:28.tactically tried to provoke him. It's very hard for Vakatawa to get

:19:29. > :19:33.into the game a whole lot, when France are pinned back in their half

:19:34. > :19:38.all the time. He got more involved last week, but it was in the

:19:39. > :19:42.22-metre period on the other side of the Italian side. It lifted the

:19:43. > :19:50.crowd when he got ball in hand. Let's get the view of another famous

:19:51. > :19:53.winger it's Tommy Bowe. Ireland had injury problems going into the Six

:19:54. > :19:58.Nations, Tommy is one of them. It was tough for Ireland fans and for

:19:59. > :20:00.Nations, Tommy is one of them. It Joe Schmidt to see O'Brien and

:20:01. > :20:03.Kearney in trouble. How disruptive is that to lose not one, but two,

:20:04. > :20:08.fairly influential figures in the first half. Massive. And for two

:20:09. > :20:12.guys that have just come back into the team, who would be trying to set

:20:13. > :20:15.down a marker. Sean O'Brien we need his ball carrying against the

:20:16. > :20:19.French. It's one of the key areas that we need This Morning team. Very

:20:20. > :20:23.disappointed to see the two of them come off. Hopefully, we'll see no

:20:24. > :20:27.more injuries. We saw Johnny Sexton go down in a heap, Poe laxed by

:20:28. > :20:31.Yoann Maestri. What does it say about his mental resilience that he

:20:32. > :20:35.got up, dusted himself down and slot the penalty. That shows the

:20:36. > :20:39.character that Johnny has. There's been a few cheap shots on him. He's

:20:40. > :20:44.definitely been let know that he's here. Shows the strength of kark

:20:45. > :20:47.that he has to step up and nail three kicks as he has and put the

:20:48. > :20:50.ball into the right areas against the French and going by the way the

:20:51. > :20:54.weather is now, it will be even more important. What's your opinion on

:20:55. > :20:58.the French tactics in the first half, which you could say

:20:59. > :21:04.diplomatically have been borderering on -- bordering on illegal at times.

:21:05. > :21:07.I think borderline. The TMO, I would have thought maybe would have gone

:21:08. > :21:11.back and looked at one or two of those shoulder charges. There have

:21:12. > :21:14.been a few hairy ones, ones very much on the line. I think the

:21:15. > :21:19.commissioner might be getting in touch through the week. I think

:21:20. > :21:23.you're right. Thank you. The other game today in the Six

:21:24. > :21:26.Nations is in Cardiff. It's the visit of Scotland, of course.

:21:27. > :21:29.They've lost against Wales eight times in a row, a record they really

:21:30. > :21:33.didn't want. If they're going to change that today, they'll have to

:21:34. > :21:37.win the bat. Back rows. -- battle of the back rows. We are

:21:38. > :21:44.going to be up for a big task this weekend. We've got threats

:21:45. > :21:49.throughout the whole field. We will have to be on our toes. At home,

:21:50. > :21:59.it's going to be tough. That's why you play rugby for these great

:22:00. > :22:03.occasions. It will be outstanding. Warn Gatland has never lost against

:22:04. > :22:08.Scotland. You must feel invincible when the Scots come to town? Not at

:22:09. > :22:10.Scotland. You must feel invincible feeling like that. The group of

:22:11. > :22:14.Scotland. You must feel invincible players. They're capable of beating

:22:15. > :22:17.good sides. Like they showed, unlucky not to progress further.

:22:18. > :22:20.good sides. Like they showed, man of few words, but a great

:22:21. > :22:25.ability and consistency. He's started 21 games in a row in the Six

:22:26. > :22:30.Nations. You know about his prowess. He's a fantastic player. He's one of

:22:31. > :22:35.the strong, silent types. He's incredible off the back of the

:22:36. > :22:39.scrum, as we saw last week, with his try against Ireland, a brilliant

:22:40. > :22:43.finish. Even there was an exit scrum later in the game, where he broke

:22:44. > :22:47.off a scrum that was under pressure and managed to skip around someone,

:22:48. > :22:51.gain seven, eight metres and allowed Wales to exit their own areas

:22:52. > :22:56.comfortably. He's a complete player. Excellent on both sides of the ball,

:22:57. > :22:59.defending and attacking and brilliant at the break down as well.

:23:00. > :23:04.A real consistent guy for Wales over the last number of years. Overall,

:23:05. > :23:10.what due make of Wales last week? I thought they were very good. I

:23:11. > :23:13.suppose they'd no linebreaks, which they'll be disappointed with. They

:23:14. > :23:18.should have had a few but for some clever defending from Ireland. They

:23:19. > :23:27.found a way. If you don't have linebreaks you have to kick your way

:23:28. > :23:30.there or get penalties. Just a kick word on their opposition as well.

:23:31. > :23:34.Scotland finished the World Cup arguably the team of the home

:23:35. > :23:37.nations, certainly, who felt that was the proudest in terms of

:23:38. > :23:42.performance and came out with a spring in their step and didn't seem

:23:43. > :23:46.to liftoff in that same vein last week. No, I thought they were

:23:47. > :23:50.strangled by England last week. England played a heavy style, which

:23:51. > :23:53.is England's natural style, especially in the forwards,

:23:54. > :23:57.heavy-hitting type rugby. It just took the energy out of the Scottish

:23:58. > :24:01.defence. They seemed to be having to tackle for the whole day, having to

:24:02. > :24:13.put extra men into the ruck. They just petered out. We've had a few

:24:14. > :24:15.hum-dingers haven't we? Tomorrow you can listen to Italy against England

:24:16. > :24:40.from Rome. COMMENTATOR: Magnificent goal from

:24:41. > :24:45.Wayne Rooney. Oh, how about that? The FA Cup fifth round.

:24:46. > :24:48.COMMENTATOR: A fantastic hit. Next weekend, live across the BBC.

:24:49. > :24:55.COMMENTATOR: Can he finish here? Yes, he can. Anything could happen.

:24:56. > :24:58.Back here to Parry, where the first -- Paris, where the first half of

:24:59. > :25:00.France against Ireland, seems to be dictated pretty much by the weather.

:25:01. > :25:07.( dictated pretty much by the weather.

:25:08. > :25:21.France, Ireland. That's a great start for Ireland. The team in green

:25:22. > :25:24.leads by 3-0. Oh, my word. France 3, Ireland 9 in this bruising... Just a

:25:25. > :26:38.quick word on that Maestri, if lead in 40 minutes' time? Let's

:26:39. > :26:43.return to our commentators. COMMENTATOR: So far this has been an

:26:44. > :26:48.ad for having a roof on a stadium. If the weather, if anything, has got

:26:49. > :26:53.worse actually. It has. It's a very fine vertical rain. It's not so much

:26:54. > :26:58.the passing that gives way, it's the ball gets squeezed out of contact in

:26:59. > :27:07.the tackle. There have been some enormous tackles and some of them

:27:08. > :27:09.have been legal. So France under way through their tall, lanky second

:27:10. > :27:18.row, stripped by CJ Stander. Ireland on the front foot.

:27:19. > :27:28.Tommy O'Donnell is still on for stitched up, raring to go again.

:27:29. > :27:30.Tommy O'Donnell is still on for Ireland. Penalised. France are

:27:31. > :27:46.repreefd. -- reprieved. Seemed that it was so unexpected,

:27:47. > :27:52.one on one strip, that they didn't really have an idea where to move

:27:53. > :27:56.the ball. Tommy back in position. Is the rain

:27:57. > :27:59.heavier down there? Yeah, it's getting a fair bit heavier down

:28:00. > :28:01.there. The conditions are getting worse. The surface looks very

:28:02. > :28:10.slippery. worse. The surface looks very

:28:11. > :28:12.to throw it. He has been one of the most ferocious tacklers.

:28:13. > :29:09.His tackling has been good. Vakatawa on the wing, three on two

:29:10. > :29:32.and he steps inside. Stander is strong on the ball.

:29:33. > :29:46.Trimble, sorry. It looks like both teams are trying

:29:47. > :29:50.to play a little bit more rugby. But since they've come out, the rain is

:29:51. > :29:54.coming down hard. There's a lot of knock-ones again. Like we saw in

:29:55. > :29:56.coming down hard. There's a lot of first couple of minutes of the first

:29:57. > :30:00.half, the two cross-field kicks, putting the two French wingers under

:30:01. > :30:04.pressure, it's a tactic that Ireland should really go back to.

:30:05. > :30:16.That was meant for Toner. Came off his head. Which is not a knock-on!

:30:17. > :30:25.Which wouldn't have been a knock-on. Jonathan Danty... Eddie, from the

:30:26. > :30:29.French point of view, you have a player, who is creative and

:30:30. > :30:35.attacking-minded, you have a three on two and you step inside. I don't

:30:36. > :30:40.understand that. It is one of the bugbears of being a winner. You want

:30:41. > :30:43.Vakatawa with the ball in his hand, but if you don't pass him the ball,

:30:44. > :30:48.there is not much he can do about it. He is such an unconventional

:30:49. > :30:53.player. You may as well give him early ball as well. Just give him

:30:54. > :31:01.the ball. Better scrummage by France. Bezy - oh, really slow ball,

:31:02. > :31:07.so they have gone for the kicking option. Fair enough, it is going to

:31:08. > :31:12.put France in a territorial position - oh no, it's gone too far. So, what

:31:13. > :31:19.a waste of a good scrummage by Jules Plisson. They have at least changed

:31:20. > :31:24.the binding system. They are both binding on each other and then they

:31:25. > :31:31.kick it out. Happy days(!) You said it all, Brian.

:31:32. > :31:49.Here we go. Changes, perhaps earlier than expected. The Giants come off

:31:50. > :32:00.and Eddy Ben Arous and Rabah Slimani come on. Slimani may well be...

:32:01. > :32:06.Sorry, Hugo Bonneval comes on and it is Teddy Thomas who comes off. So

:32:07. > :32:18.Bonneval, who started against Italy, back on the wing. Slimani may well

:32:19. > :32:20.not be as heavy as the player he's replaced, but he is a better

:32:21. > :32:30.scrummager. I'm wondering whether Bonneval, who

:32:31. > :32:34.is more a full-back than a winger, Tommy, are they anticipating more

:32:35. > :32:37.kicks in this rain? I think so. It seems strange that there's a winger

:32:38. > :32:44.substitution so early into the second half. I would imagine the way

:32:45. > :32:50.Thomas came off there, it must be tactical. Bonneval is very good in

:32:51. > :32:51.the air. This is Eddy Ben Arous on the loose-head side against Nathan

:32:52. > :33:02.White. Rory Best pops up, Ireland go

:33:03. > :33:13.backwards a little bit. It is out there for Jared Payne. Rob Kearney.

:33:14. > :33:24.The referee says that went back. Surely that was a knock-on? Ireland

:33:25. > :33:31.still in possession. Their go-to man, CJ Stander. Sexton. That didn't

:33:32. > :33:35.work. Deflection, a chance for Bezy. Off-load, a rarity today.

:33:36. > :33:50.Plisson. Mermoz, Danty. A French player is down on the far side. They

:33:51. > :33:58.try and bring Virimi Vakatawa into play. Flanquart. The tallest target

:33:59. > :34:06.for the Irish defenders, Plisson switches, Maxime Medard. Jonathan

:34:07. > :34:10.Sexton drawn into the tackle, but he's alright.

:34:11. > :34:21.Vakatawa hovers. Yacouba Camara has dropped it, not for the first time

:34:22. > :34:24.in this second half. It is interesting watching Vakatawa. He

:34:25. > :34:28.desperately wants to get on the ball. He was drawn in to be

:34:29. > :34:35.scrum-half there and he is wondering around just hoping to get a pass.

:34:36. > :34:39.Excellent defence by Ireland again. France really are going nowhere.

:34:40. > :34:43.Exactly. They are trying to get the ball into Medard's hands. It's a

:34:44. > :34:47.Green wall in front of ball into Medard's hands. It's a

:34:48. > :34:55.whole time so Ireland will be very happy with that, forcing the errors.

:34:56. > :35:03.Camille Chat, who is 20, he's been put forward as a candidate for

:35:04. > :35:13.greatness. Guilhem Guirado is going to stay on for the moment. Chat

:35:14. > :35:19.comes on, comes off, Guirado stays on. He will still have to wait a

:35:20. > :35:36.little longer for his first cap. Rabah Slimani on the far side with

:35:37. > :35:37.the beard, up against Jack McGrath. Jack McGrath has had a good couple

:35:38. > :36:00.of games so far. The problem is on this side, which

:36:01. > :36:04.you can't see. The reason for that is, as soon as he goes on one side,

:36:05. > :36:15.both of the props decide to cheat, obviously. What do you think, Tommy?

:36:16. > :36:19.The scrum... Yeah, I think they need to push a bit harder! Here is the

:36:20. > :36:25.change at hooker, the captain goes off. The roar because the French

:36:26. > :36:36.crowd know that this hooker has real potential. Camille Chat.

:36:37. > :36:44.Those are the changes in white. They are on. 16, 17, 18, the new French

:36:45. > :36:55.front row. France try and

:36:56. > :37:12.it away. Jared Payne. Good clear-out work by

:37:13. > :37:13.supporting Irish players and CJ Stander puts Ireland into the French

:37:14. > :37:33.half. Maxime Medard did very well to

:37:34. > :37:39.any sort of ground there. The Touch Judge on this near side, Nigel Owens

:37:40. > :37:45.- he has only one game in the 6 Nations this year. They are trying

:37:46. > :37:49.out new referees. We mentioned - and we have given Jack McGrath praise

:37:50. > :37:54.for the way in which he's held the Irish scrum. But you should give a

:37:55. > :37:58.lot of praise to Nathan White. Tight-head is a position where most

:37:59. > :38:02.pressure comes on. Although he's retreating, he's only done so very

:38:03. > :38:09.slowly which has given time for the Irish halfbacks to play. Tommy

:38:10. > :38:16.O'Donnell heads for the French midfield.

:38:17. > :38:24.The switch, O'Donnell - it's worked well. Rob Kearney, but the off-load

:38:25. > :38:30.finds Chat. Away come France. There's Vakatawa. He gets the pass

:38:31. > :38:36.away. Camara. Did that go forward? It did. At last, France break loose

:38:37. > :38:42.on turnover ball. That It did. At last, France break loose

:38:43. > :38:46.when you see turnover ball, with some of the strike force France

:38:47. > :38:49.have. The last thing we want to do is have this crowd getting behind

:38:50. > :38:56.the French team. You are right, Tommy. That was a move which...

:38:57. > :38:58.There you go. It's a pre-planned move, Rob Kearney. There was a

:38:59. > :39:02.There you go. It's a pre-planned there, he got his shorts nearly

:39:03. > :39:04.ripped off him! It is those off-loads in the opposition half

:39:05. > :39:10.that are key to letting France off the hook.

:39:11. > :39:38.That's the halfway line. France can - oh, they can't. Nathan White turns

:39:39. > :39:39.in. He didn't turn in. He wasn't as much turned in as his opposite

:39:40. > :40:21.number. The ball's out. Conor Murray under

:40:22. > :40:24.pressure. Ireland have done very well to scrape that away. Jonathan

:40:25. > :40:26.Sexton, tackled by his opposite number. Ireland into the French

:40:27. > :40:29.half. Goes without saying, CJ Stander on

:40:30. > :40:42.the charge. Medard watches it patiently. Ireland

:40:43. > :40:44.are where they want to be. You are right, that is exactly the point.

:40:45. > :41:04.The pressure is still on France. Busy moments for the new hooker. Has

:41:05. > :41:20.to find his target. Ireland steal it. Rory Best. Vastly

:41:21. > :41:32.more experienced at hooker, 33 years old. CJ Stander, again! Jonathan

:41:33. > :41:40.Sexton. The trial by up and under. Has it gone forward off Ireland? One

:41:41. > :41:44.knock-on, if not two there. Good tactic. Good tactic. The French back

:41:45. > :41:48.three do not want to see anymore of those high balls come off there. It

:41:49. > :41:51.is a horrible experience being a full-back under one of those when

:41:52. > :41:56.you know the Irish team are coming through hard. The other thing,

:41:57. > :42:00.Tommy, if the ball is turned over, they are right in the middle of the

:42:01. > :42:05.field, you never know what a referee will do at a scrum anyway, and they

:42:06. > :42:12.have still got, what, 90 metres to go. Good play. I thought Robbie

:42:13. > :42:20.Henshaw was going for a header at goal at one stage!

:42:21. > :42:27.Very different type of scrum for France now. Now, they have to lock

:42:28. > :42:36.it up, as Ireland will look to disrupt.

:42:37. > :42:57.REFEREE: It was fine up to the new front row - gap. 5...

:42:58. > :43:04.Damien Chouly in the French back row. They look up. What are Ireland

:43:05. > :43:08.going to do? It is a great scrummage position. There is space on both

:43:09. > :43:14.sides. If they get turnover ball. Not for the moment. France hold

:43:15. > :43:17.firm. Now, it is twisting. They have to play it quickly. They have got

:43:18. > :43:36.the penalty. Jonathan Sexton threw his hands up in frustration.

:43:37. > :43:46.France up to - just near the halfway line. France will be delighted with

:43:47. > :43:51.that. They were in a difficult position, to get a penalty and clear

:43:52. > :43:54.their lines, it is an excellent exit from them. You had to come in there

:43:55. > :44:03.because Brian was shaking his head at the scrummage. Speak to us,

:44:04. > :44:06.Brian! Camara, just about gets it down to Flanquart. France, on the

:44:07. > :44:23.move, through Chouly. The speed of Bezy, the first dart by

:44:24. > :44:36.the scrum-half. Squirted out, though. France have knocked it on.

:44:37. > :44:51.The Touch Judge on that far side... Again, we come back to the fact the

:44:52. > :44:54.Irish defence is simply not proving porous in any way. Ireland have

:44:55. > :44:57.maintained their discipline. A change at scrum-half for France. Off

:44:58. > :45:17.goes Sebastien Nathan White on the tight-head side.

:45:18. > :45:23.The lighthouse figure of Devin Toner! The way the Irish are set up

:45:24. > :45:27.here, you have Rob Kearney on the left-hand side with his left foot to

:45:28. > :45:30.put it long, Medard is in the middle, he doesn't know which way to

:45:31. > :45:34.go, Jonathan Sexton can put it into the right corner - it's a very

:45:35. > :45:38.difficult one to defend. It depends what the scrum does - can they keep

:45:39. > :45:43.the right-hand side up or not? Or if they get the ball out. Free kick.

:45:44. > :45:44.Quickly taken. Robbie Henshaw. Jonathan Sexton releases Andrew

:45:45. > :46:00.Trimble. Number 6 for Ireland is CJ Stander.

:46:01. > :46:05.Sexton... They have a look at Hugo Bonneval in the air, no, Maxime

:46:06. > :46:07.Medard. Just took it ahead of Rob Kearney. That is a very

:46:08. > :46:08.Medard. Just took it ahead of Rob because Kearney is excellent in the

:46:09. > :46:21.air. Chat, the new scrum-half. The more

:46:22. > :46:38.orthodox, Machenaud. The only thing I would say, Tommy,

:46:39. > :46:44.Ireland are looking comfortable in defence at the moment. But, whilst

:46:45. > :46:51.they only have a six-point lead, you never know, a turnover and a

:46:52. > :46:54.converted try - they would want at least three more scores to give them

:46:55. > :46:58.that cushion. Absolutely. The French are so dangerous. They can score

:46:59. > :47:01.from anywhere. Ireland are comfortable, they are in the French

:47:02. > :47:08.half a lot. We do need to get a few more points on the board if we can.

:47:09. > :47:15.Guirado is back on, so Chat has his first cap, but he is back on the

:47:16. > :47:21.bench. Rory Best. Well-taken, Devin Toner. The maul is moving. Tommy

:47:22. > :47:27.O'Donnell controlling it. O'Donnell comes away.

:47:28. > :47:30.Good tackle by Guirado and France get the penalty. The captain comes

:47:31. > :47:35.back on and it is his work that get the penalty. The captain comes

:47:36. > :47:42.means that France can get into the Irish half. That is the third time

:47:43. > :47:46.the inside ball has been given, but if that is a planned move, which it

:47:47. > :47:51.is, the support players have to anticipate it better and be there

:47:52. > :47:54.because he was isolated. Off a maul, it is so important if somebody does

:47:55. > :47:56.because he was isolated. Off a maul, go through there, because all the

:47:57. > :47:58.forwards are in the maul, there is no-one there

:47:59. > :48:00.forwards are in the maul, there is support him. France have capitalised

:48:01. > :48:05.on that a few times. A turnover penalty, one for France,

:48:06. > :48:21.19, Paul Jedrasiak, he started A turnover penalty, one for France,

:48:22. > :48:23.against Italy last week. It is the villain of today's piece, Yoann

:48:24. > :48:33.Maestri - and they are still not showing him - oh, there he

:48:34. > :48:51.They are on the move. Nowhere near the game line. Machenaud. Danty.

:48:52. > :48:56.Sexton has to give a little yard or two. It's gone forward again off

:48:57. > :49:02.France. They can't hang on to the ball.

:49:03. > :49:09.Guirado must be very frustrated, but it's a combination of two things.

:49:10. > :49:14.Ireland are defending well, well on the game line, but France also - it

:49:15. > :49:18.is simply not good enough, the handling is not good enough, and the

:49:19. > :49:22.combination of both of those is giving them nothing. Let's not take

:49:23. > :49:25.it away from Ireland in terms of their effort and defence, but you

:49:26. > :49:32.must acknowledge the French are playing poorly as well.

:49:33. > :49:38.They are not going into the breakdown situation on their own

:49:39. > :49:44.terms. Ireland have pinned their arms and they have got them - the

:49:45. > :49:49.defence is on top. You see Tommy O'Donnell and Jonathan Sexton there,

:49:50. > :49:53.just small niggles and holding on for that extra split-second, when

:49:54. > :49:56.they are trying to get the ball back and it spills forwards, it is stuff

:49:57. > :50:00.like this on a slippery pitch that is very important.

:50:01. > :50:06.The scrum goes down. Jaco Peyper says play on. Rob Kearney's left

:50:07. > :50:11.boot, that is straight at Hugo Bonneval. Medard.

:50:12. > :50:17.He goes on his own. Machenaud switches.

:50:18. > :50:36.Ireland have to be careful with the tackling. Plisson again.

:50:37. > :50:43.Plisson - was he taken after the ball? No, it was a dive! Maxime

:50:44. > :51:01.Medard in his own 22. Match ch ma. -- Machenaud. The

:51:02. > :51:12.forwards arrive. Ireland try and hold them up.

:51:13. > :51:30.This is better by France. Vakatawa. Penalty advantage to France.

:51:31. > :51:36.Something has happened. Camara waits. Ireland have an injury.

:51:37. > :51:42.Guirado tackled by the other 2, Rory Best.

:51:43. > :51:51.That's a good flip from Eddy Ben Arous. The Irish medical staff want

:51:52. > :51:59.play to stop. Jaco Peyper allows it to continue. This is Vakatawa. Going

:52:00. > :52:08.in with the forwards. As strong as them. Plisson. Plisson. Long -

:52:09. > :52:14.Andrew Trimble - how important was that hand? We go back to the

:52:15. > :52:20.penalty. This is the referee - he will have to look up because there

:52:21. > :52:25.is a whole posse of medical staff here. Brilliant by Andrew Trimble.

:52:26. > :52:30.Plisson was right through. He took the ball in. It looks like Mike

:52:31. > :52:35.McCarthy is right... The play is going to have to stop. Andrew

:52:36. > :52:50.Trimble denied another try there. Completely. He is straight out. Head

:52:51. > :52:57.on head. How important could that be? Super break by Plisson. Goes

:52:58. > :53:05.through that gap. Andrew Trimble - that is the hand of God right there.

:53:06. > :53:10.Earlier on, when the French were calling for a late tackle and the

:53:11. > :53:13.referee and the TMO said "nothing wrong with that" - if there was

:53:14. > :53:22.nothing wrong with that, that was a blatant dive.

:53:23. > :53:31.We could be here for some time if... It is obviously an accident. It is a

:53:32. > :53:38.head on head. He goes straight out. You can see on the way down. He's

:53:39. > :53:49.already gone! Here is the break by Jules Plisson. Fergus McFadden

:53:50. > :53:55.watches him go around the outside. Looks for the long pass and that

:53:56. > :54:01.hand... It is important that they obviously take every precaution with

:54:02. > :54:06.him, that the concussion - although he won't be coming back on - that

:54:07. > :54:11.over the next couple of weeks he is properly assessed and so on. It is a

:54:12. > :54:18.thing that can cause enormous damage. You do not want players with

:54:19. > :54:24.long-term problems - the dangers are well-known now after the NFL. Tommy,

:54:25. > :54:29.it is your livelihood. He will have the best medical attention. He looks

:54:30. > :54:34.like he is getting out. There's numerous amounts of protocols that

:54:35. > :54:43.he will have to go through - HIA, Head Injury Assessment. You meet

:54:44. > :54:47.doctors, neurologists to make sure he can get back out on the pitch. It

:54:48. > :54:56.is not nice to see that. Joe Schmidt watches on. He gets Donnacha Ryan on

:54:57. > :54:58.in place of McCarthy. Ryan is on the field, number

:54:59. > :55:02.in place of McCarthy. Ryan is on the time. We will have a change in the

:55:03. > :55:08.front row where Tadhg Furlong is going to come on. Penalty to France

:55:09. > :55:11.and they are going for the corner. They trail by six points, a

:55:12. > :55:22.converted try to put them in the lead. On comes Furlong and off comes

:55:23. > :55:34.Nathan White. And a pressure situation to come on in as well.

:55:35. > :55:38.Camara has it for France. They have reset. Now, the enemy is the

:55:39. > :56:06.touchline. Machenaud. Vakatawa. It is there again for Machenaud.

:56:07. > :56:14.There is no great width outside the scrum-half. Just a little pod of

:56:15. > :56:18.forwards. Vakatawa! Well done, Andrew Trimble. What an important

:56:19. > :56:20.tackle that was. It's the first time the Fijian has been knocked off his

:56:21. > :56:33.feet in this Championship. Guirado has to go to ground a little

:56:34. > :56:44.earlier than he wanted. France now 15 metres out.

:56:45. > :56:47.Vakatawa again involved. He still can't get anywhere from that

:56:48. > :56:55.standing start. He is better off out here.

:56:56. > :57:05.for the moment, it's Danty who takes it on. France ever closer, within

:57:06. > :57:13.that five metre tunnel. Rory Best, a big tackle. Machenaud.

:57:14. > :57:19.And they are coming to the centre. France are still driving. They have

:57:20. > :57:24.no width. But they are that close to the line. There is a man all over on

:57:25. > :57:29.his line with 20 metres of space for France on the right-wing. They are

:57:30. > :57:32.still not there. No-one near him. Please don't see him. He is

:57:33. > :57:39.screaming for it. France drive one more time. Still not there. Jaco

:57:40. > :57:52.Peyper goes on his hands and knees to see what is going on. He blows

:57:53. > :57:57.his whistle. The rooking referee... REFEREE: I cannot see it. I'm going

:57:58. > :58:02.to go upstairs. We are going to go upstairs and we will have a look at

:58:03. > :58:06.this. See if you can find a grounding. I can find no clear

:58:07. > :58:17.grounding. I'll have a look for the grounding and get back to you.

:58:18. > :58:28.Can't see from there. Just watching the bodies go hurling out of the

:58:29. > :58:31.way. What you can't see here is the French right-winger is on - that is

:58:32. > :58:36.the nearest Irish defender five yards away. If they looked up,

:58:37. > :58:48.Bonneval has 20 metres. Can't see from that either. Damien Chouly for

:58:49. > :58:54.the line - he looked short. REFEREE: We have to see it. The

:58:55. > :58:56.referee saying he has to see it. Rob Kearney with the tackle.

:58:57. > :59:07.referee saying he has to see it. Rob he can't from that either.

:59:08. > :59:20.It is Jaco Peyper who is the next to arrive. There is no clear and

:59:21. > :59:33.obvious grounding of the ball. I cannot see the ball being grounded.

:59:34. > :59:36.We have to see the ball grounded. If we cannot see it... That is not a

:59:37. > :59:41.popular decision. You reckon? I think he scored that, but you

:59:42. > :59:46.could not see it, I think he scored that, but you

:59:47. > :59:54.could not give it. I think he scored that, but you

:59:55. > :00:03.right. Hold on. Nigel Owens wants a word. Are you happy, you don't want

:00:04. > :00:10.to see it again? I think we're going to end up with a scrummage. He can't

:00:11. > :00:19.hear the TMO, he just wanted to know.

:00:20. > :00:22.If anyone from France - Quickly now. O'Donohoe had 20 -- Bonneval had 20

:00:23. > :00:44.metres. Will they keep the ball in the

:00:45. > :00:49.scrum? Yes. Until they can't go anywhere else. At the back, this is

:00:50. > :00:55.what you dream of. This is what you practice. Try to get the ball out,

:00:56. > :01:00.in the middle of the pitch, there's so much space to ack too. -- to

:01:01. > :01:18.attack. The Stade de France comes to life.

:01:19. > :01:24.Though the scrummage doesn't. This is the second reset now.

:01:25. > :01:28.The crowd are trying to lift them. Let me ask you, is this satisfactory

:01:29. > :01:32.as a spectacle, watching it get reset time and time again? It's

:01:33. > :01:38.tedious. It hasn't been a great game, but this is one of the little

:01:39. > :01:41.moments of drama, Brian, moments of drama, attacking scrum, France, six

:01:42. > :01:56.points behind. They're under the Irish posts.

:01:57. > :02:07.Penalty to France. Oh, I thought he was heading for the posts then. But

:02:08. > :02:10.I don't suppose they'll go for anything other than another scrum.

:02:11. > :02:14.He couldn't do. Because there was no prospect of that going over. He

:02:15. > :02:20.won't allow much more. ( prospect of that going over. He

:02:21. > :02:23.won't allow much more. The problem is that the scrum was moving before

:02:24. > :02:48.the ball was introduced. Yacouba Camara comes off. If France

:02:49. > :02:51.were to get a converted try here, Ireland cannot sit back. They cannot

:02:52. > :03:00.keep a defensive battle and keep the ball down field. They'll have to be,

:03:01. > :03:16.to show more intent after that. Take three.

:03:17. > :03:32.The drive looks good. Penalty has been awarded. CJ Stander is on the

:03:33. > :03:40.ground and he awards only the penalty, not the penalty try. Again,

:03:41. > :03:46.deemed that he couldn't be certain or probably but this is the last

:03:47. > :03:49.time, if it goes back again, I think Ireland will find themselves under

:03:50. > :03:50.the push. The drive was more concerted that

:03:51. > :04:02.time. I don't want to be too cynical. But

:04:03. > :04:04.if I were Ireland, I'd drop it before they even move backwards.

:04:05. > :04:42.That is very cynical. It's another penalty to Ireland.

:04:43. > :04:48.Henshaw comes away with it. But we will have the penalty.

:04:49. > :04:54.This can't go on. I mean, this is the fourth penalty. I have to warn

:04:55. > :05:03.you for collapsing. This has collapsed on the bind. Income tax

:05:04. > :05:05.one, here. Irish player down. I think it's Robbie Henshaw. I think

:05:06. > :05:17.maybe a high tackle there. This is the scrummage. Down it goes

:05:18. > :05:21.immediately. They took your advice, Brian. There by avoiding the penalty

:05:22. > :05:25.try. What's your advice this time? Loann

:05:26. > :05:39.Goujon, the new player. What's your advice this time? Loann

:05:40. > :05:43.Robbie Henshaw. We may have to go through the whole protocol thing. It

:05:44. > :05:56.doesn't look so much concussion as a neck. It's Johnny Sexton actually.

:05:57. > :06:02.Oh, you're right. You do worry for him. I know Keith Wood worries him,

:06:03. > :06:12.he goes in high. You've expressed concerns. Outside halves shouldn't

:06:13. > :06:17.be exposed to this sort of clubbing. Listen, the physical side of his

:06:18. > :06:19.game is a massive part of his game. But the

:06:20. > :06:23.game is a massive part of his game. this. They're going down this

:06:24. > :06:26.channel. It's not good to see Johnny hurt like this. And coming off the

:06:27. > :06:33.pitch. Ian Maddigan had hurt like this. And coming off the

:06:34. > :06:39.if the World Cup. Hopefully he can replicate that. Jonathan Sexton goes

:06:40. > :06:43.off. For his welfare, you feel, almost grateful he's not going to be

:06:44. > :06:46.exposed any more. Ireland have a difficult problem here. If you're

:06:47. > :06:51.going to - Namely that. You may as well go for broke and shove early

:06:52. > :06:56.here, so you get the nudge on. Then the referee can't say that you were

:06:57. > :06:58.the team dropping. It's the lesser of all evils. I would shove early

:06:59. > :07:11.here. He scores! The fullback has scored

:07:12. > :07:22.the conversion is easy and France will take the lead.

:07:23. > :07:26.That's what you can do if you look at the quick ball there. I don't

:07:27. > :07:34.understand why more sides do not do this. Hugely quick. Straight out and

:07:35. > :07:39.as we've said, almost impossible to defend. Tommy O'Donnell was

:07:40. > :07:47.expecting the push from the forwards. He was tied in. That's so

:07:48. > :07:51.hard to defend. Disappointing. Big ten minutes ahead for Ireland.

:07:52. > :07:53.hard to defend. Disappointing. Big Maxime Medard had such a part to

:07:54. > :07:57.play in the tries of France last week. The angle there, he is such an

:07:58. > :08:02.instinctive runner. An excellent break. For Medard, this is why he's

:08:03. > :08:07.in the team, an instinctive, exciting player. A super line. You

:08:08. > :08:13.can see Robbie Henshaw slipped on the surface.

:08:14. > :08:17.There is time for plenty more to happen in this game. There is time

:08:18. > :08:22.for Ireland to regain control. They trail by the single point. Ian

:08:23. > :08:31.Madigan is on in the outside half position. That's a mistake. The

:08:32. > :08:36.crowd that has come to life, raises another roar. They know that it will

:08:37. > :08:43.either be a prospect of a long rifle kick into the right corner, putting

:08:44. > :08:53.Ireland back in their own territory, or an attempt for a penalty. Change

:08:54. > :08:58.of captaincy. Rory Best goes off. Richardt Strauss is on. Who becomes

:08:59. > :09:10.captain? I was hoping you weren't going to ask me that! No, I would

:09:11. > :09:11.reckon Jamie Heaslip. Now then, how do France, in this new age, manage a

:09:12. > :09:16.narrow lead? They nearly blew do France, in this new age, manage a

:09:17. > :09:20.against Italy last week leading by two points. They lead by one against

:09:21. > :09:27.the back-to-back champions of the six nations. Can they run down eight

:09:28. > :09:29.and a lot of minutes? They've gone back to the scrum as a friend and

:09:30. > :10:30.now they cut loose with Plisson. He's getting nothing on the wide

:10:31. > :11:17.outside. So he's busy around the forwards now.

:11:18. > :11:54.Still France which turn slowly into minutes.

:11:55. > :12:11.He runs out of space. A player down for France, I think it's Eddy Ben

:12:12. > :12:14.Arous, the prop. Unfortunately for Ireland, I think not only have the

:12:15. > :12:19.Arous, the prop. Unfortunately for injuries taken their toll, defence

:12:20. > :12:22.ill and on the work load, but it's important that the French are now

:12:23. > :12:25.playing with a lot more confidence. They're playing on the front foot.

:12:26. > :12:29.They obviously look better like that.

:12:30. > :12:34.Yeah, you can see the French now starting to get a bit of rhythm.

:12:35. > :12:37.They're slowing down the ball. They're not forcing anything. That's

:12:38. > :12:45.making it difficult for Ireland to get the ball. That's the end of Eddy

:12:46. > :12:55.Ben Arous' day. That means a return for Jefferson Poirot.

:12:56. > :13:21.Now they can think of something a little bit more attacking. That is

:13:22. > :13:24.the way people will be wondering why you're driving a line-out on your

:13:25. > :13:28.own 22. For that reason, if people pull it down, then you get the

:13:29. > :13:35.territory and the throw. I would encourage them to repeat this here,

:13:36. > :13:38.territory and the throw. I would you'll be seeing something similar

:13:39. > :13:42.again. They need to grind Benalities out of France to get -- penalties

:13:43. > :14:04.out of France to get into the French half.

:14:05. > :14:10.CJ Stander hasn't been in possession much lately because it has been all

:14:11. > :14:20.France. Is there anything left in this game?

:14:21. > :14:30.Is that a deliberate knock-on? Is it a penalty? It is, yeah.

:14:31. > :14:38.France 14 defenders because Jonathan Danty is out of action. Loann Goujon

:14:39. > :14:43.read that well. He knew that Danty was out of action and just led the

:14:44. > :14:49.charge. I was just going to say, keep the ball off the field and make

:14:50. > :14:52.him come back. At one point he's going to shout "advantage over" and

:14:53. > :14:55.that's not what you want. I don't think Ireland wanted the advantage.

:14:56. > :15:06.They wanted the penalty into the corner. As soon as that happens and

:15:07. > :15:15.his arm goes out, I think you get the ball off the field. I think

:15:16. > :15:24.penalty also. Danty goes off. Jean Marc Doussain comes on. Danty is

:15:25. > :15:30.enormous. And Doussain isn't. The clock has stopped. Eddy Ben

:15:31. > :15:36.Arous in the wars. Goujon has played well since he came

:15:37. > :15:41.on. Yes, because the Irish had to make substitutions, 20 minutes

:15:42. > :15:44.earlier than they really want the to, they've had to do a lot more

:15:45. > :15:47.work than the French substitutes who have come on and played the impact

:15:48. > :15:58.role that the Irish would have wanted their subs to do.

:15:59. > :16:07.It goes down. It has been a tail - an old-fashioned sort of game, lots

:16:08. > :16:13.of scrums, which is unusual in the modern game. And the scrum led to a

:16:14. > :16:19.try, channel one ball, blimey, haven't seen that for many a year.

:16:20. > :16:35.Since Japan in the World Cup! But it shows, very effective.

:16:36. > :16:44.We have been bogged down. The clock is running. That's what I was going

:16:45. > :16:49.to say. Time ticking away. You only need another reset one and then

:16:50. > :16:53.Ireland have one play. Ideally we need to get that channel

:16:54. > :16:54.one and get the ball out of the scrum and really stretch France

:16:55. > :17:21.here. They have to start again.

:17:22. > :17:26.Oh, France have turned it over and get the put-in. And again, the

:17:27. > :17:32.seconds are eaten up. Yeah, disappointing there.

:17:33. > :17:37.That's not what we want in our French scrum. If it doesn't go

:17:38. > :17:42.Ireland's way, it's a combination of two things. Not quite putting enough

:17:43. > :17:47.points on the board in the first half. And the injury situation and

:17:48. > :17:51.the French substitutions making more impact. The injury situation is

:17:52. > :17:55.something that can't really be helped. But certainly the amount of

:17:56. > :18:00.time we spent in the French half in the first half, you know, to come

:18:01. > :18:09.into halftime only six points ahead, I think that's something that

:18:10. > :18:16.Ireland will look to work on. It has been far from a classic. But the

:18:17. > :18:18.sound of the crowd will tell you that this is going to be a French

:18:19. > :18:36.victory. Is there still an advantage being

:18:37. > :19:07.played? CJ Stander coming in from the side.

:19:08. > :19:31.France inch forward again. Time is up. Off the field goes the

:19:32. > :19:37.ball. It's going to be a French penalty. They can raise their arms.

:19:38. > :19:44.They are going to win. They may be allowed to stretch their score. We

:19:45. > :19:47.are not done yet. What do you do - kick the ball off or take the

:19:48. > :19:52.points? It doesn't really matter, does it? It does if you hit the

:19:53. > :19:54.post. Of course, you take the points. Because then, you know,

:19:55. > :19:59.Ireland don't points. Because then, you know,

:20:00. > :20:03.it. They thump the ball off the field and it's a second, narrow

:20:04. > :20:09.victory for France, but the important thing is they are two

:20:10. > :20:17.victories. France have beaten Ireland by 10-9.

:20:18. > :20:24.STUDIO: Two from two for Guy Noves' men. The champions will be

:20:25. > :20:30.desperately disappointed. 9-3 at halftime. A resilient French side in

:20:31. > :20:34.the second half forcing Ireland to concede many penalties. We were

:20:35. > :20:38.expecting a lot from the bench and that came. Last week, the front

:20:39. > :20:44.five, you know, didn't really win the game against Italy. So today,

:20:45. > :20:50.when they came on, Eddy the game against Italy. So today,

:20:51. > :20:57.Slimani made the difference. It was a massive win in terms of confidence

:20:58. > :21:01.for France. It's an 8-1 penalty count against Ireland in the second

:21:02. > :21:04.half. They changed their front row, France did, after four minutes when

:21:05. > :21:11.the second scrum, Eddy Ben Arous came on and Slimani came on. It made

:21:12. > :21:16.a massive difference. It's a pity that rugby matches are held hostage

:21:17. > :21:19.to the scrum at times, but on days like this they are. That was the

:21:20. > :21:23.winning of the game for France. It was a dull game. Let's not pretend

:21:24. > :21:29.it was anything other than that. The conditions were pretty poor. As the

:21:30. > :21:32.second half moved on, the level of control that France had in all the

:21:33. > :21:36.game was down here in front of us in Ireland's half. They couldn't get

:21:37. > :21:40.any sort of flow at all to get out of it. They didn't have the ball.

:21:41. > :21:43.They spent maybe five minutes at the start of the second half kicking it

:21:44. > :21:48.into the French 22, other than that they spent the last 25 minutes in

:21:49. > :21:51.their own 22, nigh on impossible to score from there.

:21:52. > :21:54.their own 22, nigh on impossible to in the first half, they turned down

:21:55. > :21:56.a kick at goal and went for the corner. It took them a little bhiel,

:21:57. > :22:06.but they got over the line and scored.

:22:07. > :22:20.Is that the championship defence over for Ireland?

:22:21. > :22:30.We didn't quite get the dominance we had in the first, translated into

:22:31. > :22:36.more points. It is hard to know. From our point of view we look at

:22:37. > :22:38.that as a massive missed opportunity. Glasgow bound to be

:22:39. > :22:54.tried at was the difference the end. Because it comes out so quickly.

:22:55. > :22:59.Number 22, six metres. Henshaw comes after and it all happened at 100

:23:00. > :23:07.mph. Was a little bit slow getting off the scrum. It was big from

:23:08. > :23:16.France. Then they decided to play wide. They managed to score the try.

:23:17. > :23:20.Final thoughts. Almost happy, I thought unwilling to be a penalty

:23:21. > :23:26.try. Fortunately we didn't defend it. Credit to France, they scored

:23:27. > :23:33.the try. You always felt if the team scored the try they would win the

:23:34. > :23:39.game. There is a weird feeling that they haven't hit their stride, do

:23:40. > :23:44.you feel it is coming together? Winning is the best way to do it.

:23:45. > :23:49.Ireland were the best team in the Six Nations the last two years. It

:23:50. > :23:55.is Valentine 's weekend but not a lot to love their in-depth game. The

:23:56. > :24:02.tightest of margins, Ireland losing 10-9 to France. Just nine points

:24:03. > :24:06.separate all the fixtures in the Six Nations championship, next up we

:24:07. > :24:09.head over to the Principality Stadium, Scotland are the visitors

:24:10. > :24:12.and the next destination for France, we will see you very shortly, thanks

:24:13. > :24:15.for your company.