Ahead of Ireland v France, we wonder how much trust there is in Paddy Jackson, if France have stumbled upon their best team by accident and if the atmosphere will improve at the Aviva?
How much trust is there in Paddy Jackson?
Had Paddy Jackson kicked his goals against Scotland, Ireland would have won and Declan Kidney’s decision to pick him and effectively end the international career of Ireland’s most capped out-half would have been justified.
Conversely, the fact that he didn’t kick his goals, that he hadn’t kicked for Ulster for a considerable amount of time leading into the game and that he is as yet an inconsistent kicker at best means that Kidney had to take the flak that came his way afterwards; it was a huge call and it didn’t come off. Who’d be a coach, eh?
Whether it was a message from on high or from the captain himself, Jamie Heaslip seemed to snub a number of kickable penalty opportunities against the Scots and it’s hard to get away from the fact that he didn’t trust Jackson to kick them or he was trying to preserve his confidence.
Owen Farrell, Leigh Halfpenny and even Greig Laidlaw have shown the value of taking three points when the opportunities present themselves in the competition so far and Heaslip will have to be ruthless this weekend and trust Jackson to do his stuff with the boot. Fergus McFadden is there as a safety net, but hopefully for all concerned, it won’t come to that.
Will the fans make some noise?
Alan Quinlan’s comments about the atmosphere in the Aviva Stadium for the England game may have struck a nerve or two, but hopefully they’ll have the desired effect ahead of this weekend because he made a good point.
The promotional poster poking fun at Quinlan ahead of the French game was very clever and very funny, but it was interesting to see it re-tweeted by Brian O’Driscoll this afternoon along with the line ‘That’d be nice’, suggesting that the lack of buzz at the Aviva Stadium was noticed by the players as well.
Half-empty stadiums at Irish soccer matches suggests that they are the poorer relation compared to their rugby cousins at the moment, but if soccer has taught us anything, it’s that the wheels aren’t long coming off the bandwagon in Irish sporting circles.
If Irish rugby fans can’t get up for a game against the Auld Enemy when the Triple Crown, the Championship and the Grand Slam is still up for grabs, then what will it be like when the times are leaner as recent events suggest they might be in the years to come, when the last of the Golden Generation finally bid farewell?
Sure it’s not great right now, but the Irish team need all the support they can get at the moment and hopefully, Quinlan’s words and the sh*tstorm they generated will mean we won’t see a repeat of the England game this weekend.
A kick-off time of 5pm on a Saturday should certainly help.
Has Philippe Saint-Andre finally stumbled upon his best team?
From being favourites before the tournament to leading the race for the Wooden Spoon with only two games left underlines just how disastrous a tournament this has been for France and much of the blame lies squarely at the feet of the coach.
It was only against England in the third game that Saint-Andre appeared to have put his best team on the pitch and for a good hour at Twickenham, France were more than just competitive; if the usually unflappable Morgan Parra had showed more composure in front of goal then they would have deservedly been in the lead.
Freddie Michalak was brought on supposedly to relieve Parra of the kicking duties but he was one of a number of arrivals from the bench that disrupted the French rhythm and allowed England to cruise to victory far easier than they should, but the French potential had been flagged well before that.
With Parra at scrum-half and Wesley Fofana in the centre, the French backline is far more potent than it was and that’s even before we get to our old friend Vincent Clerc on the wing. The back row of Nyanga, Dusautoir and Picamoles, who has been outstanding in the competition so far, looks particularly ominous and Ireland will be conceding a fair few kilos in the pack overall.
It seems to have taken an age for Saint-Andre to find his best team but he appears to have done so just in time for the trip to the Aviva, just our luck in what has been a miserable tournament so far.
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