Can we Slam Les Bleus?

[Sourdust]

France arguably over-hyped; Wales arguably under-rated; but the problem is, if you say that often enough, it stops being true!

[normanski]

Yes, there is expectation of a win. However, France may have been slight favourites at Twickenham on Saturday, based on recent form, but great expectation, no.
Sure, this side is in development, but it's a side capable of a bonus point win against Wales, make no mistake!

You may well score four or more tries against us. But we can do the same. I’m certainly a lot more confident about this game than I was six weeks ago.

It certainly seems as if Stephen Jones has been working on the way Wales attack the try line. Seventeen tries in four games with another four to come on Saturday!!

[Sandydragon]

Yes, there is expectation of a win. However, France may have been slight favourites at Twickenham on Saturday, based on recent form, but great expectation, no.
Sure, this side is in development, but it's a side capable of a bonus point win against Wales, make no mistake!

You may well score four or more tries against us. But we can do the same. I’m certainly a lot more confident about this game than I was six weeks ago.

It certainly seems as if Stephen Jones has been working on the way Wales attack the try line. Seventeen tries in four games with another four to come on Saturday!!

More tries scored so far than in 2005. That’s quite a stat.

[Mikey Brown]

This thread is amazing. I’ll be shocked if you guys even lose a game before you lift the World Cup.

[normanski]

This thread is amazing. I’ll be shocked if you guys even lose a game before you lift the World Cup.

It was written in the stars that this would be our Grand Slam year.

Not so certain about RWC yet but we’ve got Merlin the magician working on it as we speak!

[francoisfou]

The referee at the Stade de France is Welshman Luke Pearce - born in Pontypool! Another 16th man advantage!

[normanski]

The referee at the Stade de France is Welshman Luke Pearce - born in Pontypool! Another 16th man advantage!

Nope. Welsh born referees always try to be balanced but in the end give the benefit of the doubt to the opposing team unlike Irish refs who give always give the fifty/fifty calls to the Irish sides. Have you watched any Welsh sides playing provincial sides in Ireland with a domestic ref. They’re always biased against the opposition.

Then of course there was Irish ref, Alain Roland, whose father was French and he wouldn’t give Wales or the Welsh sides the time of day.

He famously (infamously?) reffed our semi final game with France in RWC 2011 and gave a red card when yellow would have sufficed and we missed our chance for reaching the final.

Mon ami have no fears, the fifty/fifty calls will go your way.

[Sandydragon]

The referee at the Stade de France is Welshman Luke Pearce - born in Pontypool! Another 16th man advantage!

As Normanski points out, you've had more than your fair share of luck via Allain Rolland. I doubt Pearce will be as bad as Rolland.

[francoisfou]

The referee at the Stade de France is Welshman Luke Pearce - born in Pontypool! Another 16th man advantage!

Nope. Welsh born referees always try to be balanced but in the end give the benefit of the doubt to the opposing team unlike Irish refs who give always give the fifty/fifty calls to the Irish sides. Have you watched any Welsh sides playing provincial sides in Ireland with a domestic ref. They’re always biased against the opposition.

Then of course there was Irish ref, Alain Roland, whose father was French and he wouldn’t give Wales or the Welsh sides the time of day.

He famously (infamously?) reffed our semi final game with France in RWC 2011 and gave a red card when yellow would have sufficed and we missed our chance for reaching the final.

Mon ami have no fears, the fifty/fifty calls will go your way.

Sandydragon » Wed Mar 17, 2021 10:00 am

francoisfou wrote:
The referee at the Stade de France is Welshman Luke Pearce - born in Pontypool! Another 16th man advantage!

As Normanski points out, you've had more than your fair share of luck via Allain Rolland. I doubt Pearce will be as bad as Rolland.


True, Alain Rolland was an odd'un! From what I've seen of Luke Pearce, he's one of better new refs at Test match level and am sure he'll be as impartial as possible!
Allez le bleus!!

[normanski]

Francois - let’s hope the game is settled with skill and not controversy. Pearce is one of the up and coming refs so should head well away from making borderline errors.

[normanski]

Francois - let’s hope the game is settled with skill and not controversy. Pearce is one of the up and coming refs so should head well away from making borderline errors.

[ex-xile]

Luke Pearce refereed London Irish v Worcester last weekend and was absolutely slaughtered by some LI supporters for his perceived incompetence.

Can't comment personally since I didn't see the game so entirely possible that the slating was due to blinkered fans. Not unheard of.

[tigran]

Bonjour, mes amis gallois!

The answer to the question is, yes, but highly unlikely!
This is a French team that is learning with each match, a team that got a hard-earned win in Dublin and lost at Twickenham when cool heads in the last ten minutes would surely have won the game. Having said that, your team must be respected and if you are to beat France, your best chance is now because they'll be even better next season and hopefully more so in World Cup year 2023.
A couple of changes to the squad have already been announced. Prop Uini Atonio and centre Arthur Vincent have been drafted into the squad. Second row, Bernard Le Roux is due to have a scan this morning to see if he'll be able to make the squad, and let's hope he makes it because he's an important player to the squad. I'd imagine that the only change to the starting XV would be Le Roux - if fit, with Taofifénua on the replacements' bench.
I'm really looking forward to Saturday night but it's a shame that the Stade de France will be empty for such an important game.
I expect a bonus point win for France and similarly against Scotland on the 26th, but as Sandydragon says above, we're waiting for confirmation.

I admire your confidence that France are on an upward curve but I’m not so sure!

On Saturday, at Twickenham, there were two heavyweight but mediocre sides slugging it out to see who could make the least mistakes.

A telling statistic is that France did not get into the England 22 with ball in hand for the whole of the second half - forty minutes without posing a single close-in opportunity. Sacre Bleu!

While they flatter to deceive so far, France will feel the weight of Wales’s upward curve of this season and end up on the wrong side of a team who are improving by leaps and bounds in every game they play.

France, I think, believe the hype of your press and the English press who give you the status of your exceptional and glory teams of the past. You ain’t nowhere near that level quite yet.

One thing about us too, all teams will score tries against Wales (even Italy managed one on Saturday) because that is the Pivac way. But Wales are discovering the knack of scoring far more from very limited opportunities. Look at our stats of tries scored against time in the 22.

Underestimate Wales at your peril because we’re coming for you on Saturday!!! It promises to be one hell of a game.

Bon chance, monsieur!

This french team has been together for just à little bit more than a year, something lots of People seem to forget...
If they don't get to improve wich team could ?

[tigran]

The referee at the Stade de France is Welshman Luke Pearce - born in Pontypool! Another 16th man advantage!

As Normanski points out, you've had more than your fair share of luck via Allain Rolland. I doubt Pearce will be as bad as Rolland.

Lol this for one game you suffered because of rolland..
France have had to suffer for decades with english talking refs...

Let' s hope we'll be talking about the players

[normanski]

The referee at the Stade de France is Welshman Luke Pearce - born in Pontypool! Another 16th man advantage!

As Normanski points out, you've had more than your fair share of luck via Allain Rolland. I doubt Pearce will be as bad as Rolland.

Lol this for one game you suffered because of rolland..
France have had to suffer for decades with english talking refs...

Let' s hope we'll be talking about the players

No, it wasn’t just that one game and not just France. Rolland the Rat performed that way whenever he reffed Wales or the provincial games between Welsh and Irish sides and any game involving Welsh sides.

[loudnconfident]

This thread is amazing. I’ll be shocked if you guys even lose a game before you lift the World Cup.

It was written in the stars that this would be our Grand Slam year.
Not so certain about RWC yet but we’ve got Merlin the magician working on it as we speak!

Wales have done enough in every game so far - and who needs more than that?

If I were a Wales fan I'd be tempted to bang a tenner on - Betfair have Wales at 3/1 against. Not bad odds at all.

[Graigwen]

WALES TEAM TO PLAY FRANCE (SATURDAY MARCH 22 KO 21.00 LOCAL, BBC & S4C)

1. Wyn Jones (34 Caps)
2. Ken Owens (81 Caps)
3. Tomas Francis (56 Caps)
4. Adam Beard (24 Caps)
5. Alun Wyn Jones (CAPT) (147 Caps)
6. Josh Navidi (27 Caps)
7. Justin Tipuric (84 Caps)
8. Taulupe Faletau (85 Caps)
9. Gareth Davies (61 Caps)
10. Dan Biggar (91 Caps)
11. Josh Adams (31 Caps)
12. Jonathan Davies (87 Caps)
13. George North (101 Caps)
14. Louis Rees-Zammit (8 Caps)
15. Liam Williams (70 Caps)

Replacements:

16. Elliot Dee (36 Caps)
17. Nicky Smith (38 Caps)
18. Leon Brown (16 Caps)
19. Cory Hill (31 Caps)
20. James Botham (5 Caps)
21. Tomos Williams (21 Caps)
22. Callum Sheedy (8 Caps)
23. Uilisi Halaholo (3 Caps)

[Graigwen]

Gareth Davies starts at 9, with Tomos Williams on the bench. I would have expectected them the other way round (on tactical basis).

.

[Graigwen]

Everything else pretty well as expected. JD2 retained at centre, he is still working his way back to form, let's hope he makes it.

.

[normanski]

Gareth Davies starts at 9, with Tomos Williams on the bench. I would have expectected them the other way round (on tactical basis).

.

Perhaps it’s because he coming back from injury and doesn’t have game time.

Strong side capable of winning a Grand Slam.

[Son of Mathonwy]

No surprises there. Having kept pretty much the same team, other than Beard, for Italy, it was only ever going to be like this. I'd have preferred to have started Sheedy and Halaholo in the last match but given that we haven't, it would be risky starting anyone other than Biggar and JD2.

This team can do it. I'm getting worryingly confident about the outcome. If that makes any sense.

[normanski]

No surprises there. Having kept pretty much the same team, other than Beard, for Italy, it was only ever going to be like this. I'd have preferred to have started Sheedy and Halaholo in the last match but given that we haven't, it would be risky starting anyone other than Biggar and JD2.

This team can do it. I'm getting worryingly confident about the outcome. If that makes any sense.

This is the strangest thing. Normally I oscillate between over optimism and then hyper pessimism before and during the 6N or AIs.

This year for some reason I have been supremely confident before each game and with thought at the back of my mind that it would be our year for a GS.

I must do a tot up of my first four game score forecasts on this board and compare them with the overall actuals.

I don’t think I will be far out.

For Saturday I saying 28-18 to Wales. I hope I’m proved right!

[Son of Mathonwy]

No surprises there. Having kept pretty much the same team, other than Beard, for Italy, it was only ever going to be like this. I'd have preferred to have started Sheedy and Halaholo in the last match but given that we haven't, it would be risky starting anyone other than Biggar and JD2.

This team can do it. I'm getting worryingly confident about the outcome. If that makes any sense.

This is the strangest thing. Normally I oscillate between over optimism and then hyper pessimism before and during the 6N or AIs.

This year for some reason I have been supremely confident before each game and with thought at the back of my mind that it would be our year for a GS.

I must do a tot up of my first four game score forecasts on this board and compare them with the overall actuals.

I don’t think I will be far out.

For Saturday I saying 28-18 to Wales. I hope I’m proved right!

I think the fact that we've never lost the last match after winning the first 4 and gives me confidence (I know this is dangerous talk...).

My guess is 26 - 19 to us.

[francoisfou]

So here's your opposition for Saturday night.

Dulin - Penaud, Vakatawa, Fickou, Thomas - (o) Jalibert, (m) Dupont - Ollivon (cap), Alldritt, Cretin - Willemse, R.Taofifenua - Haouas, Marchand, Baille.

Chat, Gros, Atonio, Rebbadj, Jelonch, Serin, Ntamack, Vincent.

I think we'll win, but it may not be by many. The duel of the hookers will be key. I've a very high regard for Ken Owens, and Julian Marchand is a tremendous competitor.
A fascinating match awaits and may the better team win!

[Graigwen]

I think we'll win, but it may not be by many. The duel of the hookers will be key. I've a very high regard for Ken Owens, and Julian Marchand is a tremendous competitor.
A fascinating match awaits and may the better team win!

This seems fair comment. France are a good side and will be very difficult to beat. Some of their handling is truly beautiful.

France are favourites, but we still have a good chance.

I just want a good game with no cards.

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