Ireland v France rugby betting is back in the limelight for this weekend, as the two nations continue their 2011 Rugby World Cup preparations. After a dour defeat at Murrayfield the week before to Scotland, Irish coach Declan Kidney was looking for more from his side in Paris. Yes, he has been giving his entire squad time on the pitch in preparations, but he will be a bit disheartened by how easily France found their way through the Irish defence in the first half. Ireland found themselves down 13-0, but the game did have a bit of a momentum swing in the second half. Whether it was France taking their foot off the gas, or Ireland finally getting a bit of a foothold into the match it is a little unclear. This is the nature of these international tests, there is not the all out ferocity and passion of putting everything on the line, so it is a little hard to read. But Ireland did claw themselves back into the game but still lost 19-12 in the end. It really was the brilliance of France in the first half, who still look a little inconsistent over eighty minutes, which was the real highlight of the day. But Ireland are simply not helping themselves at the moment, as they can’t seem to retain and recycle ball well enough. Back into the side will welcome Brian O’Driscoll back into the side, who hasn’t played in either of the World Cup warm ups just yet. He’s unlikely to play the 80 minutes though after returning from his shoulder injury, and O’Driscoll is one of ten changes which have been made to the starting line up by Kidney. Kidney is clearly still looking at his options, moving players around in positioning in order to assess the true strength of depth in his squad. On the whole, Ireland still don’t have that cohesive identity which has made them one of the strong European forces. They are somewhere a bit short of their very best and they are running out of time to build that cohesion. An Ireland Select XV ran out 38-3 winners against Connacht on Thursday night, and some of those players will be back in action on Saturday. As for France, they look far more ready and primed to make a genuine run at the World Cup. The French are powerful up front as well as being very mobile, and they still possess that flair in creating something out of nothing from the back. There are good option for the French side all over the pitch, and should be favourites again here. But this is Ireland back on home turf, the scene where they controlled England in the final round of the Six Nations. Will we see that Ireland turn up, or will we see the Ireland which looks a bit disorganised? The strengths in the game really are with the French more here and so would back them in your Ireland v France rugby betting.
Ireland v France Rugby Odds
Ireland to win: 8/13 at Stan James
Draw: 20/1 at SkyBet
France to win: 13/8 at Totesport
Ireland v France Rugby Betting Tip: Would take France in an outright for value here.
