Dark day for southern hemisphere as rugby peaks in Ireland vs France match
Most fans are happy with one epic try in a match, but to be treated to three in the first half of Ireland's contest with France at the Aviva Stadium was absurd.
In what many people have viewed as the Six Nations decider in Dublin, Ireland opened the try scoring with a sumptuous move which saw prop Finlay Bealham put fullback Hugo Keenan through a gap to run in and score. Just minutes later France were raising the bar as Damian Penaud scored a scorcher. But Ireland were not done there, and James Lowe replied with a truly world class finish int the corner. Andrew Porter also got in on the action with a try, but compared to what came before, it was very dull.
With Ireland ranked number one in the world, and France the reigning Six Nations champions, this could be as good as northern hemisphere rugby has ever been, certainly in the professional era, and the result could have huge ramifications for the World Cup next year.
Take a look:
Ireland XV
15. Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 26 caps
14. Mack Hansen (Connacht/Corinthians) 10 caps
13. Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 48 caps
12. Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor) 10 caps
11. James Lowe (Leinster) 16 caps
10. Johnny Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 110 caps (c)
9. Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 101 caps
1. Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 49 caps
2. Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 32 caps
3. Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers) 28 caps
4. Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne) 37 caps
5. James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 49 caps
6. Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 90 caps
7. Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 46 caps
8. Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 24 caps
Replacements
16. Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 18 caps
17. Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 49 caps
18. Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 5 caps
19. Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy) 69 caps
20. Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 34 caps
21. Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon) 8 caps
22. Ross Byrne (Leinster/UCD) 15 caps
23. Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 42 caps
France XV
15 Thomas Ramos
14 Damian Penaud
13 Gaël Fickou
12 Yoram Moefana
11 Ethan Dumortier
10 Romain Ntamack
9 Antoine Dupont (c)
1 Cyril Baille
2 Julien Marchand
3 Uini Atonio
4 Thibaud Flament
5 Paul Willemse
6 Anthony Jelonch
7 Charles Ollivon
8 Grégory Alldritt
Replacements
16 Gaëtan Barlot
17 Reda Wardi
18 Sipili Falatea
19 Romain Taofifenua
20 François Cros
21 Sekou Macalou
22 Baptiste Couilloud
23 Matthieu Jalibert