The glaring Irish weakness France will definitely exploit
Ireland put in a near perfect performance against Wales on Saturday in the opening round of the Guinness Six Nations, coming very close to keeping the visitors scoreless.
However, a weakness of Andy Farrell’s side has been noticed by rugby guru Brett Igoe, and that seems to be dealing with the high bomb. Some clips were shared on Twitter of Ireland struggling to handle Wales’ bombs in the back field, accompanied by a clip of France’s kick chase game. With the likes of Damian Penaud and Gael Fickou chasing kicks, there will be a lot of pressure on fullback Hugo Keenan in Paris on Saturday.
Even though Ireland are without captain Johnny Sexton, who has a hamstring injury, this is still expected to be a very tight match, and these little areas of strength or weakness could prove to be pivotal come the end of the match, and indeed the end of the Championship.
Take a look:
After Saturday – expect the High Bombs to be raining down from the Paris sky #FRAvIRE #sixnations2022 pic.twitter.com/L3AYJlY2EV
— Brett Igoe (@brettruganalyst) February 8, 2022
France team
15 Melvyn Jaminet
14 Damian Penaud
13 Gael Fickou
12 Yoram Moefana
11 Gabin Villiere
10 Romain Ntamack
9 Antoine Dupont (c)
8 Gregory Alldritt
7 Francois Cros
6 Anthony Jelonch
5 Paul Willemse
4 Cameron Woki
3 Uini Atonio
2 Julien Marchand
1 Cyril Baille
Replacements
16 Peato Mauvaka
17 Jean-Baptiste Gros
18 Demba Bamba
19 Romain Taofifenua
20 Thibaud Flament
21 Dylan Cretin
22 Maxime Lucu
23 Thomas Ramos
Ireland team
15. Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 17 caps
14. Andrew Conway (Munster/Garryowen) 28 caps
13. Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 38 caps
12. Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 34 caps
11. Mack Hansen (Connacht) 1 cap
10. Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf) 28 caps
9. Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster) 13 caps
1. Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 41 caps
2. Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 17 caps
3. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf) 53 caps
4. Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne) 26 caps
5. James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 41 caps CAPTAIN
6. Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 13 caps
7. Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 36 caps
8. Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 23 caps
Replacements
16. Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne) 3 caps
17. Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) 113 caps
18. Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers) 19 caps
19. Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy) 65 caps
20. Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 80 caps
21. Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 93 caps
22. Jack Carty (Buccaneers/Connacht) 10 caps
23. Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers) 53 caps
