Hard to call this but I do expect Ireland to put in one of their best performances in the last two years. If they don't and they can't beat this French team after two years planning well then they simply don't deserve to win the tournament.
Wasn't the stated goal to make their first semifinal, and if they do, then all bets are off?
Saw a breakdown of recent flat performances and how they responded in the next game, going back to like 2009. There's generally and inverse response to their previous flatness, playing like destroyers the next week. As long as they don't
count on that happening and actually do it, it should be a good game.
It's also likely a game that'll infuriate most SH fans. Toner's there for the lineouts and set piece. Cian Healy's starting for the crash ball work and set piece grunt. The given is SOB, POM and Best's work at the breakdown, but they'll actually need to bring that part of the game, and bring it at pace. The ball-carrying replacements are pretty much Henderson and Henry, but they left Cronin out for Strauss; Cronin's great in open play, but Strauss throws better darts, and he along with Henderson and Henry are better scavengers. That tells you they're focusing on the high ball, lineout and breakdown work throughout the 80. If they're sharp, it could be surgical. If they're not, France will enjoy trying to bust up their plays.
Watching Argentina right now, and I'm less convinced that they're as much of a threat as they were perceived to be last week. Sure they're piling the points on Namibia, but they've played very loosely, let a lot of passes and off-loads go astray, and are basically playing like Fiji 7s against a defense that isn't nearly organized enough. Maybe they're just playing at 70% because it's Namibia, but if they play like that against either Ireland or France, they'll spend a lot of time on defense.
