Tag Archives: france rugby

Mathieu Bastareaud has been left out of France’s 37-man World Cup training squad as head coach Jacques Brunel revealed his selection today.  According to reports, Bastareaud’s exclusion is at the behest of incoming head coach Fabien Galthie who will take over from Brunel after the 2019 World Cup. The powerful centre was vice-captain throughout the Six Nations which makes his …

French rugby publication Midi Olympique has published its team of the 2019 Six Nations championship and it includes two Irish players despite Ireland suffering a disappointing campaign which has called into question their World Cup credentials later this year.  Across the 15 fixtures, there have been many standout performances and it’s always a challenge to produce a team such as …

The nominees for the official Six Nations Player Of The Championship have been announced and unsurprisingly, the list is dominated by Wales.  A total of six players have been nominated and these were selected by the media. The ultimate winner will be decided by an online vote which you can take part in here. Voting closes at 12 noon on …

The 2019 Six Nations Championship culminated in a special weekend or ‘Super Saturday’, as it was dubbed, which saw Wales clinch their first Grand Slam since 2012.  Scotland’s stunning second-half comeback will live long in the memory and Italy blew a big opportunity to get their first win over France since they last managed that feat in 2013. With everything …

To follow up our earlier piece which looked at the top individual performances from the 2019 Guinness Six Nations, here we take a look which teams produced the best stats in wide-variety of categories throughout the championship.  Points Scored  England – 184 Wales – 114 Scotland – 105 Ireland – 101 France – 93 Italy – 79 Tries Scored  England – …

The Six Nations is over for another year which saw Wales emerge with a first Grand Slam since 2012 and a first championship title since 2013.  Warren Gatland’s final Six Nations match in charge of Wales will live long in the memory as they produced an emotional and dominant performance which Ireland had no answer for. For Ireland, the post-mortem …

The Six Nations is over for another year and 2019 will be remembered for Wales securing their first Grand Slam since 2012 and their first championship title since 2013.  Warren Gatland’s side produced a suffocating performance in Cardiff which Ireland had no answer for as they eased to a 25-7 victory over Joe Schmidt’s side. That win sees Wales up …

Italy 14 – 25 France  Italy’s wait for a first Six Nations win since 2015 goes on as they couldn’t show the composure required to come out on top against an unstructured France side in Rome. Italy dominated the match for long periods but they spurned numerous try-scoring opportunities. They will look back at this 80-minute performance with a lot …

The Six Nations enters its final weekend and the championship is still up for grabs with Wales, Ireland and England all in contention to lift the trophy on Saturday.  Wales can secure a first Grand Slam since 2012 and a first championship title since 2013 if they can get the better of Ireland in Cardiff while a loss for Warren …

Sean McMahon reporting from the Aviva Stadium Ireland will be keen to quickly move on from their bonus-point victory over France as they must immediately prepare for next weekend’s trip to Wales which is made all that more difficult considering Ireland’s six-day turnaround.  Ireland’s week, will, in Joe Schmidt’s’s words, be “truncated” and that will pose it’s own challenges as …

Sean McMahon reporting from the Aviva Stadium Ireland’s one-sided win over France means that Joe Schmidt’s side are still in contention to retain their championship as the Six Nations enters the final round next weekend.  Of course, that is out of Ireland’s hands even if they do achieve the difficult task of beating an in-form Wales who will be chasing …

Sean McMahon reporting from the Aviva Stadium Ireland have kept alive their hopes of retaining the Six Nations championship after they recorded a 26-14 bonus-point victory over France at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday.  The performance was much improved from Ireland, especially in the first half, where they registered 77% possession and 89% territory. However, final preparations didn’t get off …

Ireland 26 – 14 France Sean McMahon reporting from the Aviva Stadium Ireland secured a bonus-point victory over France this afternoon at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium and the result ensures that Joe Schmidt’s side will be involved in the conversation around who will claim the championship next Saturday. A lot of pressure was on this Ireland side going into this game …

Ireland have received a late blow with the news that Rob Kearney is a late withdrawal from the team which takes on France this afternoon at the Aviva Stadium (KO 3 pm).  Ireland confirmed the news approximately 90 minutes before kick-off but they didn’t provide a reason for Kearney dropping out of the squad. As a result, Jordan Larmour, who …

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt made seven changes to the side which beat Italy in round three for Sunday’s clash with France at the Aviva Stadium.  In an all-new second-row, James Ryan and Iain Henderson have been handed starting berths for the visit of the French as Ultan Dillane provides the bench cover. Unfortunately for Munster’s Tadhg Beirne, it means …

Brought to you by Vodafone, the official sponsor of the Irish rugby team Ahead of Ireland’s Six Nations clash with France on Sunday, former Ireland and Leinster international Reggie Corrigan takes a stroll down memory lane and recalls some of his standout battles with Les Bleus.  ___ The first time I played against France was in 1998. The Stade de …

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has named his team to take on France in the penultimate round of the 2019 Guinness Six Nations at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday.  Schmidt has made a number of changes to the side which secured a bonus point victory over Italy two weeks ago. In the front row, there are two changes as Cian Healy …

Keith Earls admits that Ireland haven’t been themselves in recent weeks but is confident that they will “click” sooner rather than later.  There has been no shortage of potential explanations for Ireland’s dip in form; injuries, undercooked players in key positions, potential bad blood between Munster and Leinster players due to the Thomond Park derby clash, Joe Schmidt’s departure at …