Six Nations 2023 - Ireland v France Build-Up Thread, Sat 11th Feb KO 2:15PM - TV: RTÉ2, ITV, France2

We were hot favourites against Wales and I think warm favourites to beat France. I predicted a 25 point win against Wales. Score prediction for this one to come later in the week but I think we have it in the bag.

Furlong, JGP and Healy are all unavailable for the France game.

I've been impressed with the little I've seen of G.Coombes lately and thought a place on the bench instead of Conan could be in order. Not that Jack has done anything wrong and he's a player I like. Coombes seems to have stepped up since being dropped though.

There's a fair bit of Munster generated hype around him so let's see if he can sideline a Lion. I thought he'd more physical heft than Jack but same weight according to their bio's. Conan seems more agile but I'd need to see more of Coombes.

Nice problem for AF.

Ireland to win and beat the handicap also.

Doris! Simple as that.

Coombes is great and all. But is no where near conan at 8.

I thought Murray had a great game on Saturday and I do like him on the bench these days but it was noticeable how often he slows down our attack by pausing at the ruck every 3 or 4 phases, he just does not get the same fluidity as JGP even if he has upped the pace of his delivery most of the time. Even in the phases inside Wales' 22 for the first try Murray was ponderous at some of those rucks, at least not as lively as I would expect Park to be. I'm not sure if Casey is the answer or if Murray's pace is going to give France the time they need to stifle our attack but it is definitely an issue. A couple of Murrays box kicks were too long also.

That's cool. I like discussion, especially rugby discussion.

Baird is a 6 predominantly who can play in the row. No competition to conan. Again my opinion.

Cheers for making it simple for me.

This is exactly what I was saying! Neither Coombes or baird are a better 8. No where near. Doris can move to 6 if needed.

Ah Coombes has been sensational bar his dip in October when he subsequently got dropped. As I pointed out on here before, he had an injury at the start of the season that kept him out until late Sept/early October. Might explain why he was a little slow to get going this year.

He's playing to a brilliant level, tackles, carries, lineout, groundwork, passing, tries... I don't know can he do much more to advance his case than he's doing. Hope he gets a couple of runs during the championship

I still think the French pose a huge additional challenge compared to Wales. Ireland won in Wales because our defense was solid and we took our chances in attack. (Captain obvious)

France will stretch our defense because they have multiple attacking options with a much more powerful pack who will take more of our defenders to stop, and this will open up gaps in our defensive line.

To counter this, we need power. We're already down Furlong. Beirne is not the most powerful 2nd row. Conan is a good loose forward who can exploit gaps in the wide channels but we would lose out defensively compared to Coombes.