France vs Ireland – RBS Six Nations Betting

It has been billed as the Six Nations decider, even though it is only the second round of the tournament. Six nations champions Ireland travel to Paris to take on the 2010 tournament favourites France. Although France still have that air of unpredictability about them, they still look to be the sharpest team in the tournament this year. That will go against the flow of many, who still see Ireland as the team to beat in 2010. The Irish won the grand slam last year, and critics looking for fallible areas in their game, are pointing towards them being a “Dad’s Army” and casting a very critical eye over their scrum. In their opening fixture, the Irish ran out to a strong lead against Italy in under 20 minutes, but then fell in a disrupted game, looking a long way from their best.

While they were never in danger of losing the match, the Italians showed that the Irish can easily be gotten at, and dragged down. It was the second half performance by Ireland, which really let the home fans down. There was, quite simply, no purpose or direction to the Irish game, and that was made worse against an Italian side who lacked any impetus going forward whatsoever. Perhaps it is possible to put it down to finding their rhythm, and granted, playing against other Six Nations teams is a lot different to playing a southern hemisphere nations. The whole dynamics of the game is different, but another question about the Irish, who did well in the Autumn series of matches, is how well they will cope with keeping their feet on the ground. Was last weekend’s second half performance all down to complacency? Ireland to get a dynamic boost with the return to fitness of flanker Stephen Ferris.

It has been over a decade since the Irish won in France, and judging by the performance of their opening day fortunes, there is little to suggest that the rot will end. The French pack look very strong, and they tore the Scots to shreds in their opening fixture. The French look big, strong and pacy, and will be more than a match for even the big English pack. While they will always have elements of creativity in their three quarters, it could, somewhat uncharacteristically, be the pack which leads them to the top of the table on Saturday. The key will be in the defence, something which the French are extremely good at, being more aggressive than most in the defensive tactics. The French have the strongest defence in the tournament, and should they beat Ireland, it will be their Six Nations to lose.

France do have a fantastic record against the Irish in Paris, having only lost three times in around 50 years. They have had to make two changes to their line-up which played so well against Scotland, and that was without some of their first choice key players. On their home turf, they look a formidable proposition. This will be the first of two crunch games for the French at home in this season’s tournament, as they take on England at the Stade de France on the last weekend on the 2010 RBS Six Nations.

France v Ireland Stats

Matches
France: W51
Ireland: W29
Drawn: 5

Biggest winning margin
France: 44-5
Ireland: 24-0

Average points per match
France: 15.81
Ireland: 11.15

Match Odds
France to win: 1/2 at Totesport
Ireland to win: 2/1 at Bwin
Draw: 22/1 at Boylesports