waiopehu oldboy
George Smith (75)
Ref: Doyle
AR's: Barnes & Gardner
TMO: Hughes
AR's: Barnes & Gardner
TMO: Hughes
RWC: CAN v FRA (Milton Keynes): POOL D
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waiopehu oldboy
George Smith (75)
Quick Hands
David Wilson (68)
Poor old Canadians, they copped Clancy in the last match and now Doyle.
I expect France to win this comfortably and if it gets at all close, Doyle will make sure that the Tier 1 nation gets up.
I expect France to win this comfortably and if it gets at all close, Doyle will make sure that the Tier 1 nation gets up.
I like to watch
David Codey (61)
Clancy has ensured the favoured team won both of the games he reffed,with outrageous one sided displays.
Disclaimer: I backed both underdogs at long odds....
Disclaimer: I backed both underdogs at long odds....
Quick Hands
David Wilson (68)
Doyle did the same Argentina v Georgia
waiopehu oldboy
George Smith (75)
France: 1. Eddy Ben Arous 2. Guilhem Guirado 3. Rabah Slimani 4. Pascal Pape 5. Yoann Maestri 6. Thierry Dusautoir (c) 7. Bernard Le Roux 8. Damien Chouly 9. Sebastien Tillous-Borde 10. Frederic Michalak 11. Brice Dulin 12. Wesley Fofana 13. Mathieu Bastareaud 14. Remy Grosso 15. Scott Spedding
Replacements: 16. Benjamin Kayser 17. Vincent Debaty 18. Nicolas Mas 19. Yannick Nyanga 20. Fulgence Ouedraogo 21. Morgan Parra 22. Remi Tales 23. Alexandre Dumoulin
Replacements: 16. Benjamin Kayser 17. Vincent Debaty 18. Nicolas Mas 19. Yannick Nyanga 20. Fulgence Ouedraogo 21. Morgan Parra 22. Remi Tales 23. Alexandre Dumoulin
Relance
Herbert Moran (7)
- We have no back-up 8, Chouly is weak in contact and offers very little apart from the LO; overall not a very complementary backrow, 3 blindside flankers = no support play in the wide channels.
- Dulin tested on the wing again means that PSA is still looking for a second wing safe enough under the high ball.
- Curious to see how Grosso will go, still too raw imho.
- Szarzewski loses his bench spot after a couple of really underwhelming outings.
You are not alone with that thought, at some point I was sure he didn't know he was the head coach of an international team.
waiopehu oldboy
George Smith (75)
Canada: 15 Matt Evans, 14 Phil Mackenzie, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Nick Blevins, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Nathan Hirayama, 9 Phil Mack, 8 Tyler Ardron (c), 7 Richard Thorpe, 6 Kyle Gilmour, 5 Jamie Cudmore, 4 Brett Beukeboom, 3 Doug Wooldridge, 2 Aaron Carpenter, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements: 16 Ray Barkwill, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Andrew Tiedemann, 19 Evan Olmstead, 20 Nanyak Dala, 21 Gordon McRorie, 22 Harry Jones, 23 Conor Trainor.
Replacements: 16 Ray Barkwill, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Andrew Tiedemann, 19 Evan Olmstead, 20 Nanyak Dala, 21 Gordon McRorie, 22 Harry Jones, 23 Conor Trainor.
Relance
Herbert Moran (7)
Very hard to tell indeed. I'll try:
1. Ben Arous 2. Guirado 3. Slimani
4. Papé 5. Maestri
6. Dusautoir (Le Roux) 8. Picamoles 7. Chouly (Nyanga)
9. Tillous-Bordes 10. Michalak
11. Nakaitaci 12. Fofana (Dumoulin) 13. Bastareaud (Fofana) 14. ? (Grosso)
15. Spedding (Dulin)
16. Kayser 17. Debaty 18. Atonio 19. Flanquart 20. Le Roux 21. Parra 22. Talès 23. Fickou
In italics, who I'd pick.
The front row is killing it, probably the only part of our team that could pretend to be world class at the moment. Ben Arous is a great breakdown unit, Guirado does the basics well + is a strong ball carrier, and I'm struggling to see anyone (bar maybe Ayerza) that could trouble Slimani in the scrum.
The locks are industrious, provide nice ruck cleaning and maul disruption but aren't great jumpers (Maestri goes ok) and lack mobility.
The presence of Dusautoir disorganizes the backrow completely. He doesn't jump, offers very little in terms of ball carrying and is just serviceable at the breakdown. But he's our captain, a great defender, and lifts his game incredibly for the big occasion. Can't see him being removed. Our 8 can pilfer, is a devastating runner and good option-taker but doesn't jump either. These two combined means we lack range, support play, carrying in the tight channels and LO options. We don't have a Sean McMahon unfortunately, so we either go with an explosive or enduring offensive player (Nyanga or Ouedraogo, the former being the one I'd pick), one that has the ability to carry strongly (Le Roux) or a LO specialist (Chouly). I think PSA will go for Chouly against Ireland as they'll likely target our lineout as a relative weakness, unless Le Roux has another great attacking display.
Halves: this is where I must confess to being completely puzzled. PSA picks a 9 with no kicking game and poor decision-making + a 10 with average game management and kicking game to play Gatlandball. I love Freddie but he's just not the player suited to a restrictive game plan.
Centres: very strong defensive pairing (albeit Bastareaud could be exposed on the outside), but no distribution skills (Bastareaud) or willingness to pass the ball (Fofana). We'll be relying on a bit of magic from Wesley, hoping that he goes all the way - otherwise our slow 13 and lack of support runners mean we'll lose the ball to a TO.
Back 3: Spedding. Great boot, ok under the high ball, average positioning. OK, you can't fault his enthusiasm. But. Would rather run into a brick wall than through a hole. Blanco, Sadourny, Castaignède, Garbajosa, Poitrenaud (and Dulin to a lesser extent), all had the vista, the foresight needed for great counterattacking play. Wing is probably our weakest position. Huget was our only international winger. Now, we're left with Nakaitaci, Grosso and Guitoune. All have good to great potential but serious deficiencies: defence (Nakaitaci, Guitoune), aerial skills (Grosso, Nakaitaci to a lesser extent), kicking (Nakaitaci), positioning (Guitoune). I really hope they come good.
Bench: bizarre. Nyanga should be a shoe-in but I'm afraid he'll miss out to either Le Roux or Chouly, Parra is slow as fuck, Talès a conservative option, and Fickou ok. Talk about game-changers or finishers. These guys are perfect to control a short lead, the only issue being that we've invariably been trailing behind in the big games with 20 to go over the past 4 years.
the plastic paddy
John Solomon (38)
How is Owens regarded in France Relance? I think the Irish would generally be perfectly happy with him, I think he is the best ref in the business along with Garces. It is going to be a huge game on the 11th. I suspect NZ will be hoping for a France win anyway.
Relance
Herbert Moran (7)
I'm cheering for Racing Metro in the Top 14 so still bitter about that last minute penalty he awarded the Sarries in the Champions Cup for one of our players not supporting his weight at the ruck 
No honestly I'm glad he's been picked for this one, I think he's a great ref: good feel for the game, does a lot of prevention, doesn't pinge players for inconsequential mistakes, and favors the attacking team. I'm not a fan of his schoolteacher posture, but that's no big deal. I'm just relieved it's Ireland v France so we don't cope a Poite or a Clancy. Gonna be a cracker.
No honestly I'm glad he's been picked for this one, I think he's a great ref: good feel for the game, does a lot of prevention, doesn't pinge players for inconsequential mistakes, and favors the attacking team. I'm not a fan of his schoolteacher posture, but that's no big deal. I'm just relieved it's Ireland v France so we don't cope a Poite or a Clancy. Gonna be a cracker.
Dewald Nel
Cyril Towers (30)
And another. Scratch my comment in the other thread, this could get seriously interesting.
mxyzptlk
Colin Windon (37)
Huh. Would you look at that. Canada playing at their 7s tempo and score again. But a missed conversion, 17-12 France.
Canada haven't played with that kind of precision and intensity for a while. Would like to see this version of Canada play the current version of Fiji.
Canada haven't played with that kind of precision and intensity for a while. Would like to see this version of Canada play the current version of Fiji.
Dewald Nel
Cyril Towers (30)
They were similar in the first half vs. Italy, but after half time they were barely recognisable from the first 40. Perhaps their 7's mentality also means they can barely concentrate for 40, nevermind 60.
mxyzptlk
Colin Windon (37)
They play with a 7s tempo at times, but I don't think they play with a 7s mentality, not like Fiji. Their conditioning is probably more down to how they're a mix of pros and amateurs, and a lot of their pros are playing at the English Championship level. Not bad, but not the same as a lot of these other teams, even Italy.
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