Planet Six Nations

A century of Ireland v France: TODAYS Six Nations match between Ireland and France at Croke Park will mark the 100th anniversary of the first meeting in 1909.

England (1906), Wales (1908) already enjoyed fixtures against France before Ireland followed suit, with the Scots bringing up the rear in 1910, when the Five Nations tournament started in earnest.

The 1909 match was played at Lansdowne Road. Ireland had lost their three previous matches that year, while the French had suffered a 47-5 thumping at the hands of Wales. True to those times the French players arrived in small groups, some taking five days.

France produced their best performance of the season in defeat, losing 19-8. Fred Gardiner (22), captained the Ireland team, scoring a try and landing a conversion, while Belfast-born Charles Thompson scored Ireland's first and last tries. The other came from Garryowen scrumhalf John O'Connor, who won his only cap that day.

The French scores came from wing Gaston Lane and Augustin Hourdebaigt. Lane was, along with captain Marcel Communeau, one of two survivors from the first ever France team, which had played against the first All Blacks on New Year's Day 1906. Ireland won the first five, pre-war meetings before France broke their duck at the Stades Colombes in 1920 and the French have gone on to dominate the fixture (48 wins to 27), making it the most one-sided head-to-head contests in the championship, Italy notwithstanding.

Lievremont calls for more focus

FRENCH coach Marc Lievremont is in no doubt about the magnitude of the task his side faces in their opening Six Nations Championship match against Ireland at Croke Park today.

He admitted: This Ireland team inspire in us the greatest respect. Their organisation, the quality of their players, their coherence, the context of Croke Park and the growing expectations of the Irish supporters are factors which will make that game particularly difficult.”

Lievremont has also identified a weakness that has run through several of France’s big games over the last 12 months, notably the fact that the team has played second best in the final quarter of several games.

Ireland offered proof of that assertion in the corresponding fixture at the Stade de France last season when they came storming back from 26-6 down to eventually lose 26-21.

He explained: “If you look at last year’s important games, against England, Ireland and Wales in the Six Nations and against Australia in November, we suffered after an hour of play and when we cracked we did crack in all sectors.

“We did our best to make the players aware of that and asked them to keep composure and concentration until the final whistle, whatever the score.

If he wants a positive spin he could point to the Ireland-France fixture of two years ago when a late Vincent Clerc try won the game for the visitors at the death.

Victims of scam

SEVERAL HUNDRED French rugby fans won’t be able to attend today’s game at Croke Park after falling victims of a scam after they bought what they believed to be genuine travel and ticket packages for the Six Nations clash.

The two directors of the company allegedly responsible for the impropriety were arrested by French police in Dijon during the week.

Among the about 700 victims, some 300 are believed to be members of the official French rugby supporters’ club.

Prop Faure has a few scores to settle with Irish front row

FRENCH PROP Lionel Faure will nurse a grievance arising from last season’s Six Nations game between France and Ireland at the Stade De France when he takes the pitch at Croke Park today. Ireland managed to force a penalty try from a scrum, an affront to any self-respecting French prop. It doesn’t matter that coach Marc Lievremont had made several changes at that point to his team during the match.

Faure hasn’t forgotten that try. “When we played against Ireland in the last Six Nations, it was quite a bad point for us because we conceded that penalty try. It has been forgotten a little bit because we scored one of our own against Australia but it is still fresh in the memory.

“Our scrum is getting better, though, I think. We are working very, very hard on it and I am sure we will keep going in the right direction.

“It will be the first time we have played against Ireland since that match and we will be watching their scrum from last year on the tape.

“We have to be focused and ready to fight, to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Faure also had a special word for his opposite number John Hayes. “My one-on-one against John Hayes is always difficult. He is big and technical, and what is amazing is he never gets injured. He plays every game. He is 35, 36, and he plays 80 minutes every week and never gets hurt. He’s unbelievable!”