France v Ireland Six Nations Rugby

COMMENTATOR: Could this be a famous day for Ireland? It's Brian

O'Driscoll, virtually under the post. Ireland have won in Paris.

Brian O'Driscoll will be the toast of the whole of Ireland tonight.

What a start for the home side. France in front. Mix up in the Irish

defence - Ireland are in disarray. France are putting Ireland to the

sword. He's through. More poor Irish

tackling. Oh, yes they are back in this game! He's going to score.

They've snatched the game back. He's there, number eight scores!

Beautiful. The Irish captain has ripped through the park. I'm just

hearing the match is off. Why is it at the last minute. This is a course

of bemusement for the crowd. COMMENTATOR: Great try for Ireland,

two in rapid succession. Has on Jonathan Sexton. -- has to be

Jonathan Sexton. Ireland are the Six Nations champions.

There have been classic encounters, always eventful when France play

Ireland. The Irish arrive chasing a fourth win in a row against the

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

opening draw, the coach will be glad to welcome back Sean O'Brien and Rob

Kearney, whose brother Dave also come into the side. France make six

changes. Tomas brought in on the wing and five players promoted from

the bench. Welcome to the Stade de France. We thought spring had sprung

last weekend. It was a false dawn. It's been raining all night and all

morning. Grey skies are overhead. Normal service resumes. I have some

sunshine in the studio in the form of two Irishmen and a Frenchman.

COMMENTATOR: Paul O'Connell, what a start to an international career.

And O'Connell puts a green lid on it.

And the captain scores. Welcome Paul O'Connell and congratulations on an

incredible career. But it wasn't quite supposed to end this way. When

did you realise, when was the moment that you had to concede that the

body wasn't going to go on like that any more? It kind of comes over you

slowly. I suppose I've any more? It kind of comes over you

where I wanted to be and any more? It kind of comes over you

ago, I decided any more? It kind of comes over you

and had a chat with the guys over there, went for a swim. Literally

dipped your toe in the water of what could have been two years

dipped your toe in the water of what and everything. Yeah, it was going

to be great. I grew up and everything. Yeah, it was going

and played at Munster all and everything. Yeah, it was going

But it was an opportunity to do something different. I would love to

have done it. Unfortunately the injury that happened in the World

Cup against France was just one too many for me. I couldn't overcome it.

In some ways, it's not a decision that your mind gets made up for you

by the injuries. Nothing you can do. Taken out of your hands. Yeah. We

saw some of the great and good of rugby, the quotes this week,

everyone clamouring to say wonderful words about Paul's career and about

what kind of man he is off the pitch. Can you put into context the

impact on the game both in Ireland and abroad? He personified a total

mind shift change in Irish rugby, winning became the norm. Times

before that, Ireland would do OK, peaks and troughs. But there was a

sustained period of time when Brian O'Driscoll and Paul O'Connell

together were two totems for the Irish team. Nearly anything became

possible. There was unparalleled level of achievement in the Ireland

jersey and the red jersey of Munster. Six Nations folklore,

certainly raised Ireland's game up to be the one that all nations have

to aspire to. Yes, it's always hard for the French players to play

against Ireland. Ireland is like James Bond, you think you've killed

him, but they're never dead. They have a great group of players, great

leaders. You think, OK, O'Connell is not there, Keith Wood is not there,

O'Driscoll is not there. But they're still there. OK 007, what's the

highlight of this career, he called you Bond there, is it possible to

just pick a moment that personifies those great times in a green shirt?

It's hard to pick a moment. I'll go for winning the championship here.

I've only beaten France once in Stade de France, I've played them a

lot of times here. So winning the championship here in the fashion

that we did it in, lifting the trophy was an incredible night,

incredible day in my career. I have a poor record against France, but

the last few years have been kind and that was a great day and a great

night. Rugby hasn't lost you, has it? I can't imagine with your

knowledge you're going to walk away from the game. A coach perhaps? Some

days I think it's what I want to do. The other days it's the last thing I

want to do. I see coaches growing old in front of me and so I'm not

too sure. I'm really enjoying what we're doing today. I enjoyed last

night, meeting some of the BBC crew. So we'll see what happens. You

didn't have to say that. You've got the gig - you're here till the end

of the match we're loving having you. Let's concentrate on the

action. The opening weekend of the Six Nations produced some incredible

rugby, introducing new characters into a predictably gripping plot.

Never in short supply in the Six Nations, defiance. Italy deemed

useless, defiant. Canna their new find. France seeking precision to

the nearest millimetre. Virimi Vakatawa, their new find. The

universal quest passes out of context. Campanaro short by a

millimetre. The eight-man assault V number eight, Parisse. France's come

back. Jonathan Danty, Hugo Bonneval. Parisse of course, high tackle? No.

Jules Plisson and France - defiant. Italy's last chance. Parisse of

course... Not this time. The Calcutta cup match, the oldest

rivalry, new campaigns to launch. England and orders to be more

aggressive. Check. Play with a little edge, be nasty. Check.

Scotland under instruction to convert possession and chances into

points. Work in progress. Don't be afraid to express yourself. Vunipola

the passing prop. England not the finished article, but an away win -

it will do. The forecast - grim. The reigning

champions, struck by injury. But all Irish defiance and CJ Stander from

the land of the other green shirt, Conor Murray helping build the lead.

Wales' passing game going aerial. The start of their comeback. From

eight man, to one-man drive. Theme of the day - boom. Deft touches,

few. And in a game of boom, Wales with an edge. Priestly. Jonathan

Sexton with a difficult kick of his own. A little draw to make this a

draw. Or would it be? George North going forward. Rhys Priestland back

for the drop goal. Ireland-Wales defiantly even.

So, England and France top the RBS Six Nations table after round one.

France will take a lot of encouragement from the first win.

Wales against Scotland for you later on, BBC One this afternoon. Let's

talk a bit about CJ Stander, Paul, a man you know well from Munster. I

know you've given so much encouragement since his arrival. Man

comes from South Africa, gets his nationality, pops into a green shirt

and everything is hunky corpsery. But it wasn't -- dory, but it wasn't

like that. No, people think he's a overnight success. He came over here

at 22 years of age. This is an amazing try. He broke his hand in

that game. He was never really first choice for 12, almost 18 months.

He's really earned it. The last 12 months for Munster, he's been

incredible. He has been a two-to player in -- go-to player. Off the

pitch incredible character, totally bought into Munster, into Limerick.

He was so proud to be capped last week, as proud as any Irishman. I'm

delighted for him. He's a relentless player. He has a few frills to his

game, but he doesn't always choose to use them. 23 carries last week.

You wouldn't be surprised at that work rate? No, that is - Munster

fans and players will be familiar with those kind of stats. He's

relentless, both in defence and attack. How pleased will Joe Schmitd

be to have Sean O'Brien back? He's one of the main ball carriers all

the time. It's great to see him back in the jersey. I'm looking forward

to see how they function as a back row, to see Stander and him together

as big ball characters. You know from Sean O'Brien, time after time,

he's stuck in the midst of half the rucks. He will get a few turnovers.

They need a few of those today. We get onto France in a moment, don't

you worry. Now we hear from a man who enjoys playing in Paris very

much. Four years ago, it was 17-17 and quite a first half from Tommy

Bow. He scored a stunning second to give Ireland a healthy lead before

the French fought back for a draw. He's injured at the moment. So he's

going to be in our commentary box. He's on the touchline now.

The French fullback that day is still having nightmares about that

chip over his head from Tommy. You got a lucky bounce there, didn't

you? I think Rob Kearney is still not talking to me after not passing

it to him. I won't claim a lucky bounce, all planned. You mention Rob

Kearney he returns at fullback today after hamstring injury. How big a

boost is that for Ireland given the conditions today? Massive.

boost is that for Ireland given the that's coming in now, I think

looking at Dave Kearney, Rob Kearney, Andrew Trimble, with the

conditions here, they're three safe pair of hands. There will

conditions here, they're three safe of ball going into the air. With Rob

in the middle, it's a huge strength for Ireland going into this game and

something we can look to exploit in the French team. Gaby will talk

about Virimi Vakatawa, on the other wing today, Teddy Tomas is playing

for the first time in a year. Is that something Ireland can exploit?

I think it was the Ireland game last year, I was playing that game, I was

talking about there is going to be space behind the French back three.

Going to be putting the back on top of Vakatawa. Another area that

Ireland will look to exploit today. Two guys with the ball in hand and

they're dangerous. You make an excellent brolly holder. Thank you.

OK, Vakatawa is the seventh player that played 15-man rugby for a

couple of years. He caught the eye last week. Lots of connection on

Vakatawa. He didn't -- expectation on Vakatawa. He's got very good

sets. His physicality, he can make the difference. He didn't stay on

his wing. He came around Jules Plisson and gave an option all the

time. He's hard to stop, very strong with his upper body. He can run and

come into you too. If he runs around you, you might be taken. If he gets

into you, he can offer up the ball and give the ball like he did like

on that phase. There are elements in his game that we can Italy were

exploiting as well. He wasn't as good coming back. You think in

Andrew Trimble Ireland have a man to tackle that speed and size. You need

an experienced guy marking him and a clever guy marking him. Andrew has

perfected this over the years with Ulster and with Ireland. He holds

off, obviously Wales have an overlap. He waits till the ball is

in the air before he makes his decision. He shoots out of his line

and hits that. Jones is a big man as well. He nearly gets the turnover.

Same again later on in the game, with Liam Williams, here we have it

here. A great decision. He looks at coming up, then holds off, and

smashes Liam Williams. Holds him up and nearly gets the choke. That's

the thing with Andrew, he's not necessarily defending. He's almost

attacking without the ball. He nearly

attacking without the ball. He without the

attacking without the ball. He of his game.

attacking without the ball. He marking Vakatawa. Trimble

attacking without the ball. He huge level of exposure

attacking without the ball. He those decisions. There's no panic.

He turns those things into attack. Let's talk about Jonathan Danty, one

of those players for France, seemed to be involved in the best

of those players for France, seemed compared to Ireland's two. He was at

the heart of many of those. Yeah, he's very different from the rote

type of centre that we had -- rote type of centre that -- prototype of

centre that we had. His skills are very good. He can make yards in the

defence and attract the defenders. He makes the breaks and creates gaps

for the new phase. The French forwards are too slow to get into

position. They will have to speed their game today. He will make the

difference. He will target two players and make the pass at the

right moment. He's got very good feet on the point of contact and he

has a stutter pass at times. On that point of the off-loads. It can't

just about be off-loads. It is about having balance in your game. France

had 20 off-loads but looked disjointed at times. Ireland had

two. I'd like to see Ireland with a few more, maybe not today on the

dirty conditions - It's not a stat you're dwelling on. Not too much. I

just wanted to make a point. But it's the type of game that France

wants to play. it's the type of game that France

Paul said it was the highlight of his career, the Six Nations trophy,

lifted by Paul O'Connell and Ireland two years ago. The one and only time

Joe Schmitd had coached Ireland. Fond memories. He's been speaking to

us. Do you allow yourself to reminisce?

There's not much time for it to be honest. We didn't get to reminisce

because the changing room is so different. It didn't look like the

same place. There's been special moments here for me personally with

Clermont Auvergne as well. It's not an unpleasant place to come. How big

a test is this given the injuries and the six-days turn around. That

makes it complicated for us. We had to test the fitness of a number of

players post the Thursday training session. They seem in pretty good

spirit and hopefully they'll demonstrate their full fitness

running about the park today. And they're out. A point that I read

this week, which I thought was interesting, saying this is very

much a 23-man game, which we saw at the World Cup, it's carried on into

the Six Nations. These six changes today, we shouldn't read too much

into it. For him, every player is a starter. Yeah, he tries to find his

best team. He made four changes in the pack. The pack was average

against Italy. He expects much better performance. I feel putting a

shot across the bow. The front row last week for France were very lazy,

walked around the field a lot. They're dropped now. There's a

couple of big puppies inside there, 145 kilos for one of the props, he's

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

emotional moment. The anthems now. # We have come to answer

our country's call # From the four proud provinces

of Ireland # Allons enfants de la Patrie Le

jour de gloire est arrive # Contre nous de la tyrannie,

# Entendez-vous dans les campagnes Mugir ces feroces soldats

# Aux armes, citoyens Formez vos bataillons

# Qu'un sang impur Abreuve nos sillons

Different weather conditions this week. A grey, rainy day.

Ireland have seven in their team who are over 30. Nathan White 34, Mike

McCarthy 34. Rory Best 33. Sean O'Brien returns and brings late

20-something youthfulness to the pack.

Against Wales Conor Murray made 98 passes, 12 more than any other

player in round one of the Six Nations.

Ireland have more experience on the bench. Nobody has less experience

than Camille Chat who wins his first cap if he comes on, just 20 years

old. A little ceremony before the match starts, in aid of charity for

under privileged youngsters. Brian Moore good afternoon. Good

afternoon. I'm expecting today the Irish half backs to be very

important. 100 caps between them against eight only for France. Very

inexperienced half back partnership. That could be vital, especially if

the weather here is not good, the surface underneath I don't think

will help Ireland. The big powerful scrums - you have to weigh one thing

against the other. Kearney brothers, big job at the back. Ireland could

cause France a lot of problems, aggressive defence. I think looking

at the nine and ten for Ireland today with Murray and Sexton, with

the weather conditions, with two wingers with Thomas coming in, first

game in over a year, it's a lot of pressure. Jules Plisson starts.

France-Ireland. A confident start, simple catch

a good and long kick. A confident start, simple catch

the French side straight away. Let's see if the French decide to move the

ball like they did last week. CJ Stander, 23 carries off

rolling away. Not getting out of the way. I'm surprised at the

rolling away. Not getting out of the France. Can you explain that

tactically? Something and France. Can you explain that

me. No, looks like a miskick to me. Kick it straight down Andrew

Trimble's throat, I think that was definitely a miskick. Can you see

from France, their first definitely a miskick. Can you see

running straight at Jonathan Sexton, trying to get into his channel.

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

it's your fault for being there in the first place, mate, so don't lie

there. He knows the rules. He knows the

laws. Enough, enough. Yacouba Camara at the tail of the

French line-out. That was a good pass in the end,

wasn't it really. Slightly more conventional now through Yoann

Maestri. That's a great start for Ireland.

Putting the ten under pressure. Two bad kicks from him, Plisson.

Disappointed with the first line-out. A good line-out now

Disappointed with the first a bit of pressure on. An underthrow

there. Interesting because a bit of pressure on. An underthrow

French journalists I was talking a bit of pressure on. An underthrow

before the game were saying that he wanted the French side to play with

before the game were saying that he more pace in everything they do.

They've looked less They've looked less ind lent than

last week. -- indolent. Sean O'Brien back in the team after

injury. Henshaw takes it quite brilliantly.

Advantage being played Ireland's way.

A safe catch by Vakatawa, but no advantage, we'll go back to the

penalty. The penalty was there, so why not try it. One of the other

things, we were looking across, the French line twice on defence were at

least two yards in front of the back foot. I'm amazed they weren't picked

up. The French are putting massive line speed on the inside. We talked

about the conditions earlier. Those cross-field kicks I expect to see

more and more of those, two inexperienced wingers for France

with two relatively experienced wingers and good guys in the air for

ired. -- Ireland. Here we go, Jonathan Sexton puts

them into the corner, a five-metre line-out, Irish throw.

Alexandre Flanquart is against Devin Toner.

All the back row is involved. They are all dragged into it now.

Knock-on. Relief for France. Good defence. Solid. France have got out

of a situation where, subject to the scrum and clearing their lines,

obviously, that Ireland haven't registered a point when - was it on

there to pass to Rory Best? Probably not. And head up, looking at the

cattle! They are running right into where France are strong. You can see

how many people are lined up waiting for that tackle. Ireland will be

disappointed. They have had two opportunities in the opposition 22

to come away, potentially, with nothing, it is something we will

address. Ireland can feel good. It will be interesting that - you say

this time and time again, the surface looks great. Wait till they

scrummage on it... Well, Brian, they have put down a new pitch. Have

they? Remember how it dug up in the last few matches here? OK, let's

see. It will not help either side when they are scrummaging. If one

pack gets a nudge and you cannot get purchase, there is only one way -

backwards! I don't think Euro 2016 wanted a pitch that had been

destroyed again by rugby scrums. Jaco Peyper will give the old

rituals before the front rows go down. What pressure can they exert

on this French put-in? This angle does show how straight or otherwise

the props are. France pretty straight there. And they

the props are. France pretty through scrum-half Sebastien Bezy,

not the longest clearance, though. He shakes his head. Another good

chance for Ireland here, in the French 22. We have to capitalise on

these opportunities. Against France, you can't let them get

these opportunities. Against France, steam up. We need to come away with

some points. There's Flanquart. Before him, Yoann Maestri. Ireland's

throw. He is saying offside. Once the ball

does go beyond the 15, there is no offside, so he must have concluded

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

turned into a very good kick. It looked to me as though - it comes

down outside the 15. That is a very close call. France's line-out.

That's not straight either. Play on says the referee. Ireland have

shirts on the floor. They will need to get up and defend this. Toner

tries to grapple and wrestle. He's done a good job. Now, then, Jonathan

Danty - there's the power of the 17 stone centre. Ireland have held him

up. Now they have gone to ground. Turned over. Turnover, Ireland. Well

played, the Irish defence. Maxime Medard watched it bounce.

Ireland in possession through Sexton. That is a knock-on.

Again, you saw France trying to read the Sexton channel. He is a very

tenacious player and he played a big part. He is in there, he must

have... Well, he must have deceptive upper body strength. Absolutely. He

tackles upright. You can see him holding up Danty to get the

turnover. It is going to be a scrum. Ireland got the turnover and they

cleared their lines. France's second row - and there's the huge men in

the French front row. This is Uini Atonio here. He may be 23 and a half

stone. Bezy comes away. Plisson. It's a knock-on by Vakatawa.

I don't know if you heard that - he was telling the two French locks to

bind on to each other. He was Danty rather than Vakatawa

who dropped it in the end. Let's see if they are binding on to

each other. Keep an eye on them, Brian!

They seemed to be. It's a good scrum from Ireland.

Good enough to earn them the penalty. Before the game, I'd looked

at the front rows as well and France have the experience there, the edge,

and it is important that the Irish front row do...

There is an arm missing there. He's split completely. So he is not being

effective. It is technically not right, but he is not helping France

at all. CJ Stander wins the line-out. Good angle from Jared

Payne. 22-years-old, he is a puppy in this

Irish side, Robbie Henshaw. Trimble nearly got hold of that. Trimble

being so far upfield, means there is a gap which is covered by Henshaw.

We are having an aerial phase. Medard brings it down to earth. The

pass is on. Danty takes it in the end standing still.

Knock-on by the French forward trying to give those off-loads. A

chance for Ireland. Jared Payne has dropped the ball. So

we go back to the penalty. Of more concern to Ireland is they

have a player down. I think it is Jonathan Sexton down. It is, yes.

That all came from a great kick chase by Ireland, Mike McCarthy made

the tackle on Medard and it shows how slippy the ball is out there

with a lot of these knock-ones. Conversely, a French kick, no chase

at all, allowing Ireland to make ground

at all, allowing Ireland to make Absolutely. It is something the

Irish team know work so hard on. Kicking is a huge part of the

Irish team know work so hard on. chase. That is what players talk

about. A super kick chase. That is what players talk

Ireland will help us as this game goes on.

The contact on Jonathan Sexton looked - well, let's have a look.

Ooh, that is a late shot! It was right in front of the referee. That

is what it is for. Rather - the TMO has said something about a shoulder.

They spend their time looking at that rather than technical

scrummaging bits, which they don't know about anyway! Jonathan Sexton

has recovered enough to take this shot at goal.

Straight by Sexton. The team in green leads 3-0. On the balance of

play, that is absolutely fair. Ireland will be unhappy that it is

not more. They needed those points and they need to accumulate as much

as they can. France look a bit shaky. We need to try and get as

many points as we can. I wonder if he is missing it!

Very aggressive French tackling. Will Conor Murray go for touch? He

will. Damien Chouly not wishing to take it quickly. Yeah, it was

aggressive defence from France. But still the exit from Ireland

relatively comfortable. A very good catch by Toner. No panic. And a good

kick from half-backs. Atonio - he is good in open play.

Medard. Flanquart, the other second row.

Rory Best tries to slow everything up. The referee waving play on. It

is there. France have to pile a lot of bodies in to get that back.

That's a penalty. George Ayoub, the TMO, dubbed that a neck grab. It is

a penalty, five metres out. Come to the sideline. Which sideline? Which

one, George? It is a penalty against 8 Blue. Neck grab on the ground. It

is not helpful... Where I am? Which one? Where am I going? No... The

penalty is towards the sideline. Five metres out from the sideline.

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

neck. Clear 8, around the neck, Damien Chouly, penalty. In case you

are wondering why, we haven't seen multiple replays of that cheap shot

from behind on Jonathan Sexton, it is because we have got French TV

pictures. It will be a case to answer. Absolutely. The shoulder in

the back when the ball had gone, that could definitely be brought up

again. Jonathan Sexton very delicately

places it down field. Maxime Medard kept it in but the Touch Judge gives

Ireland the throw. That was a very good kick by Sexton. Very little

angle to work with as well. It is important Ireland capitalise on

this. This is yet another chance deep in French territory.

France did well. They slowed it up. Sean O'Brien almost rolled into

France's hands there. Have you seen him before, Brian? In club rugby,

yes. Yacouba Camara. Hands off was... You need to see

just before then, whether or not he was let go, whether or not he had a

chance to throw the ball, whether or not he did in fact not play it. The

Stade de France is full. Ireland come away with it. Sean O'Brien, a

lovely dummy, lovely sidestep by the wing forward.

Jonathan Sexton, after his little mistake, puts boot to ball. Nice

bounce. Maxime Medard, not much ground made

there. Sean O'Brien looks like he's hurt here as well. France's

full-back glances over and, yeah, you are right, Tommy - these are the

fit French players. Sean O'Brien, here he is, poleaxed near the

halfway line. Did he hurt himself with the

sidestep? If he did get a bang to the side of

the head, it's not readily apparent. The captain looking on. His team are

3 now down. France haven't come to -- 3-0 down. France haven't come to

life. Here is his replacement, Tommy O'Donnell, getting ready to replace

Sean O'Brien. It's a leg injury. O'Donnell, getting ready to replace

think he did it as he landed for the sidestep. There. There. Oh, yeah. Is

that the lateral? It doesn't look nice, when you see somebody like

Sean O'Brien go down. He is a strong boy, so he must be pretty sore. He

Sean O'Brien go down. He is a strong looks quite sore. That is worrying

for Ireland. It looked like he strained the lateral as he put

weight on it and it give way. He is so powerful. When he does do a

sidestep like that, it is serious. I hope he is alright. CJ Stander wins

the line-out for Ireland and Rory Best, as he's done for many a year

now, sets up the driving maul, steering it from the number 2 shirt

at the back. Sexton again. Tommy O'Donnell, the

new man. CJ Stander. He may become even more of a principle runner now

that Sean O'Brien is off. Sebastien Bezy with the tackle. Andrew Trimble

sets it up. Conor Murray has to go to ground.

Sexton. It is there for Murray. No way through.

Stander - it's gone loose. France come away with it. Bezy. Rob Kearney

is back there. No advantage, it went forward from Ireland.

is back there. No advantage, it went wants a word with Jonathan Sexton.

REFEREE: Rugby values... Rugby values? Which one? Don't push

me! It is just a scrum for the knock-on. There's

me! It is just a scrum for the end of the Irish movement. It is CJ

Stander who loses it. What on earth did that mean? A guess anyone? A bit

of lip, Brian, a bit of chit-chat. did that mean? A guess anyone? A bit

think he might have said something not too pleasant - just a guess!

Fair enough. Rugby values - don't swear!

There is a split in the Irish front row there. Yeah. Rory Best and Jack

McGrath didn't bind. I like the spider-cam, the one overhead.

REFEREE: Getting separated from his prop, and it collapsed.

Just a reminder, straight after this game - here is the Irish scrum that

collapsed in the front row. Rory Best he does completely. Sad sight

for Ireland, Sean O'Brien just back from one injury, hobbling off with

another. A slightly ironic cheer as France

win their own line-out. And then the roar increases as the drive sets

off. REFEREE: You separated. You are not

down. Technical detail... Yoann Maestri

not impressed. Again, Ireland's scrum in France's

half. Ireland need to transfer all this pressure into points. Ireland

have been into the France half so many times. Not least because

Ireland have looked much more organised than France. One or two

bits of imprecision, I think. The slippy ball, there's probably been

four knock-ones in the -- four knock-ons in the France 22. A lot of

coaching going on in the coaching booths.

Conor Murray to feed this scrummage, not quite yet.

After this game, Wales versus Scotland at the Millennium Stadium,

the Principality Stadium, rather and tomorrow Italy versus England. All

the weekend news and action and reaction on Rugby Special tomorrow.

Scrum V in Wales. The French number 5 is trying to bind on to the

hooker. He is trying to put more pressure through Rory Best from his

loose head. If they get the pressure on early enough and the left-hand

lock stays square, that will work. If it doesn't, it is a negative

thing because it will split the French scrum, so it is a risk. At

the moment, it isn't working for them. That is what he is trying to

do. He is not binding again. We are

under way. Robbie Henshaw. Henshaw. Ireland are on the move.

Big Devin Toner. That is better recycling from Ireland.

Oh my word! He was clattered. Rob Kearney, his brother, keeps the move

going, Dave Kearney is back on his feet. Here he is.

Toner tackled by Atonio, the prop. Sexton. It is coming Dave Kearney's

way. He's lost it forward. REFEREE: Ripped by Blue. So an

advantage is being played. Henshaw sets it up. CJ Stander. France

penalised. HOME FANS BOO

You have to hand it to France, it is excellent defence from them. Ireland

need to go through the phases, hold on to the ball. We know the French

indiscipline will give them penalties, like we seen there. Will

you kick this? I think they will take the points, yes. Another thing,

the French middle are coming up so fast, I wouldn't mind seeing a few

kicks to the corners like we saw in the first couple of minutes, that

worked very well for us. That's Dave Kearney finding out that

cutting into the line off your wing doesn't always work. He looks

alright. Or does he? He is receiving

treatment as Jonathan Sexton prepares for this kick at goal.

Sexton. Very safely through the middle. France 0, Ireland 6. Another

three points for Ireland, but at a cost. There you see another man has

gone off. Dave Kearney wasn't able to shake off that tackle by Guilhem

Guirado. Ireland will have to call on a second replacement after only

half an hour. Conor Murray sends one high. Well-taken by the number 6.

France have spent very little time in this Irish half.

Now they might be able to conjure something up - Plisson, Medard - and

they have dropped it again. It went backwards, though, so they have

Irish shirts lying on the ground. Another injury.

McFadden is on. He didn't really look at the ball. Just collided.

No-one was really looking at the ball there. Irrespective of that,

that's the sort of offence that was not needed. France have been awful,

frankly. They had a five or three there. They didn't even make it

count. They were going nowhere. Good defence by Ireland. A soft penalty.

They were playing the penalty advantage. They knew they could come

back to this. Plisson, who wasn't giving the kicking duties to begin

with last week, starts this week and puts France on the board.

The balance of play, to me, has been vast majority have been more

organised play has been Ireland. It's just from their point of view

it's a great pity they are only three points in front. They've been

better team. It will be a concern for Ireland that they lead by only

three. This is

fluency to their movement, more speedy delivery

Unsuccessful. One area that will concern Joe Schmidt, Owen Farrell is

coming in, but at the moment, they are defence coachless, I understand.

If you watch the realignment, too many times they are getting front

row and forwards defending. France have not been able to take control

of that and capitalise on that. But if that continues, giving those

chances, those mismatches away will count. Mike McCarthy will go off for

treatment to that. There's Yoann Maestri. That's France's best

passage of play. It's taken another toll on Ireland. Ireland lead by

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

they're losing players. They've lost goes Mike McCarthy. They make the

change. On comes Donnacha Ryan, second row for second row.

Sexton goes long just to get Ireland back down into the French half.

France more confident now on the ball.

Medard watches those and it will be a scrum back for France. ( Jonathan

Sexton was aiming for the right-hand corner. It was a poor kick. The

intent was right. The space was there. Good defending. At the

moment, the Irish just need to trust their defence. The French are not

making ground. Provided they solve the problem with getting slower men

in the outside channels, they're fine at the moment.

He took a hefty clout, a cheap clout early on in this game Johnny Sexton,

one of the many Irish casualties in this bruising first half. But they

lead. The thing that is worrying, Ireland

can cover that because they have a decent bench. But these players

ordinarily would have been used as impact players, with 20 minutes to

go, now are playing a much different role.

Ireland get the better of the scrummage. A penalty. After a period

of defence, will Johnny Sexton say, let's get more

of defence, will Johnny Sexton say, Yeah, completely.

of defence, will Johnny Sexton say, Just before halftime as well. It

will be interesting to see if they show a high shot of the scrum. As

soon as you get pressure on, with the second row, the scrum splits

completely. As an attacking ploy it works. Once under pressure, you have

the second row not bound, it's awful. To me, it's a risky tactic.

There are all sorts of notions of modern mechanics and everything, but

if you're not tightly bound, as a front five, things go wrong. The

reason it's not used more often is it's stupid really. Thank you,

Brian, thank you. Sexton, low, tumbling, straight.

France 3, Ireland 9. Reward for a very good Irish scrummage.

Also paying credit to McGrath would stuck in there. The ball came down

through the fine rain, Devin Toner couldn't catch that one.

France will pour through on this. They have earned the penalty.

The first time Devin Toner's hands have let him down at the restart.

There could be a price here. France might fancy a little corner line-out

and rumble. Well, let's see. No. Simple there. He'll be disappointed

in that. No, he returned the ball there.

How many times does that happen, going you know, get points on the

board, not deal with the restart. It's one of the weird ones, isn't

it? No pressure really on Devin Toner. He's caught more difficult

balls than that. This will be the last kick of the

first half. Unless it bounced off a post and thingedz get a little

hairy. -- things.

We're into overtime. The referee checks whether 40

minutes have been played. Oh, for God sake. It is half time. Thank

you. Halftime at the Stade de France, the

away team, Ireland, lead by 9-3. STUDIO: So Ireland leading France 9

pave 3. At times it was an attritional and

turgid, tough first half. It was not for the faint hearted. Not too

pretty and it took a long time before the crowd got going really.

Ireland sticking to their plan of not committing themselves to the

off-load too much. It hasn't made any difference to what was really a

lack of attacking play. I guess possession also, I missed the final

total of the half, at one point France down to 31, 32%. If you

haven't got the ball, you can't attack. At the moment, it's 50-50,

the last ten minutes or so, France got into the game. Your thoughts

then, Keith? The conditions are difficult. The ball is greasy out

there. It's hard going into contact. It has been a half of defences. The

defences worked well, even for the purple patch at end, Ireland were

comfortable. They were able to contain it. It's a bit of shadow

boxing. There's been a sway. And France are lucky and unlucky. They

could have had that three points there. Could have been just three

points down. Kicking was the problem last week. Plisson came in for Bezy

and thank goodness for Jonathan Sexton, because it could come down

to that. Plisson saved us last week, but this week, even defensively, I

think the line is more aggressive. We were getting to the Irish. But

the Irish they have the ball most of the time. We cannot produce

anything. We cannot rely only the time. We cannot produce

Vakatawa or an individual efforts to make the yards. We need to play more

like a team. At the moment we don't have any balls to do that. I think

days like today, in wet conditions, when it's hard to get the ball

through the hands, you're going to affect the score board probably with

penalities. Winning the penalty count is really important. Ireland,

there's going to be more scrums. Ireland have been on top in the

scrum. 2-1 in the penalty count on scrums. You have to kick the

penalties when you get them. Johnny has kicked one, Plisson has missed

one. Your fist-pumping coach there, who knows where the game could be

won or lost. Let's look at physical France. There were times where it

felt there was deliberate targeting of Jonathan Sexton. At the very

start, the ball was bounding off the top, you could see a target straight

up into the middle. It's the second one we're looking for. Jonathan

Sexton is in it. You see Yoann Maestri going in. Johnny is too high

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

wincing, shaking his shoulder. He hurt that last week. You want to

keep that guy on the field as much as you can. As we said, he should

keep that guy on the field as much avoid that type of contact

keep that guy on the field as much helped by the back rows. He's a

target from the French players. Every time they can put him on the

field or try to, you know, get a hit on him, they try to do it. That's a

yellow card. All day long, I have to say, the match director here in the

ground did not replay that at all. But it's a yellow card. I doubt it

overly hurt Jonathan Sexton either. It's three points Ireland. Ireland

will be delighted if France want to do that kind of thing. It's just too

easy to give away three points like that, on the day when the penalty

counts is going to be massive, it's clumsy play. It will go to review.

It was Maestri the first one, potentially miss a few matches. When

you have a team of Ireland, you're coming on your field and they don't

kick the first penalty, it means they are full of confidence. The

French players, they've been very much rated bit coach, but they're a

bit upset about that here. The atmosphere here is infinitely better

than last week. There's a buzz to the whole thing. We were chatting

earlier on. France will raise their game to the team they're playing

against. They seem to have more of a buzz about them this week, even

though they're not in great control with the ball in hand. That's been a

problem for Ireland. A few handling errors. Will Joe Schmidt feel at the

point they were 65% possession, Ireland should have made more of

that possession. Ireland should have made more of

here. Ireland were in the Green Zone, where you just have to hammer

away at the line. France necessarily don't need to miss a tackle here for

Ireland to get over the line. Ireland just have to keep making

metres and eventually they score. But they turned it over. Ireland are

normally effective here in the opposition 22. That's disappointing

from an Irish point of view. They have been dominant. At times, when

you are spending large tracks of time in the 22, you want to get

something out of it. You know, as the game goes along, France will get

a period of time when they're in control. You need to take those

opportunities. I think the French bench, especially in the forwards,

we are quite powerful. We will bench, especially in the forwards,

some changes. That might change maybe the game. Particularly scrum

time. France potentially have a stronger scrummaging front row to

come off the bench. As we said, in wet conditions there is going to be

knock-ones. There's opportunities to gain penalties off scrums.

Particularly pleasing with strengthening upfront and thinking

he might have the upper hand, but Ireland were earning the penalties.

I don't know if the front row today are the strongest scrummaging front

row. If he'd known the weather when he picked the team, maybe, Slimani

would have started. Yeah it could affect the game. Brian Moore picked

up on the fact that affect the game. Brian Moore picked

binding in the French second affect the game. Brian Moore picked

back row wasn't tight enough. I thought Ireland got low, hips very

low, got in a very good position. Great strength

low, got in a very good position. side. You can see it here. Suddenly

there's a shunt. A great sense of balance in the middle of it.

there's a shunt. A great sense of comfortable with that. A lot of

these just led to penalties, as this one did.

That's the best way of exiting from your own half. If you don't have to

take the ball out of the scrum, if you can just win a penalty,

especially in these conditions. Ireland under Joe have been positive

and always liked and wanted to play-off scrum balling. On days like

this, if you have to keep the ball in, penalties are golden. They are

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

kick. Joe Schmidt was fist pumping at that. Exactly, when playing

against a guy who's 24 stone and he decides not to push straight, you

wonder what he's doing. If he stays straight, he puts Ireland under more

pressure. Jack McGrath is giving him a nudge. It looks like he's to

blame, and he was on a couple of them. You would have loved that few

minutes spent scrummaging there. This time last week we were

celebrating the likes of Danty and Vakatawa. It took a long time before

we remembered Vakatawa was even on the field of play today. Because the

French backs didn't get the ball. We spoke about the scrums, but when you

don't have clean balls from the scrums it's very hard. You can see

there that Vakatawa, when he's got the ball, all the time you need two

free defenders to get on him and stop him. Ireland need to be

vigilant. At the start of the game, they made some high balls to test

him. He was there. Catch that ball was very important. Ireland

tactically tried to provoke him. It's very hard for Vakatawa to get

into the game a whole lot, when France are pinned back in their half

all the time. He got more involved last week, but it was in the

22-metre period on the other side of the Italian side. It lifted the

crowd when he got ball in hand. Let's get the view of another famous

winger it's Tommy Bowe. Ireland had injury problems going into the Six

Nations, Tommy is one of them. It was tough for Ireland fans and for

Nations, Tommy is one of them. It Joe Schmidt to see O'Brien and

Kearney in trouble. How disruptive is that to lose not one, but two,

fairly influential figures in the first half. Massive. And for two

guys that have just come back into the team, who would be trying to set

down a marker. Sean O'Brien we need his ball carrying against the

French. It's one of the key areas that we need This Morning team. Very

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

more injuries. We saw Johnny Sexton go down in a heap, Poe laxed by

Yoann Maestri. What does it say about his mental resilience that he

got up, dusted himself down and slot the penalty. That shows the

character that Johnny has. There's been a few cheap shots on him. He's

definitely been let know that he's here. Shows the strength of kark

that he has to step up and nail three kicks as he has and put the

ball into the right areas against the French and going by the way the

weather is now, it will be even more important. What's your opinion on

the French tactics in the first half, which you could say

diplomatically have been borderering on -- bordering on illegal at times.

I think borderline. The TMO, I would have thought maybe would have gone

back and looked at one or two of those shoulder charges. There have

been a few hairy ones, ones very much on the line. I think the

commissioner might be getting in touch through the week. I think

you're right. Thank you. The other game today in the Six

Nations is in Cardiff. It's the visit of Scotland, of course.

They've lost against Wales eight times in a row, a record they really

didn't want. If they're going to change that today, they'll have to

win the bat. Back rows. -- battle of the back rows. We are

going to be up for a big task this weekend. We've got threats

throughout the whole field. We will have to be on our toes. At home,

it's going to be tough. That's why you play rugby for these great

occasions. It will be outstanding. Warn Gatland has never lost against

Scotland. You must feel invincible when the Scots come to town? Not at

Scotland. You must feel invincible feeling like that. The group of

Scotland. You must feel invincible players. They're capable of beating

good sides. Like they showed, unlucky not to progress further.

good sides. Like they showed, man of few words, but a great

ability and consistency. He's started 21 games in a row in the Six

Nations. You know about his prowess. He's a fantastic player. He's one of

the strong, silent types. He's incredible off the back of the

scrum, as we saw last week, with his try against Ireland, a brilliant

finish. Even there was an exit scrum later in the game, where he broke

off a scrum that was under pressure and managed to skip around someone,

gain seven, eight metres and allowed Wales to exit their own areas

comfortably. He's a complete player. Excellent on both sides of the ball,

defending and attacking and brilliant at the break down as well.

A real consistent guy for Wales over the last number of years. Overall,

what due make of Wales last week? I thought they were very good. I

suppose they'd no linebreaks, which they'll be disappointed with. They

should have had a few but for some clever defending from Ireland. They

found a way. If you don't have linebreaks you have to kick your way

there or get penalties. Just a kick word on their opposition as well.

Scotland finished the World Cup arguably the team of the home

nations, certainly, who felt that was the proudest in terms of

performance and came out with a spring in their step and didn't seem

to liftoff in that same vein last week. No, I thought they were

strangled by England last week. England played a heavy style, which

is England's natural style, especially in the forwards,

heavy-hitting type rugby. It just took the energy out of the Scottish

defence. They seemed to be having to tackle for the whole day, having to

put extra men into the ruck. They just petered out. We've had a few

hum-dingers haven't we? Tomorrow you can listen to Italy against England

from Rome. COMMENTATOR: Magnificent goal from

Wayne Rooney. Oh, how about that? The FA Cup fifth round.

COMMENTATOR: A fantastic hit. Next weekend, live across the BBC.

COMMENTATOR: Can he finish here? Yes, he can. Anything could happen.

Back here to Parry, where the first -- Paris, where the first half of

France against Ireland, seems to be dictated pretty much by the weather.

( dictated pretty much by the weather.

France, Ireland. That's a great start for Ireland. The team in green

leads by 3-0. Oh, my word. France 3, Ireland 9 in this bruising... Just a

quick word on that Maestri, if lead in 40 minutes' time? Let's

return to our commentators. COMMENTATOR: So far this has been an

ad for having a roof on a stadium. If the weather, if anything, has got

worse actually. It has. It's a very fine vertical rain. It's not so much

the passing that gives way, it's the ball gets squeezed out of contact in

the tackle. There have been some enormous tackles and some of them

have been legal. So France under way through their tall, lanky second

row, stripped by CJ Stander. Ireland on the front foot.

Tommy O'Donnell is still on for stitched up, raring to go again.

Tommy O'Donnell is still on for Ireland. Penalised. France are

repreefd. -- reprieved. Seemed that it was so unexpected,

one on one strip, that they didn't really have an idea where to move

the ball. Tommy back in position. Is the rain

heavier down there? Yeah, it's getting a fair bit heavier down

there. The conditions are getting worse. The surface looks very

slippery. worse. The surface looks very

to throw it. He has been one of the most ferocious tacklers.

His tackling has been good. Vakatawa on the wing, three on two

and he steps inside. Stander is strong on the ball.

Trimble, sorry. It looks like both teams are trying

to play a little bit more rugby. But since they've come out, the rain is

coming down hard. There's a lot of knock-ones again. Like we saw in

coming down hard. There's a lot of first couple of minutes of the first

half, the two cross-field kicks, putting the two French wingers under

pressure, it's a tactic that Ireland should really go back to.

That was meant for Toner. Came off his head. Which is not a knock-on!

Which wouldn't have been a knock-on. Jonathan Danty... Eddie, from the

French point of view, you have a player, who is creative and

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

understand that. It is one of the bugbears of being a winner. You want

Vakatawa with the ball in his hand, but if you don't pass him the ball,

there is not much he can do about it. He is such an unconventional

player. You may as well give him early ball as well. Just give him

the ball. Better scrummage by France. Bezy - oh, really slow ball,

so they have gone for the kicking option. Fair enough, it is going to

put France in a territorial position - oh no, it's gone too far. So, what

a waste of a good scrummage by Jules Plisson. They have at least changed

the binding system. They are both binding on each other and then they

kick it out. Happy days(!) You said it all, Brian.

Here we go. Changes, perhaps earlier than expected. The Giants come off

and Eddy Ben Arous and Rabah Slimani come on. Slimani may well be...

Sorry, Hugo Bonneval comes on and it is Teddy Thomas who comes off. So

Bonneval, who started against Italy, back on the wing. Slimani may well

not be as heavy as the player he's replaced, but he is a better

scrummager. I'm wondering whether Bonneval, who

is more a full-back than a winger, Tommy, are they anticipating more

kicks in this rain? I think so. It seems strange that there's a winger

substitution so early into the second half. I would imagine the way

Thomas came off there, it must be tactical. Bonneval is very good in

the air. This is Eddy Ben Arous on the loose-head side against Nathan

White. Rory Best pops up, Ireland go

backwards a little bit. It is out there for Jared Payne. Rob Kearney.

The referee says that went back. Surely that was a knock-on? Ireland

still in possession. Their go-to man, CJ Stander. Sexton. That didn't

work. Deflection, a chance for Bezy. Off-load, a rarity today.

Plisson. Mermoz, Danty. A French player is down on the far side. They

try and bring Virimi Vakatawa into play. Flanquart. The tallest target

for the Irish defenders, Plisson switches, Maxime Medard. Jonathan

Sexton drawn into the tackle, but he's alright.

Vakatawa hovers. Yacouba Camara has dropped it, not for the first time

in this second half. It is interesting watching Vakatawa. He

desperately wants to get on the ball. He was drawn in to be

scrum-half there and he is wondering around just hoping to get a pass.

Excellent defence by Ireland again. France really are going nowhere.

Exactly. They are trying to get the ball into Medard's hands. It's a

Green wall in front of ball into Medard's hands. It's a

whole time so Ireland will be very happy with that, forcing the errors.

Camille Chat, who is 20, he's been put forward as a candidate for

greatness. Guilhem Guirado is going to stay on for the moment. Chat

comes on, comes off, Guirado stays on. He will still have to wait a

little longer for his first cap. Rabah Slimani on the far side with

the beard, up against Jack McGrath. Jack McGrath has had a good couple

of games so far. The problem is on this side, which

you can't see. The reason for that is, as soon as he goes on one side,

both of the props decide to cheat, obviously. What do you think, Tommy?

The scrum... Yeah, I think they need to push a bit harder! Here is the

change at hooker, the captain goes off. The roar because the French

crowd know that this hooker has real potential. Camille Chat.

Those are the changes in white. They are on. 16, 17, 18, the new French

front row. France try and

it away. Jared Payne. Good clear-out work by

supporting Irish players and CJ Stander puts Ireland into the French

half. Maxime Medard did very well to

any sort of ground there. The Touch Judge on this near side, Nigel Owens

- he has only one game in the 6 Nations this year. They are trying

out new referees. We mentioned - and we have given Jack McGrath praise

for the way in which he's held the Irish scrum. But you should give a

lot of praise to Nathan White. Tight-head is a position where most

pressure comes on. Although he's retreating, he's only done so very

slowly which has given time for the Irish halfbacks to play. Tommy

O'Donnell heads for the French midfield.

The switch, O'Donnell - it's worked well. Rob Kearney, but the off-load

finds Chat. Away come France. There's Vakatawa. He gets the pass

away. Camara. Did that go forward? It did. At last, France break loose

on turnover ball. That It did. At last, France break loose

when you see turnover ball, with some of the strike force France

have. The last thing we want to do is have this crowd getting behind

the French team. You are right, Tommy. That was a move which...

There you go. It's a pre-planned move, Rob Kearney. There was a

There you go. It's a pre-planned there, he got his shorts nearly

ripped off him! It is those off-loads in the opposition half

that are key to letting France off the hook.

That's the halfway line. France can - oh, they can't. Nathan White turns

in. He didn't turn in. He wasn't as much turned in as his opposite

number. The ball's out. Conor Murray under

pressure. Ireland have done very well to scrape that away. Jonathan

Sexton, tackled by his opposite number. Ireland into the French

half. Goes without saying, CJ Stander on

the charge. Medard watches it patiently. Ireland

are where they want to be. You are right, that is exactly the point.

The pressure is still on France. Busy moments for the new hooker. Has

to find his target. Ireland steal it. Rory Best. Vastly

more experienced at hooker, 33 years old. CJ Stander, again! Jonathan

Sexton. The trial by up and under. Has it gone forward off Ireland? One

knock-on, if not two there. Good tactic. Good tactic. The French back

three do not want to see anymore of those high balls come off there. It

is a horrible experience being a full-back under one of those when

you know the Irish team are coming through hard. The other thing,

Tommy, if the ball is turned over, they are right in the middle of the

field, you never know what a referee will do at a scrum anyway, and they

have still got, what, 90 metres to go. Good play. I thought Robbie

Henshaw was going for a header at goal at one stage!

Very different type of scrum for France now. Now, they have to lock

it up, as Ireland will look to disrupt.

REFEREE: It was fine up to the new front row - gap. 5...

Damien Chouly in the French back row. They look up. What are Ireland

going to do? It is a great scrummage position. There is space on both

sides. If they get turnover ball. Not for the moment. France hold

firm. Now, it is twisting. They have to play it quickly. They have got

the penalty. Jonathan Sexton threw his hands up in frustration.

France up to - just near the halfway line. France will be delighted with

that. They were in a difficult position, to get a penalty and clear

their lines, it is an excellent exit from them. You had to come in there

because Brian was shaking his head at the scrummage. Speak to us,

Brian! Camara, just about gets it down to Flanquart. France, on the

move, through Chouly. The speed of Bezy, the first dart by

the scrum-half. Squirted out, though. France have knocked it on.

The Touch Judge on that far side... Again, we come back to the fact the

Irish defence is simply not proving porous in any way. Ireland have

maintained their discipline. A change at scrum-half for France. Off

goes Sebastien Nathan White on the tight-head side.

The lighthouse figure of Devin Toner! The way the Irish are set up

here, you have Rob Kearney on the left-hand side with his left foot to

put it long, Medard is in the middle, he doesn't know which way to

go, Jonathan Sexton can put it into the right corner - it's a very

difficult one to defend. It depends what the scrum does - can they keep

the right-hand side up or not? Or if they get the ball out. Free kick.

Quickly taken. Robbie Henshaw. Jonathan Sexton releases Andrew

Trimble. Number 6 for Ireland is CJ Stander.

Sexton... They have a look at Hugo Bonneval in the air, no, Maxime

Medard. Just took it ahead of Rob Kearney. That is a very

Medard. Just took it ahead of Rob because Kearney is excellent in the

air. Chat, the new scrum-half. The more

orthodox, Machenaud. The only thing I would say, Tommy,

Ireland are looking comfortable in defence at the moment. But, whilst

they only have a six-point lead, you never know, a turnover and a

converted try - they would want at least three more scores to give them

that cushion. Absolutely. The French are so dangerous. They can score

from anywhere. Ireland are comfortable, they are in the French

half a lot. We do need to get a few more points on the board if we can.

Guirado is back on, so Chat has his first cap, but he is back on the

bench. Rory Best. Well-taken, Devin Toner. The maul is moving. Tommy

O'Donnell controlling it. O'Donnell comes away.

Good tackle by Guirado and France get the penalty. The captain comes

back on and it is his work that get the penalty. The captain comes

means that France can get into the Irish half. That is the third time

the inside ball has been given, but if that is a planned move, which it

is, the support players have to anticipate it better and be there

because he was isolated. Off a maul, it is so important if somebody does

because he was isolated. Off a maul, go through there, because all the

forwards are in the maul, there is no-one there

forwards are in the maul, there is support him. France have capitalised

on that a few times. A turnover penalty, one for France,

19, Paul Jedrasiak, he started A turnover penalty, one for France,

against Italy last week. It is the villain of today's piece, Yoann

Maestri - and they are still not showing him - oh, there he

They are on the move. Nowhere near the game line. Machenaud. Danty.

Sexton has to give a little yard or two. It's gone forward again off

France. They can't hang on to the ball.

Guirado must be very frustrated, but it's a combination of two things.

Ireland are defending well, well on the game line, but France also - it

is simply not good enough, the handling is not good enough, and the

combination of both of those is giving them nothing. Let's not take

it away from Ireland in terms of their effort and defence, but you

must acknowledge the French are playing poorly as well.

They are not going into the breakdown situation on their own

terms. Ireland have pinned their arms and they have got them - the

defence is on top. You see Tommy O'Donnell and Jonathan Sexton there,

just small niggles and holding on for that extra split-second, when

they are trying to get the ball back and it spills forwards, it is stuff

like this on a slippery pitch that is very important.

The scrum goes down. Jaco Peyper says play on. Rob Kearney's left

boot, that is straight at Hugo Bonneval. Medard.

He goes on his own. Machenaud switches.

Ireland have to be careful with the tackling. Plisson again.

Plisson - was he taken after the ball? No, it was a dive! Maxime

Medard in his own 22. Match ch ma. -- Machenaud. The

forwards arrive. Ireland try and hold them up.

This is better by France. Vakatawa. Penalty advantage to France.

Something has happened. Camara waits. Ireland have an injury.

Guirado tackled by the other 2, Rory Best.

That's a good flip from Eddy Ben Arous. The Irish medical staff want

play to stop. Jaco Peyper allows it to continue. This is Vakatawa. Going

in with the forwards. As strong as them. Plisson. Plisson. Long -

Andrew Trimble - how important was that hand? We go back to the

penalty. This is the referee - he will have to look up because there

is a whole posse of medical staff here. Brilliant by Andrew Trimble.

Plisson was right through. He took the ball in. It looks like Mike

McCarthy is right... The play is going to have to stop. Andrew

Trimble denied another try there. Completely. He is straight out. Head

on head. How important could that be? Super break by Plisson. Goes

through that gap. Andrew Trimble - that is the hand of God right there.

Earlier on, when the French were calling for a late tackle and the

referee and the TMO said "nothing wrong with that" - if there was

nothing wrong with that, that was a blatant dive.

We could be here for some time if... It is obviously an accident. It is a

head on head. He goes straight out. You can see on the way down. He's

already gone! Here is the break by Jules Plisson. Fergus McFadden

watches him go around the outside. Looks for the long pass and that

hand... It is important that they obviously take every precaution with

him, that the concussion - although he won't be coming back on - that

over the next couple of weeks he is properly assessed and so on. It is a

thing that can cause enormous damage. You do not want players with

long-term problems - the dangers are well-known now after the NFL. Tommy,

it is your livelihood. He will have the best medical attention. He looks

like he is getting out. There's numerous amounts of protocols that

he will have to go through - HIA, Head Injury Assessment. You meet

doctors, neurologists to make sure he can get back out on the pitch. It

is not nice to see that. Joe Schmidt watches on. He gets Donnacha Ryan on

in place of McCarthy. Ryan is on the field, number

in place of McCarthy. Ryan is on the time. We will have a change in the

front row where Tadhg Furlong is going to come on. Penalty to France

and they are going for the corner. They trail by six points, a

converted try to put them in the lead. On comes Furlong and off comes

Nathan White. And a pressure situation to come on in as well.

Camara has it for France. They have reset. Now, the enemy is the

touchline. Machenaud. Vakatawa. It is there again for Machenaud.

There is no great width outside the scrum-half. Just a little pod of

forwards. Vakatawa! Well done, Andrew Trimble. What an important

tackle that was. It's the first time the Fijian has been knocked off his

feet in this Championship. Guirado has to go to ground a little

earlier than he wanted. France now 15 metres out.

Vakatawa again involved. He still can't get anywhere from that

standing start. He is better off out here.

for the moment, it's Danty who takes it on. France ever closer, within

that five metre tunnel. Rory Best, a big tackle. Machenaud.

And they are coming to the centre. France are still driving. They have

no width. But they are that close to the line. There is a man all over on

his line with 20 metres of space for France on the right-wing. They are

still not there. No-one near him. Please don't see him. He is

screaming for it. France drive one more time. Still not there. Jaco

Peyper goes on his hands and knees to see what is going on. He blows

his whistle. The rooking referee... REFEREE: I cannot see it. I'm going

to go upstairs. We are going to go upstairs and we will have a look at

this. See if you can find a grounding. I can find no clear

grounding. I'll have a look for the grounding and get back to you.

Can't see from there. Just watching the bodies go hurling out of the

way. What you can't see here is the French right-winger is on - that is

the nearest Irish defender five yards away. If they looked up,

Bonneval has 20 metres. Can't see from that either. Damien Chouly for

the line - he looked short. REFEREE: We have to see it. The

referee saying he has to see it. Rob Kearney with the tackle.

referee saying he has to see it. Rob he can't from that either.

It is Jaco Peyper who is the next to arrive. There is no clear and

obvious grounding of the ball. I cannot see the ball being grounded.

We have to see the ball grounded. If we cannot see it... That is not a

popular decision. You reckon? I think he scored that, but you

could not see it, I think he scored that, but you

could not give it. I think he scored that, but you

right. Hold on. Nigel Owens wants a word. Are you happy, you don't want

to see it again? I think we're going to end up with a scrummage. He can't

hear the TMO, he just wanted to know.

If anyone from France - Quickly now. O'Donohoe had 20 -- Bonneval had 20

metres. Will they keep the ball in the

scrum? Yes. Until they can't go anywhere else. At the back, this is

what you dream of. This is what you practice. Try to get the ball out,

in the middle of the pitch, there's so much space to ack too. -- to

attack. The Stade de France comes to life.

Though the scrummage doesn't. This is the second reset now.

The crowd are trying to lift them. Let me ask you, is this satisfactory

as a spectacle, watching it get reset time and time again? It's

tedious. It hasn't been a great game, but this is one of the little

moments of drama, Brian, moments of drama, attacking scrum, France, six

points behind. They're under the Irish posts.

Penalty to France. Oh, I thought he was heading for the posts then. But

I don't suppose they'll go for anything other than another scrum.

He couldn't do. Because there was no prospect of that going over. He

won't allow much more. ( prospect of that going over. He

won't allow much more. The problem is that the scrum was moving before

the ball was introduced. Yacouba Camara comes off. If France

were to get a converted try here, Ireland cannot sit back. They cannot

keep a defensive battle and keep the ball down field. They'll have to be,

to show more intent after that. Take three.

The drive looks good. Penalty has been awarded. CJ Stander is on the

ground and he awards only the penalty, not the penalty try. Again,

deemed that he couldn't be certain or probably but this is the last

time, if it goes back again, I think Ireland will find themselves under

the push. The drive was more concerted that

time. I don't want to be too cynical. But

if I were Ireland, I'd drop it before they even move backwards.

That is very cynical. It's another penalty to Ireland.

Henshaw comes away with it. But we will have the penalty.

This can't go on. I mean, this is the fourth penalty. I have to warn

you for collapsing. This has collapsed on the bind. Income tax

one, here. Irish player down. I think it's Robbie Henshaw. I think

maybe a high tackle there. This is the scrummage. Down it goes

immediately. They took your advice, Brian. There by avoiding the penalty

try. What's your advice this time? Loann

Goujon, the new player. What's your advice this time? Loann

Robbie Henshaw. We may have to go through the whole protocol thing. It

doesn't look so much concussion as a neck. It's Johnny Sexton actually.

Oh, you're right. You do worry for him. I know Keith Wood worries him,

he goes in high. You've expressed concerns. Outside halves shouldn't

be exposed to this sort of clubbing. Listen, the physical side of his

game is a massive part of his game. But the

game is a massive part of his game. this. They're going down this

channel. It's not good to see Johnny hurt like this. And coming off the

pitch. Ian Maddigan had hurt like this. And coming off the

if the World Cup. Hopefully he can replicate that. Jonathan Sexton goes

off. For his welfare, you feel, almost grateful he's not going to be

exposed any more. Ireland have a difficult problem here. If you're

going to - Namely that. You may as well go for broke and shove early

here, so you get the nudge on. Then the referee can't say that you were

the team dropping. It's the lesser of all evils. I would shove early

here. He scores! The fullback has scored

the conversion is easy and France will take the lead.

That's what you can do if you look at the quick ball there. I don't

understand why more sides do not do this. Hugely quick. Straight out and

as we've said, almost impossible to defend. Tommy O'Donnell was

expecting the push from the forwards. He was tied in. That's so

hard to defend. Disappointing. Big ten minutes ahead for Ireland.

hard to defend. Disappointing. Big Maxime Medard had such a part to

play in the tries of France last week. The angle there, he is such an

instinctive runner. An excellent break. For Medard, this is why he's

in the team, an instinctive, exciting player. A super line. You

can see Robbie Henshaw slipped on the surface.

There is time for plenty more to happen in this game. There is time

for Ireland to regain control. They trail by the single point. Ian

Madigan is on in the outside half position. That's a mistake. The

crowd that has come to life, raises another roar. They know that it will

either be a prospect of a long rifle kick into the right corner, putting

Ireland back in their own territory, or an attempt for a penalty. Change

of captaincy. Rory Best goes off. Richardt Strauss is on. Who becomes

captain? I was hoping you weren't going to ask me that! No, I would

reckon Jamie Heaslip. Now then, how do France, in this new age, manage a

narrow lead? They nearly blew do France, in this new age, manage a

against Italy last week leading by two points. They lead by one against

the back-to-back champions of the six nations. Can they run down eight

and a lot of minutes? They've gone back to the scrum as a friend and

now they cut loose with Plisson. He's getting nothing on the wide

outside. So he's busy around the forwards now.

Still France which turn slowly into minutes.

He runs out of space. A player down for France, I think it's Eddy Ben

Arous, the prop. Unfortunately for Ireland, I think not only have the

Arous, the prop. Unfortunately for injuries taken their toll, defence

ill and on the work load, but it's important that the French are now

playing with a lot more confidence. They're playing on the front foot.

They obviously look better like that.

Yeah, you can see the French now starting to get a bit of rhythm.

They're slowing down the ball. They're not forcing anything. That's

making it difficult for Ireland to get the ball. That's the end of Eddy

Ben Arous' day. That means a return for Jefferson Poirot.

Now they can think of something a little bit more attacking. That is

the way people will be wondering why you're driving a line-out on your

own 22. For that reason, if people pull it down, then you get the

territory and the throw. I would encourage them to repeat this here,

territory and the throw. I would you'll be seeing something similar

again. They need to grind Benalities out of France to get -- penalties

out of France to get into the French half.

CJ Stander hasn't been in possession much lately because it has been all

France. Is there anything left in this game?

Is that a deliberate knock-on? Is it a penalty? It is, yeah.

France 14 defenders because Jonathan Danty is out of action. Loann Goujon

read that well. He knew that Danty was out of action and just led the

charge. I was just going to say, keep the ball off the field and make

him come back. At one point he's going to shout "advantage over" and

that's not what you want. I don't think Ireland wanted the advantage.

They wanted the penalty into the corner. As soon as that happens and

his arm goes out, I think you get the ball off the field. I think

penalty also. Danty goes off. Jean Marc Doussain comes on. Danty is

enormous. And Doussain isn't. The clock has stopped. Eddy Ben

Arous in the wars. Goujon has played well since he came

on. Yes, because the Irish had to make substitutions, 20 minutes

earlier than they really want the to, they've had to do a lot more

work than the French substitutes who have come on and played the impact

role that the Irish would have wanted their subs to do.

It goes down. It has been a tail - an old-fashioned sort of game, lots

of scrums, which is unusual in the modern game. And the scrum led to a

try, channel one ball, blimey, haven't seen that for many a year.

Since Japan in the World Cup! But it shows, very effective.

We have been bogged down. The clock is running. That's what I was going

to say. Time ticking away. You only need another reset one and then

Ireland have one play. Ideally we need to get that channel

one and get the ball out of the scrum and really stretch France

here. They have to start again.

Oh, France have turned it over and get the put-in. And again, the

seconds are eaten up. Yeah, disappointing there.

That's not what we want in our French scrum. If it doesn't go

Ireland's way, it's a combination of two things. Not quite putting enough

points on the board in the first half. And the injury situation and

the French substitutions making more impact. The injury situation is

something that can't really be helped. But certainly the amount of

time we spent in the French half in the first half, you know, to come

into halftime only six points ahead, I think that's something that

Ireland will look to work on. It has been far from a classic. But the

sound of the crowd will tell you that this is going to be a French

victory. Is there still an advantage being

played? CJ Stander coming in from the side.

France inch forward again. Time is up. Off the field goes the

ball. It's going to be a French penalty. They can raise their arms.

They are going to win. They may be allowed to stretch their score. We

are not done yet. What do you do - kick the ball off or take the

points? It doesn't really matter, does it? It does if you hit the

post. Of course, you take the points. Because then, you know,

Ireland don't points. Because then, you know,

it. They thump the ball off the field and it's a second, narrow

victory for France, but the important thing is they are two

victories. France have beaten Ireland by 10-9.

STUDIO: Two from two for Guy Noves' men. The champions will be

desperately disappointed. 9-3 at halftime. A resilient French side in

the second half forcing Ireland to concede many penalties. We were

expecting a lot from the bench and that came. Last week, the front

five, you know, didn't really win the game against Italy. So today,

when they came on, Eddy the game against Italy. So today,

Slimani made the difference. It was a massive win in terms of confidence

for France. It's an 8-1 penalty count against Ireland in the second

half. They changed their front row, France did, after four minutes when

the second scrum, Eddy Ben Arous came on and Slimani came on. It made

a massive difference. It's a pity that rugby matches are held hostage

to the scrum at times, but on days like this they are. That was the

winning of the game for France. It was a dull game. Let's not pretend

it was anything other than that. The conditions were pretty poor. As the

second half moved on, the level of control that France had in all the

game was down here in front of us in Ireland's half. They couldn't get

any sort of flow at all to get out of it. They didn't have the ball.

They spent maybe five minutes at the start of the second half kicking it

into the French 22, other than that they spent the last 25 minutes in

their own 22, nigh on impossible to score from there.

their own 22, nigh on impossible to in the first half, they turned down

a kick at goal and went for the corner. It took them a little bhiel,

but they got over the line and scored.

Is that the championship defence over for Ireland?

We didn't quite get the dominance we had in the first, translated into

more points. It is hard to know. From our point of view we look at

that as a massive missed opportunity. Glasgow bound to be

tried at was the difference the end. Because it comes out so quickly.

Number 22, six metres. Henshaw comes after and it all happened at 100

mph. Was a little bit slow getting off the scrum. It was big from

France. Then they decided to play wide. They managed to score the try.

Final thoughts. Almost happy, I thought unwilling to be a penalty

try. Fortunately we didn't defend it. Credit to France, they scored

the try. You always felt if the team scored the try they would win the

game. There is a weird feeling that they haven't hit their stride, do

you feel it is coming together? Winning is the best way to do it.

Ireland were the best team in the Six Nations the last two years. It

is Valentine 's weekend but not a lot to love their in-depth game. The

tightest of margins, Ireland losing 10-9 to France. Just nine points

separate all the fixtures in the Six Nations championship, next up we

head over to the Principality Stadium, Scotland are the visitors

and the next destination for France, we will see you very shortly, thanks

for your company.