Match preview & thread: FRA vs IRE (Sat Feb 3, 1645)

super_furry

Got out of jail there big time - stale, dull, predictable and lacking any kind of inspiration at all. At no stage did Ireland ever look like scoring a try.

Guy:Incognito

fitz wrote: »

I thought the replay showed it didn't, but could be wrong. Either way, that second incident needs to be investigated.

They went around all the angles. There was no contact. Plus the medics only looked at his knee, no head stuff at all from what I saw. The hia stuff much have come from the bench when they realised they could bring machenaud back on if it was a hia.

errlloyd

I think I was the first in the pub to celebrate.

Claregaafan18

Munsteresque from Ireland. I can only imagine Michael Corcoran with another "10,000 phases" moment

LuckyGent88

Would have been awful to loose that after having such control. Unbelievable from Johnny, great from the players at the end to get into that position.

A shed load to work on though. Our attack was really poor. Earls needs to be getting the ball at every opportunity. He is gliding across the pitch.

ScrubsfanChris

calfmuscle wrote: »

Sexton "I'm the captain" ��

Thanos

ricero wrote: »

Joe simply must go after this campaign. A man who has run out of ideas a long time ago

I think he has done ok by getting a win away in France, we never win by much, nothing new there.

gmurphy70

Johnny you legend

Guy:Incognito

Bahanaman wrote: »

I said earlier Johnny misses the pressure kicks but wtf! Brilliant!

The one he missed was no more a pressure kick thantheone before it.

He, like every other kicker, misses some kicks. That's all there is to it.

irishbucsfan

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

They went around all the angles. There was no contact. Plus the medics only looked at his knee, no head stuff at all from what I saw. The hia stuff much have come from the bench when they realised they could bring machenaud back on if it was a hia.

It was from the match doctor.

And the first HIA absolutely showed head contact, saw it myself.

SlickRic

The drop goal was genius enough.

But don't forget we don't get in that position if he doesn't also show balls of steel to hit a perfect cross kick to Earls.

What a man.

The Talking Bread

Skid X wrote: »

How that we win that ????

I thought Johnny's kick was going short and wide, terrible decision to kick from that far out

What a game !!!

I would love to see the parallel universe Boards reaction if it had dropped short!

elefant

munsterlegend wrote: »

Sexton cross kick to Earls was brave too as we were going nowhere.

Was going to say this too. Great leadership and self belief. If he got that wrong he'd have been crucified.

CurryFlavoured

The whole HIA fiasco was very poor sportsmanship. Assuming it wasn't a head injury, which is really looked like it wasn't. They did something similar against Wales last year.

LuckyLloyd

It was a classic Irish loss...until it was a completely unrecognisable Irish win!

cython

It has been done before, but once again, here's an X-Ray from Johnny's latest medical:

stephen_n

swiwi_ wrote: »

Lucky! Against a team with a new coach the 2 things lacking will be fluid attack and structured defence. So much one up carries which suited the French to a tee, Schmidt needs to look at that.

But a class drop for the victory.

My Irish MOTM was Leavy.

When you get pretty much no go forward ball of rucks all day, it’s pretty hard to manufacture space to attack.

ScrubsfanChris

And now we wait for the Michael Corcoran commentary for the drop goal :pac:

fitz

Incredible strength of character to snatch the win, but really shouldn't have been in the position. Our lineout and maul suffered without Toner. We always look poor when we don't get to play with pace, and we didn't do a good enough job of stopping France from slowing down the ruck to build any really attacking tempo.
Plenty to improve on.

Burkie1203

CurryFlavoured wrote: »

The whole HIA fiasco was very poor sportsmanship. Assuming it wasn't a head injury, which is really looked like it wasn't. They did something similar against Wales last year.

HIA then goes limping up the corridor and will be out for a few weeks with a knee injury

Mantis Toboggan

Fair play to Johnny, savage

josip

TV3 panel are incredibly bad

Akrasia

40+ phases to win that game. Sexton finished but the whole team won that game.

Rugbyf565

Sexton was incredible today, great composure, bravery, in Defense and attack. Belief. Everything you want from a player, immense respect. Earls too must be massively credited for that kick chase in the lead up to that try. Dan Leavy worked like a tireless dog at the end too huge effort.

I have to say, thank you Munster rugby. You showed that this sort of thing is possible. You showed that an inevitable conclusion can be conquered if everyone does everything right and you make the most of the very little that you have.

Absolutely amazing performance. I'd have lived with a loss there, France were absolutely outrageous. They are weaker for having played a game because there is something to look at now but that was a 23 player effort to a very high standard. They were poor going forward bar some individual excellence but were unbelievably committed. The All Blacks would have struggled just as much.

That cross field kick. That drop goal. It all working and the win.

I will never forget this game. Absolutely exceptional. Absolutely exceptional. Beaten but won.

PTH2009

Takes a lot for me to dance but after that drop goal smile from ear to ear

mfceiling

I get to see Johnny quite regularly and the next time I see him I'm going to run over and give him a hug. I don't care if he punches me or takes out a restraining order. What a man.

CurryFlavoured

The second one was 100% not a HIA. I can see why Sexton was so pissed off.

Teferi

Jaysus lads, we were rubbish but great finish.

thelad95

Absolutely blessed to win that game.

I’m extremely disappointed with Nigel Owens, that is by far and away the worst I’ve ever seen from him, he had an absolute shocker.

Shefwedfan

For all the comments about joe and team.....the weather was shocking

Plus we have won how many times in France????

adox

The HIA thing is going to become a real problem and end up trivializing what is supposed to be a responsible and progressive move forward.

To see it abused like that leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.

blondeonblonde

josip wrote: »

TV3 panel are incredibly bad

Unbelievable drop goal there. Incidentally, every time I turn from BBC to TV3 it's on an ad break.

PhilipsR

I don't think people realise just how bloody good Sexton is. Honestly that's the mark of one of the best in the game. Incredible.

Boscoirl

Fair ****s to Sexton. Nailed it.

Me in the pub “not from ****ing there!!”

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

I reckon we're going to win by 2 points

Nailed it

gooch2k9

Are France the only team pulling this HIA craic? Appalling that they get away with it.

Guy:Incognito

irishbucsfan wrote: »

It was from the match doctor.

And the first HIA absolutely showed head contact, saw it myself.

I'm only talking about the 2nd one.

When did the match doctor see him? As he limped by him? I'd be fairly confident saying someone "decided" he had a hia and the doctor was told he hit his head. What did the doctor See? Same as us, so he's told it's head knock by the player or the French staff. They may as Well have rang me sitting here in Dublin to call it as a hia and I could have passed on what the Frence bench said to Owens,same as the doctor did.

Beechwoodspark

Shefwedfan wrote: »

For all the comments about joe and team.....the weather was shocking

Plus we have won how many times in France????

That’s the 3rd time since 72 I think

laugh

Deleted User wrote: »

Nailed it

It was 2.

The Talking Bread

Deleted User wrote: »

I have to say, thank you Munster rugby. You showed that this sort of thing is possible. You showed that an inevitable conclusion can be conquered if everyone does everything right and you make the most of the very little that you have.

Absolutely amazing performance. I'd have lived with a loss there, France were absolutely outrageous. They are weaker for having played a game because there is something to look at now but that was a 23 player effort to a very high standard. They were poor going forward bar some individual excellence but were unbelievably committed. The All Blacks would have struggled just as much.

That cross field kick. That drop goal. It all working and the win.

I will never forget this game. Absolutely exceptional. Absolutely exceptional. Beaten but won.

Hyperbole much!! Christ!

Unbelievable finish but jeez..........!

LuckyGent88

As disappointed as I was in a lot of our attacking play and the lack of progression today under Joe, calling for his head is ridiculous imo.

The weather was awful, the French weren’t as bad as we thought and we made some small silly errors in key areas.

Good to have the Italians up next. Hopefully build on our attacking play as I can’t see us conceding much with our defense

D.Q

The Talking Bread wrote: »

Hyperbole much!! Christ!

Unbelievable finish but jeez..........!

How do you down thank someone?

Squidgy Black

gooch2k9 wrote: »

Are France the only team pulling this HIA craic? Appalling that they get away with it.

The match doctor called it, not the French staff. Supposed to be an independent assessor to the team doctors.

super_furry

josip wrote: »

TV3 panel are incredibly bad

I’m almost grateful for all the ad breaks

ScrubsfanChris

https://twitter.com/Munsterrugby/status/959860442184200192

Franz Von Peppercorn

josip wrote: »

TV3 panel are incredibly bad

O’Gara still convinced France couldn’t have won. They got the 230 trackles he thought impossible

Delighted with the win but let’s not rewrite history

awec

Deleted User wrote: »

I have to say, thank you Munster rugby. You showed that this sort of thing is possible. You showed that an inevitable conclusion can be conquered if everyone does everything right and you make the most of the very little that you have.

Absolutely amazing performance. I'd have lived with a loss there, France were absolutely outrageous. They are weaker for having played a game because there is something to look at now but that was a 23 player effort to a very high standard. They were poor going forward bar some individual excellence but were unbelievably committed. The All Blacks would have struggled just as much.

That cross field kick. That drop goal. It all working and the win.

I will never forget this game. Absolutely exceptional. Absolutely exceptional. Beaten but won.

Very weird analysis of the match IMO.

It was an amazing last 120 seconds but the previous 78 minutes were pretty awful from Ireland. Certainly not an amazing performance. The standard was pretty low.

A loss would have been an incredibly poor result. In fact a loss today would have been among the low points of Schmidt's tenure. Not really sure why anyone would live with a grand slam being killed off right out the gate by a poor French team.

GDK_11

The Talking Bread wrote: »

Hyperbole much!! Christ!

Unbelievable finish but jeez..........!

Very good win but have to agree with you there, my favourite part was
“The All Blacks would have struggled just as much.”

No, they would not

Littlehorny

thelad95 wrote: »

Absolutely blessed to win that game.

I’m extremely disappointed with Nigel Owens, that is by far and away the worst I’ve ever seen from him, he had an absolute shocker.

He must be sick France didn't win, because he done his bloody best to give them the result. Does Owens have a history of bias against us? He certainly had blue shaded glasses on today.