Brilliant pass from Conor Murray and Kearney gets over the line for the try.
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“He’s a great player, he’s had two years in France so I’ve played against him a number of times”. Scotland’s thrilling 36-33 win over Samoa on Saturday saw to that as it secured second place in Pool B. But former Wallabies coach Jones wants to end his reign on a winning note against the United States at Gloucester’s Kingsholm Stadium (1900 GMT).
In the 24th minute, though, Sexton pulled up gingerly after a tackle and had treatment on what looked like a groin problem.
The second-half is now underway.
With the unfortunate Jared Payne out of the tournament, Ireland need their new centre pairing of Robbie Henshaw and Keith Earls to produce something much better than what we have seen so far. Eight years ago, the teams met at the same stage, in the same stadium and on the same night – and France won 20-18 in one of the most memorable wins at a World Cup. When it comes to providing evidential support for one of rugby’s oldest truths – namely, that the bigger they are, the harder they fall – O’Mahony was just the man.
It was far from plain sailing for the men in green, however, as they lost influential captain Paul O’Connell and playmaker Jonny Sexton to first-half injuries.
Ireland withstood a French onslaught as the clock ticked towards 40′ but O’Connell went down after awkwardly twisting his knee, resulting in him being stretchered off. Speaking in the post match interview, Joe Schmidt said that he will go for a scan tomorrow but the outlook is bleak.
Given Ireland’s track-record for truthfulness in media briefings at this tournament, we can only hope that the captain was telling another white lie.
“I think he has a fantastic opportunity to be here”.
What a chance that was.
Sexton’s departure threw Madigan to the wolves, but the Leinster fly-half fired a penalty to calm any nerves and edge Ireland 9-6 ahead.
“We’ve had a fantastic World Cup so the players are focused and will complete the job”.
Irrespective of whether the citing commissioners review the incident, O’Brien set Ireland’s tone, with Pape prone on the turf for several minutes.
Johnny Sexton puts Ireland back in the lead with another penalty.
The lead doesn’t last very long as Spedding kicks over a penalty from distance.
If he can put Ireland off balance from out-half, the likes of Wesley Fofana, Mathieu Bastareaud and Noa Nakaitaci are power runners capable of doing serious damage as the play opens up.
One thing that seemed painfully obvious in the seven-point win over Italy was Ireland’s lack of cohesiveness throughout the backs.
Will Sexton go for a score from here? France rally with another sweet Blanco-Sella combination finished by Patrice Lagisquet.
It was a tougher kick than the first one and Scott Spedding blasted it wide. It also summed up France’s blunt attacking game.
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But Frédéric Michalak kicks it wide. Should he produce a performance befitting of his talents, like he has in four of his previous five outings, he is going to suck Irish defenders into the tackle area, which will create space in the wider channels for the French backs. As big a reward as two qualified teams could fight for, and – should both side hit their straps in Cardiff – as fine a contest as a neutral could ask for.
