France vs Ireland

So are either of these teams a real WC contender.

Great try by Penaud…both defenses making mistakes

Incredible try by Lowe….less than an inch on foot and ball. Another huge overlap up the left Irish flank….two tries from the same mistake

Great game so far….right decision by Barnes on Antonio, many refs would have gone red…..avoiding another dead game,

Du Pont produces a super human tackle holding Hanson out…Ntamack is looking like liability so far.

France should be happy with the HT score, been mostly on the back foot. 

France takes off Ramos….inexplicable.

Fabulous try by Ringrose…well deserved win for Ireland they won the small contests all second half.

Du Pont clean through, but no support runners.

They just don't have the suuport players as the Irish do. 

Ireland got 8 fingers on the trophy now, can't see the frogs stealing this at the death but hope the fr ogs score again with 5 to go to make it interesting 

Ireland with a convincing win, playing smart rugby. The commentators pointed out the Irish missed tackles, but their defense was far superior in structure. They hardly ever left a gap.

Playing like this Ireland is a hard team to put away. But real forward pressure could have made a difference, France couldn’t do that….the Boks should be tougher on that front.

It’s shaping up for a great pool game in Paris in September.

Go Scotty!!!

It's a tough one. The Boks can fragment play by dragging the Irish into a set piece battle, and drain them under a hail of penalties with repeated line outs and mauls, but on the otherhand, the Boks are porous in contact in general play. Kwagga gives as a breakdown edge, with an ability to make decisive contributions. It depends on the day who can adapt and soak up pressure. The Irish are more structurally sound, and more disciplined in maintaining that structure. It will be a very interesting battle. Scotland are a long shot at beating the Boks, but the danger is there nonetheless. We'll need to be sharp from minute one onwards.