THERE WILL BE no Uini Atonio at Stade de France this Thursday night, and that will mean less conversation when the teams are setting up for scrums.
While the now-retired tighthead prop – who would likely have played against Ireland again this week but for his heart issue – was a fearsome presence in contact, he has always been seen as a friendly giant.
Irish players had become accustomed to the sight and sound of Atonio in Six Nations games, but also through Leinster’s repeated battles with La Rochelle in the last few years.
So they knew all about the two sides of the powerful prop.
“He’s always been a friendly character,” said Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan.
“He’s probably the opposite of Skelton in some ways. He’s the one sort of chatting to you. He’d just be having normal conversations with you in scrums and stuff, and you’re just like, ‘What the heck?’
“But he’d come up to you after a game and just chat to you as if he’s known you for years. So he’s always been that sort of friendly character, but yet a seriously talented competitor at the same time.
“Sometimes I struggle to see how he’s able to just go from one sort of personality to the other. He’s been top, top quality for so many years now, and we wish him all the best.”
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Sheehan said it was “pretty tragic” that Atonio has been forced into retirement, but news of the tighthead’s heart problem put into perspective that rugby is not the most important thing in life.
Atonio’s absence means that France are down their most seasoned set-piece operator, with the French media now tipping Toulouse’s Dorian Aldegheri to start at tighthead, but les Bleus will still be looking to give Ireland hell at the scrum.
Sheehan and Ireland are set for a big set-piece contest. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
It’s likely to be a crucial area, all the more so because Ireland struggled so damagingly there against South Africa the last time they played.
“We’ve addressed those issues,” said Sheehan.
“We probably looked at it almost like an individual; we sort of tried to solve things on our own.
“In the scrum, it can be very technical and you just need to stick to your process as much as you can.
“I think we probably went to a point where we were all trying to ‘man up’ and just deal with it by ourselves. We’ve had good energy from the whole team in the scrum sessions the last couple of weeks in terms of how we’re going to go about it, how we stick to our process.
“If things go wrong, what do we do, and a lot of it is just doubling down on what we know we’re good at and producing what we put on the training field every day.”
Ireland’s front row unit will look different to that day against the Springboks.
Andrew Porter and Paddy McCarthy are sidelined with injury, as is Jack Boyle, so Munster duo Jeremy Loughman and Michael Milne come back into the squad having been out of the mix in November.
Sheehan didn’t agree with the notion that the changes at loosehead are a big challenge for Ireland, and he stated that Andy Farrell has “done a good job building some good depth” at loosehead over the years.
“That’s the thing – I am used to playing with them,” said Sheehan of Loughman and Milne.
The Irish scrum had a miserable time against South Africa. Gary Carr / INPHO
Gary Carr / INPHO / INPHO
“Mikey obviously being with Leinster last year and then Jeremy’s been in camp plenty of times. Of course we’ve got to work it out and in the first few days of camp, that was the main thing.
“It wasn’t maybe going to live scrums. It was just set-ups, getting that sort of feel thing back and, very quickly, we’ve been clicking and having some good top-quality scrum sessions. So, yeah, I think people sort of get straight back into place and bounce back into the role.”
And as they get set for a huge atmosphere on Thursday, Sheehan said the French fans in Paris tend to be brilliant. He wants Ireland to draw energy from the noise.
“I think the French are just very supportive people and I don’t think they need to be on the pints all day to get in behind their teams with a bit of noise,” he said.
“They’re chanting the whole way, marching bands, the lot. It’s a brilliant place. I think we just need to embrace it and hopefully jump on the back of it.”
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'He's the opposite of Skelton. He'd have conversations with you in scrums'
THERE WILL BE no Uini Atonio at Stade de France this Thursday night, and that will mean less conversation when the teams are setting up for scrums.
While the now-retired tighthead prop – who would likely have played against Ireland again this week but for his heart issue – was a fearsome presence in contact, he has always been seen as a friendly giant.
Irish players had become accustomed to the sight and sound of Atonio in Six Nations games, but also through Leinster’s repeated battles with La Rochelle in the last few years.
So they knew all about the two sides of the powerful prop.
“He’s always been a friendly character,” said Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan.
“He’s probably the opposite of Skelton in some ways. He’s the one sort of chatting to you. He’d just be having normal conversations with you in scrums and stuff, and you’re just like, ‘What the heck?’
“But he’d come up to you after a game and just chat to you as if he’s known you for years. So he’s always been that sort of friendly character, but yet a seriously talented competitor at the same time.
“Sometimes I struggle to see how he’s able to just go from one sort of personality to the other. He’s been top, top quality for so many years now, and we wish him all the best.”
Sheehan said it was “pretty tragic” that Atonio has been forced into retirement, but news of the tighthead’s heart problem put into perspective that rugby is not the most important thing in life.
Atonio’s absence means that France are down their most seasoned set-piece operator, with the French media now tipping Toulouse’s Dorian Aldegheri to start at tighthead, but les Bleus will still be looking to give Ireland hell at the scrum.
It’s likely to be a crucial area, all the more so because Ireland struggled so damagingly there against South Africa the last time they played.
“We’ve addressed those issues,” said Sheehan.
“We probably looked at it almost like an individual; we sort of tried to solve things on our own.
“In the scrum, it can be very technical and you just need to stick to your process as much as you can.
“I think we probably went to a point where we were all trying to ‘man up’ and just deal with it by ourselves. We’ve had good energy from the whole team in the scrum sessions the last couple of weeks in terms of how we’re going to go about it, how we stick to our process.
“If things go wrong, what do we do, and a lot of it is just doubling down on what we know we’re good at and producing what we put on the training field every day.”
Ireland’s front row unit will look different to that day against the Springboks.
Andrew Porter and Paddy McCarthy are sidelined with injury, as is Jack Boyle, so Munster duo Jeremy Loughman and Michael Milne come back into the squad having been out of the mix in November.
Sheehan didn’t agree with the notion that the changes at loosehead are a big challenge for Ireland, and he stated that Andy Farrell has “done a good job building some good depth” at loosehead over the years.
“That’s the thing – I am used to playing with them,” said Sheehan of Loughman and Milne.
“Mikey obviously being with Leinster last year and then Jeremy’s been in camp plenty of times. Of course we’ve got to work it out and in the first few days of camp, that was the main thing.
“It wasn’t maybe going to live scrums. It was just set-ups, getting that sort of feel thing back and, very quickly, we’ve been clicking and having some good top-quality scrum sessions. So, yeah, I think people sort of get straight back into place and bounce back into the role.”
And as they get set for a huge atmosphere on Thursday, Sheehan said the French fans in Paris tend to be brilliant. He wants Ireland to draw energy from the noise.
“I think the French are just very supportive people and I don’t think they need to be on the pints all day to get in behind their teams with a bit of noise,” he said.
“They’re chanting the whole way, marching bands, the lot. It’s a brilliant place. I think we just need to embrace it and hopefully jump on the back of it.”
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