Saturday, August 20, 2011

TEST RUGBY: France Plays Last World Cup Warm-up.

20.08.2011
France v Ireland in Dublin

Venue: Aviva Stadium

Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Preview
It will gladden Irish hearts to see their beloved BOD back in the Irish side following injury. Felix Jones makes his test debut at fullback. After selection flanker Wallace was ruled out with injury and replaced by Shane Jennings.

An Irish XV, made up of players not required for this game, defeated Connacht 38-3 mid-week.

French coach Lievremont has, as predicted, made wholesale changes to the side that defeated Ireland last weekend. Players returning after a long time away from the game because of injuries are Aurélien Rougerie and prop Fabien Barcella.

I predict a close tough game.

Last Five Encounters
13.02.2011 France 25-22 in Dublin (6 Nations)
13.02.2010 France 33-10 in Paris (6 Nations)
07.02.2009 Ireland 31-20 in Dublin (6 Nations)
09.02.2008 France 26-21 in Paris (6 Nations)
21.09.2007 France 25-3 in Paris (World Cup, Pool D)

France Last Five
13.08.2011 v Ireland W 19-12 in Bordeaux (World Cup Warm-up)
19.03.2011 v Wales W 28-9 in Paris (6 Nations)
12.03.2011 v Italy L 21-22 in Rome (6 Nations)
26.02.2011 v England L 9-17 at Twickenham (6 Nations)
13.02.2011 v Ireland W 25-22 in Dublin (6 Nations)

Ireland last Five
13.08.2011 v France L 12-19 in Bordeaux (World Cup Warm-up)
06.08.2011 v Scotland L 6-10 at Murrayfield (World Cup Warm-up)
19.03.2011 v England W 24-8 in Dublin (6 Nations)
12.03.2011 v Wales L 13-19 in Cardiff (6 Nations)
27.02.2011 v Scotland W 21-18 at Murrayfield (6 Nations)

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table-France 5th, Ireland 6th
Europe Table-France 2nd, Ireland 3rd

IRB Ranking Points
France 82.69, Ireland 80.67

Prediction: France by 3

Teams

1[1]

Ireland
15 Felix Jones, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, Capt. 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 James Heaslip, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Sean O'Brien, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Michael Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements
16 Jeremy Flannery, 17 Thomas Court, 18 Michael McCarthy, 19 Stephen Ferris, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Luke Fitzgerald
Head Coach: Declan Kidney

5[1]

France
15 Cedric Heymans, 14 Maxime Médard, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Fabrice Estebanez, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 David Skrela, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louise Picamoles, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Pascale Papé, Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements
16 Guilhem Guirado , 17 Fabien Barcella , 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Raphaël Lakafia, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 David Marty, 22 Vincent Clerc, 23 Luc Ducalcon
Head Coach: Marc Lièvremont

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