THERE’S AN UNCERTAINTY involved in defending against a guy like Freddie Michalak.
He’ll look to run at times you might anticipate an exit, he’ll use his excellent short kicking game with those chips and grubbers. If he thinks it’s on, he will back himself completely. Analysis simply doesn’t mean as much in preparing to play against him.
Of course it can all go wrong for him, but I really enjoy watching him play.
I haven’t seen Freddie play this well for quite a while now. I’ve played against him a number of times throughout my career, and one game that stands out is the 2003 World Cup quarter-final.
The French were properly on form that day in Melbourne, he ran the show for the them, converted all four of the tries and kicked a few penalties as well. A really tough day for us.
He’s back on top of the game now and has two guys outside him who can get on the ball whenever Freddie doesn’t fancy it.
Mathieu Bastareaud’s power almost gives Freddie license to play. If he runs down the wrong alley, he just has to ship it to Bastareaud and the big man will go through the wall in front of him.
Wesley Fofana is there too, and it goes without saying that Freddie will distribute to him. Early in the game, they’ll go direct with Basta in the midfield and then play off that platform with Fofana in the wider channels. It’s a simple game plan from the French, but not easy to stop with their combination of physicality and creativity.
I’m still confident for today. Despite Ireland not playing to their potential in recent weeks, I still think they’re going to win this game. It’s going to be a lot closer than I would have thought going into the competition, France have shown form.
It’s Ireland’s first major challenge in the World Cup and I’ve no doubt they’ll be mentally ready for this. Speaking to some of the guys in Joe’s squad, they’re fully aware they didn’t play well last week and that they were shocked by Italy’s aggression and intensity.
The increase in intensity from the previous week against Romania took them totally by surprise. It was an awakening for them, that poor performance against Italy. They’ve realised that if they play like that again they will not win against the French.
Joe has made a big call by starting Devin Toner ahead of Iain Henderson. For me, Henderson has been one of Ireland’s best players in this tournament, possibly even in the whole competition.
He’s a player you hate defending against, for totally different reasons to Michalak. Henderson is the type of guy who makes the day after games all the more painful.
He helps the back row with his ball-carrying ability and I felt we needed it in this game. You do get it into the side with Cian Healy being included but I was very surprised with the selection.
Whatever about the feeling of shock at Henderson not starting, you can always, always see Joe’s thinking with his selections. Devin has rarely done anything wrong for Ireland. He’s a different type of player to Iain and Joe’s mindset is that we need to secure the set-piece.
Devin brings that in the lineout and he’s a big lump of a guy even if he can look gangly. He will bring his weight to the scrum and maul, he’ll bring quality in that area and Johnny Sexton’s backs need a good platform.
I think there’s a small bit of pressure on Joe as a result of this particular selection, but then the same is true of pretty much every selection. There is always the potential that a coach makes the wrong call.
The option of Iain coming off the bench and making a huge impact is important. It’s crucial to be dominant in the set-piece in this game, and that’s why Devin has won out in this decision.
Ireland haven’t put in a really impressive performance in this World Cup yet and this is about going back to basics. Win the set-piece, and go from there.
On a professional and personal level, I’m gutted for Jared Payne going home. On the positive side of it, Keith Earls is now the 13. That wouldn’t have happened if Jared was fit, Joe would have definitely backed him.
Keith’s defence in the 12/13 channel is a huge area. It’s a big test for him but I know he’s up to it. Going forward, if we’re looking to be more of an attacking threat and score tries, which we need to be to win the World Cup, Keith gives you that at 13.
Freddie is the key man for the French and there’s been loads of chat about Johnny Sexton this week. It was always going to be the case.
Johnny is the key tactical leader, but I’m fascinated to see how Conor Murray plays today. He wasn’t himself against the Italians, no one will have needed to tell him that. I expect a huge response.
A coach needs halfbacks who perfectly implement the game plan, Joe probably more so than anyone else with the amount of detail he goes into. Conor’s kicking has improved so much in the last few years and he’s key to that part of the Ireland approach.
We saw some of it against Italy with Tommy Bowe chasing and it’s going to be massive today. Conor controls the game very well, he’s a good passer, he reads the flow of the game well.
Ireland need their tactical leaders to dominate today in Cardiff.
