RBS 6 Nations Analysis: France v Ireland

by Kurt McQuilkin

Declan Kidney has given the frontliners a chance to redeem themselves against France by only making one change to the starting line-up with Keith Earls coming in. This will be a match that can’t come quickly enough for those men after the heartbreak of last weekend.

France are going to attack Ireland with width at Stade De France on Saturday night – and Ireland urgently need to get back into their groove to repel that threat because it was a very un-Irish defensive display after what we have come to expect from this team under Less Kiss’ tutelage.

If they let the French attack come onto them as they did against the Welsh it will spell disaster.

Last week, the Irish defense appeared to press off their line for two or three steps and then "paddle" in a holding position, letting the opposition attack come at them. This is a ploy usually used when your defensive screen is caught in a numbers down situation.

This time, Ireland must keep pressing after that intial two or three steps and enter the contact zone on their terms. That will give them much needed momentum to bring into the tackle situation.

You can always tell when a defensive screen is not at its best. Communication levels drop from the inside defenders and outside defenders either look inwards or "shoot" out of the defensive screen on no better than 50/50 reads, just to try and make an impact on the proceedings. The defensive victims of this behaviour are your linespeed and line integrity.

A classic example of this was George North’s try. Tommy Bowe planted for a second and looked in as Rob Kearney came across on his inside on a covering line. If the communication lines had worked, Kearney would have push Bowe out to the next channel and give him a one on one shot at stopping that telling eventual try.

Another worrying trend last weekend from a phase defensive point of view were the soaks and missed tackles out in the "belly" of the Irish defensive line.

Ireland must make better decisions in defence

These forced the defender immediately outside the initial hit to step in to help with the tackle. The knock on effect of that is a narrowing of the defensive screen because you lack numbers at the next phase, which opens you to getting skirted around the outside by the attack.

The French are masters at this style of play.

What do Ireland need to do? Tackle selection will play a massive part in the outcome of this match. Big impact hit opportunites only come along two or three times for an individual player during a match. Looking to turn every tackle into a high impact one gets you and your defensive screen in big trouble. You must pick your battles and keep your line integrity with good regulation hits until the right opportunity arises.

From an attacking point of view, Ireland cannot afford to kick too much ball away because it will give the French back three of Julien Malzieu, Maxime Medard and Vincent Clerc the chance to gain easy yards on their counter attack.

There were signs of good depth in the Irish attack against Wales but it was stifled by poor pass execution and decision to take ball into contact when there were superior numbers out in the wider channels.

Against France, those opportunites need to be converted into points or at the very least good field position.

Murray key to wearing out French defenders

From phase attack I would also like to see Conor Murray take on the inside French defenders around the ruck area on a more regular basis, but he must have support players with him.

That will give him passing options and also helps to create the quick blow-out rucking game needed to commit the French defenders. If Ireland can get into this pattern of play on attack, they will be able to seriously fatigue the French tight forwards.

For the defence, linespeed comes from the first and second defender off the ruck. If thosthey feel fatigued and vulnerable because of the sniping threat, they tend to sit on their heels and wait rather than pressing off their line.

Keeping tight and clincal in both attack and defence will be the key but if Ireland can squeeze the French, especially in that first 20 minutes, the whistling can start and that boisterous home crowd can turn on the home team. Discipline may start to slip.

If that seed of doubt can be planted in French minds, this Irish team is very capable of winning.

Follow all the RBS 6 Nations action this weekend on RTÉ.ie/Sport with our live Matchtrackers and live streaming of RTÉ's TV (Ireland only) and Radio (Worldwide) coverage of the matches. WEB-ONLY coverage of France U20 v Ireland U20 from 1.50pm on Saturday.

Kurt McQuilkin won five caps for Ireland in 1996/97 and is a former Leinster defence coach, winning the Heineken Cup with the province in 2009.