The stand-out fixture in this season’s Guinness Six Nations sees the top two sides in the game go head-to-head as France travels to Dublin to take on Ireland. 

Billed as the Championship decider, both sides come into the clash on the back of bonus point round one victories. 

In a true example that not every win is equal, Ireland’s dominant 34 – 10 win in Cardiff over Wales has received plaudits all week across the international rugby media. 

Yet the French 29 – 24 wins in Rome has been scrutinised to the nth degree given the perceived gulf in quality between them and their opposition. 

When asked whether his side could expect a frustrated French side in Dublin. Ireland captain Jonathan Sexton said, “We go to see what France were like when they were tested, so we learnt some good things from that.” 

“We knew no matter what happened in the first game, this is going to be a stand-alone game come Saturday.” 

“It’s one of those one-off big games and we know there will be big consequences in terms of the rest of the tournament.”

Team News 

One particular challenge both sides are facing is a mounting injury list to frontline players.

For Ireland, four key starters in Tadhg Furlong, Dan Sheehan, Robbie Henshaw and Jamison Gibson-Park will all miss Saturday’s clash. 

Whilst the visitors are short of three starters in Jonathan Danty, Cameron Woki and Peato Mauvaka. 

Just how much of an effect these injuries will have on both sides remains to be seen but on paper the front-row duo of Furlong and Sheehan look set to be the biggest losses.

Both players are regarded as two of the best in their position in the international game and would’ve been key contributors in Ireland countering the giant French pack. 

Introducing your Ireland line up for Saturday! ✊#TeamOfUs | #GuinnessSixNations

— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) February 9, 2023

Key Match-Up

Focusing on the available players, the battle of the halfback pairings is going to make for a hugely interesting subplot.   

37-year-old Jonathan Sexton is in the form of his career as he continues to defy father time. Having transitioned from a line-probing runner to a string-pulling puppet master, Sexton appears to see the game three or four phases in advance. 

Joining Sexton once again is long-term partner Conor Murray who remains in the starting line-up with Gibson-Park still out injured. 

Hugely impressive in round one, 33-year-old Murray served up a reminder that he is very much still in the mix to be Ireland’s first choice come the World Cup. 

Having been leapfrogged at the provincial level by Craig Casey and Paddy Patterson and by Gibson-Park at the test level, Murray proved his critics wrong that he was incapable of fitting into Ireland’s up-tempo game plan. 

Mixing up his world-class box-kicking ability with sniping runs and quick passes, Murray proved like Sexton he is at the point in his career where he can read a game at the highest cerebral level.

Facing the experienced duo is the dynamic pairing of Toulouse stars Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack. 

At 26 and 23 years old respectively, both players are yet to hit their physical prime which is a scary prospect for the opposition the world over. 

Dupont has already received the prestigious World Player of the Year award and has shown on countless occasions to take a game by the scruff of the neck and turn it in his team’s favour. 

☘️??? Notre deuxième match du #SixNations 2023 nous amène à Dublin pour y défier ?? ????????? ?́????? ?? ????? !

? Rendez-vous samedi ! #NeFaisonsXV #XVdeFrance #IRLFRA pic.twitter.com/eAfWyYyg3I

— France Rugby (@FranceRugby) February 9, 2023

Outside the scrumhalf, Ntamack has grown into a tactically astute playmaker who has benefitted greatly from playing behind dominant packs at both club and international levels. 

Playing week in and week out together, the duo has developed an exceptional understanding of how the other thinks and ultimately acts. This has seen them rarely miss a beat and has created a fluid attacking platform with the lethal French outside backs and powerful forwards to run onto. 

Whilst the current iteration of this French side has several hallmarks of great French teams of the past most notably in the creative department. There are several characteristics that separate them. 

Most notable among them is their willingness to wear down teams defensively and put their body on the line time and again. Gone is the laissez-faire attitude that defined even the greatest of French sides. 

Key to this change has been defence guru Shaun Edwards whose signing was a masterstroke by head coach Fabien Galthie. 

Rugby League legend Edwards has a remarkable track record from his time alongside Welsh coach Warren Gatland with the duo overseeing success at club, international and Lions levels across a twenty-year period. 

In this department, Dupont is once again the ringleader as he defends the backfield behind the front-line defence at a masterful rate. 

Whilst it is a tough task to point out flaws in this French side, it is worth noting that in everything the French do well Ireland does equally efficiently. 

Matching Edwards as one of the greatest Rugby League players in history, Ireland head coach Andy Farrell is perhaps the only match to Edwards as a defensive mind.

Farrell has overseen an Irish defence that has conceded an average of just 15 points per game over the past ten tests whilst scoring an average of 29. 

Taking into account that in that span Ireland has played the All Blacks three times away from home, the Springboks, Wallabies, England and Wales that is one heck of a track record. 

France, on the other hand, has conceded an average of 20 points whilst scoring 29 with three games against Japan and two against Italy providing perhaps bringing in a perspective that they have had a softer schedule in their 14-match unbeaten run.

Prediction

Irrespective of schedule strength this is a clash of the two form sides in the international game. The two teams each have close to an 80%-win ratio under their current head coaches further highlighting their sustained excellence. 

Both should challenge for the World Cup come September even though they are facing a tough side of the draw. A win on Saturday could prove to be a psychological boost ahead of their likely head-to-head at either the quarterfinal or semi-final stage of the World Cup. 

France currently holds the edge having won the past three meetings but Ireland in front of their home crowd will bring an end to the streak as they continue their march towards the title with a five-point win.

Line-Ups

Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton (c), 9 Conor Murray; 1 Andrew Porter, 2 Rob Herring, 3 Finlay Bealham, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 7 Josh van der Flier, 8 Caelan Doris. 

Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Tom O'Toole, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Bundee Aki.

France: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damian Penaud, 13 Gael Fickou, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Ethan Dumortier, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (c); 1 Cyril Baille, 2 Julien Marchand, 3 Uini Atonio, 4 Thibaud Flament, 5 Paul Willemse, 6 Anthony Jelonch, 7 Charles Ollivon, 8 Gregory Alldritt.

Replacements: 16 Gaetan Barlot, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Sipili Falatea, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Francois Cros, 21 Sekou Macalou, 22 Baptiste Couilloud, 23 Matthieu Jalibert.

Written by Philip Bendon