France will go into the final day of this season’s 6 Nations in pole position to lift another Six Nations crown after a 42-27 win over Ireland in Dublin yesterday.

 Ireland will know they left opportunities behind them in particular in the opening 20 minutes where they dominated possession and territory but they could not make that count as they were held up over the line and then turned over on the try line. When you miss these chances against the best teams you will regret not taking your chance when they are presented.

France had a break away try chalked off owing to a knock on in the build up and that signalled the intent of the French attack after the Shaun Edwards drilled defence had held under a barrage of pressure in that opening 20 minutes.

The moment that had France reeling after the game came in the 29^th minute when Antoine Dupont was trying to secure a turn over and he was knock backwards by Tadgh Beirne and Andrew Porter and did enough damage to his knee that saw him replaced by Bordeaux Begles scrum half Maxime Lucu.

In the aftermath of the game yesterday, Fabien Galthie has said he will be reporting the actions of Beirne, Porter and Calvin Nash to the citing commissioners so I have the feeling that the Irish camp hasn’t heard the last of those two incidents from the game.

Back to the game, after Dupont went off the introduction of Lucu seemed to take time to take hold and affect the game but as the first half drew to a conclusion France were beginning to gain control and they led 8-6 at the half through a Ramos penalty and Bielle Biarrey try.

In response Ireland had two penalties from Sam Prendergast who was very clever in the final moments of that opening half by nudging his penalty attempt slightly above the given mark and placing the ball on the half way line and then finding his range to kick a fine penalty.

Ireland did lose Joe Mc Carthy to a very silly yellow card for pulling Bielle Biarrey back as he tried to race clear to regather a kick ahead. France played a typical French game plan of playing what is in front of you and going from anywhere and that kept the Irish defence constantly guessing.

Ireland lost James Lowe in warm up to a back spasm which brought Calvin Nash into the side on the right wing with Jamie Osbourne moving over the left wing. This loss had an impact on the game plan on the day but to be fair to Calvin Nash who also saw yellow for head contact in the tackle which was deemed on the lower part of the scale and the yellow card was deem sufficient punishment for Nash.

These two cards absolutely killed any momentum that Ireland build up in both halves and allowed France attack through Ramos, Penaud, Mofana et al…. The 7/1 split also had the desired affect when the game was in the melting pot after Dan Sheehan got over to put Ireland 13-8 up early in the second half.

Unfortunately for Ireland that is as good as it got as France fired straight back and reclaimed the lead that they would not relinquish for the final 30 minutes of the contest and even though Ireland did manage two late tries through Cian Healy on the occasion of his last appearance in the Aviva and Jack Conan both were converted by Sam Prendergast.

The Irish attack didn’t flow as well as it has done previously and even with the best efforts of Hugo Keenan in particular who seemed to take on the James Lowe role of being the extra man in whichever attacking shape Ireland were trying to use.

Full credit must go to the French defence who worked so hard to get off the line and close down any attempt by Ireland to get to the outside and try and create chances for scores. It was a lesson in keeping bodies on their feet and keeping disciplined under pressure.

Ireland need to clean up their act in defence, they have given up a number of cards in this campaign with a game to go in Rome next Saturday at 2.15pm.

I think Simon Easterby will make a few changes to the side for the last game with still a slim mathematical chance of a title. It is of course unlikely that France will now be caught but Scotland go to Paris full of beans and hell bent on trying to deny France a win on home soil to seal another title.

Here is the XV I would select to play in Rome –

15 Hugo Keenan

14 Calvin Nash

13 Garry Ringrose

12 Robbie Henshaw

11 James Lowe

10 Jack Crowley

9 Jamison Gibson Park

8 Caelan Doris

7 Josh Van Der Flier

6 Tadgh Beirne

5 James Ryan

4 Joe Mc Carthy

3 Finlay Bealham

2 Dan Sheehan

1 Andrew Porter

–

16 Ronan Kelleher or Gus Mc Carthy

17 Cian Healy

18 Thomas Clarkson

19 Gavin Coombes

20 Jack Conan

21 Conor Murray

22 Sam Prendergast

23 Jamie Osbourne

JJ Hanrahan will return to Munster on a two year deal after spells with Clermont Auvergne, Dragons and the past two seasons with Connacht. This will be his third spell with Munster after initialling leaving to move to Northampton Saints.

The Munster squad is now taking shape for the 25/26 season, Dan Kelly joins up from Leicester Tigers and the two men joining up from Leinster, Michael Milne and Lee Barron. There are also a number of guys stepping up from the academy to senior deals like Evan O Connell, Brian Gleeson and Kieran Ryan.

The news of Clayton Mc Millan’s arrival next season will help focus the squad for the rest of the current campaign. They face two away matches this month. They are away to Glasgow and Connacht after the 6 Nations ends.

I am sure Mr Mc Millan had a say in Hanrahan’s arrival for a third spell. He will compete alongside Jack Crowley, Dylan Hicks, Tony Butler and Billy Burns for a place in the match day 23 next year. I have seen early comment to suggest that this is step backward in terms of bringing Munster forward under the new coach.

Time will tell weather this move will benefit Munster but you do need a senior 10 in the squad to help develop the younger 10s within the group and to step in if your main 10 is away on national duty or injured.

JJ will settle in straight off the bat as he has been in the Munster set up previously and that is one big plus given the fact a new coach will also be trying to implement his own style on the playing group.

Munster will want to end the current season on a strong footing and will also want to address to poor performance on home soil last Friday night. They will have to wait another two weeks before the URC returns for the run in.

They also face La Rochelle in the last 16 of the Champions Cup early next month. La Rochelle have had a rough period losing a number of games and they will want to return to good solid form before the visit of Munster.

So while the Munster squad to play under incoming man Clayton Mc Millan is taking shape nicely, the current squad has a job of work to do starting away to Glasgow in two weeks time…..

15 Hugo Keenan

14 Mack Hansen

13 Robbie Henshaw

12 Bundee Aki

11 James Lowe

10 Jack Crowley

9 Jamison Gibson Park

8 Caelan Doris

7 Josh Van Der Flier

6 Tadgh Beirne

5 James Ryan

4 Joe Mc Carthy

3 Finlay Bealham

2 Dan Sheehan

1 Andrew Porter

–

16 Ronan Kelleher

17 Cian Healy

18 Thomas Clarkson

19 Peter O Mahony

20 Ryan Baird

21 Conor Murray

22 Sam Prendergast

23 Jamie Osbourne

Here is the 23 I would select to take France on this weekend in Round 4 of the 6 Nations…

Week 4 of the 6 Nations is upon us with Ireland facing France in Dublin on Saturday at 2.15pm. Ireland are 3 from 3 and will go into this game on the back of a workmanlike performance away to Wales in round 3.

That particular showing will have sharpened the minds and also the fact France put 73 points on the board against Italy in Rome. This game is set up beautifully as a win for France will set them on course to win the Championship as they have a very healthy score difference. 

Galthie and Edwards will know they haven’t delivered enough silverware over the last few years and the intent shown in the victory in Rome shows they mean business to win the 6 Nations crown this year.

They will come to Dublin as favourites even though Ireland are still unbeaten this Championship. Ireland will know the showing in Cardiff will not be good enough to gain victory on Saturday. They will need to look back to the two previous wins over France under Farrell in 2023 and last year in Marseilles for a way forward and toward a win.

The selection at 10 will be interesting in green as Jack Crowley will have been pushing Prendergast hard over the past fortnight since the win in Wales. I am sure training has had that extra bite that only certain fixtures will bring out during the season.

Ireland will have to plan without Garry Ringrose but that may just make selection in the centre more straightforward that difficult. Who will take the 23 jersey as Ireland will go 5/3 on the bench. France have tinkered around with a few combinations through rounds one to three going 7/1 vs Italy two weeks ago. They most likely won’t do that coming to Dublin.

It is France and the unpredictability is what makes them so much fun to watch on the field as well as team selections. They will have the loss in Marseilles fresh in the mind and will want to redress the balance. France have unearthed a few gems with Louis Bielle –Biarrey and Leo Barre producing scintillating performances in blue over the early weeks of the campaign.

France have shown real attacking intent and only a piece of attacking brilliance from England late on in Allianz Stadium denied them victory. They reacted to that defeat by hammering Italy and putting the campaign back on track. They will bring a big support with them to Dublin and here’s hoping that the Irish support will be there early and ready to affect the game if called upon.

Simon Easterby has done well over the first part of the Championship and will know his tenure will be marked by the game against France after beating England in round one. Saturday is set up wonderfully and the winner on Saturday will most likely go on to be crowned champions the following weekend.

Ireland haven’t won many championships over the history of the 5/6 Nations and even fewer grand slams so yet again this year has been well set up.

Ireland are trying to win a hat trick of championships and that is something truly special if it can be achieved. Plenty of water to run under the bridge before all of that is decided of course. All roads lead to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday for a 2.15pm kick off. If your heading to Aviva, arrive early, be loud and don’t forget to breathe because this game promises to have it all….

It was confirmed today that three Irish centurions Peter O Mahony, Conor Murray and Cian Healy will end there international careers at the end of the current 6 Nations campaign.

Both O Mahony and Healy will retire and Conor Murray will continue his playing career by taking a playing opportunity abroad. The destination will be confirmed in due course.

All three men have been cornerstones of the Irish side since their debuts in 2009, 2011 and 2012. Cian Healy in particular has come back from a few serious injuries that could have ended his career a lot sooner than 2025.

Conor Murray has stated he will continue his playing career away from Ireland and take up a yet unknown chance elsewhere. He could go to a number of places and would be welcomed with open arms.

He will get to cap number 126 all going well and injury permitting against Italy in Rome. He will play one final game in green next Saturday week against France on home soil.  He was first capped before the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.

He has gone on three Lions tours in 2013, 2017 and 2021, he was part of the 2011 Munster Magners League winning squad overtaking Peter Stringer and Tomas O Leary in the process to start that final against Leinster in Limerick.

Peter O Mahony will retire entirely and could make it to 114 caps if he is involved against France and Italy. He took over as Munster captain in 2013 from Doug Howlett and then went on to skipper them until last season. He also captained the Lions in the first Test of the 2017 tour of New Zealand.

Cian Healy was first capped in 2009 for Ireland and went on the 2013 Lions tour of Australia only for a nasty ankle injury end his tour very early. He has been heavily relied upon by both Leinster and Ireland through his entire career. Being capped 136 times so far would suggest how durable he has been since his debut in 2009.

All three men have been such big characters in the Ireland set up under Declan Kidney, Joe Schmidt and latterly Andy Farrell. Their experience won’t be easily replaced and also their ability to make the right decision under pressure.

As they all said today, there is still work to be done in green over the next two weeks and then latterly in provincial colours before the season comes to a close. From a personal perspective I want to thank all three men for helping create many happy moments over the years.

To all of you, thank you and enjoy the next chapter….

Munster have announced the arrival in July of new head coach Clayton Mc Millan on a 3 year contract. He will complete his time with The Chiefs in New Zealand and then arrive in the summer to begin in his new position.

Munster also announced some other house keeping with Ian Costello moving upstairs to take on the role of Munster general manager and Mike Prendergast will move into a role similar to the one Stuart Lancaster held at Leinster as “senior coach”.

Munster really look like they are putting in real building blocks to help future proof the province with the news of Ian Costello’s move upstairs.

It will be interesting to watch and see does Mr Mc Millan want to bring any other coaches with him to complement the staff he will have at his disposal namely Leamy, Lawlor, Prendergast and George Murray.

Clayton Mc Millan was in charge when the New Zealand XV toured last year and he was in the coaching box in Thomond Park to coach them to a win over Munster in a tour match.

He has said that he was impressed with the atmosphere, the setup, the history all the usual pleasantries you get with Munster in particular over the past 25 years. Munster have kept this announcement close and didn’t let anything slip out which is impressive in itself in the modern world.

He has decent coaching CV built up over the last 20 years, coaching a provincial Barbarians team vs the Lions in 2017. He spent time as coach of the Maori All Blacks, coached domestically in the Mitre 10 Cup with the Bay Of Plenty winning the Cup in 2019.

As head coach of the Chiefs in Super Rugby he has led them to 4 finals being beaten last season by the Blues and the year’s previous losing out the Crusaders in the competition Super Rugby Aotearoa. He has coached two members of the current Munster squad, Alex Nankivell and John Ryan who were both part of the Chiefs squad who lost out to the Crusaders in 2024.

Recent signing Dan Kelly will join up and you can be sure he will have been aware of the opportunity to work with the newly announced Munster head coach. It will continue Munster’s long association with New Zealand be it through players like Howlett, Holland, Cullen, Tipoki, Mafi or coaches like Rob Penney.

Munster have done the ground work for the future with the announcements of the past 24 hours, it is time for the current group to focus in on Edinburgh who they face in Cork tomorrow evening in the URC.

After all the months of uncertainty, the review that was undertaken by Chris Boyd in the aftermath of Graham Rowntree’s departure last October. Munster finally seem to be getting there house in order just in time for the run in that includes a last 16 Champions Cup tie away to La Rochelle…. That run in starts in Cork tomorrow….

Ireland were back in 6 Nations action this past weekend where they played Wales in Cardiff defeating them 27-18. It was a resurgent Wales under Matt Sherrett who has stated that his time at the helm of Wales will be short term.

Amazing what can be achieved when you select players in the correct position with Gareth Anscombe at 10 and Ben Thomas at inside centre in the 12 jersey. They ultimately fell short in the hope of ending a long losing streak but there are certainly things that the Welsh public can be hopeful for heading into the last two rounds of this season’s campaign.

Ireland made a number of changes with men like Thomas Clarkson, Jack Boyle and Gus Mc Carthy coming into the 23. We have had a look at the future of the Irish tight head jersey over the past few weeks where Clarkson, Bealham have shared the duties in the number 3 jersey.

Tadgh Furlong isn’t too far from a return but I feel minutes with Leinster could benefit the veteran tight head next weekend in the URC before a possible return to the international fold against an in form France in Dublin on Saturday week.

Ireland won’t be pleased with certain aspects of the performance from Saturday where a large number of scrum penalties were given up. Similar to November, a large volume of penalties given up and that stifled any hope from an Irish perspective of gaining momentum and playing the game on their own terms.  

That of course means, there is plenty to work on when they assemble to look ahead to France later on this week. Dan Sheehan will be happy enough with his first outing as Ireland skipper where he was able to lean on Peter O Mahony if he felt the need to.

Sam Prendergast rolled back the years with his version of the spiral kick to evoke memories of Ronan O Gara and although Wales targeted him with Max Llewellyn running down his channel along with Ben Thomas doing likewise when the chance arose.

He was speed bump on occasion and will need to work on his defence because you can be sure France will send their big ball carriers to test his mettle early on in Dublin. He will need to be squeaky clean with his technique because as was seen on Saturday with the Garry Ringrose 20 minute red card, one wrong move and your game is over.

Ireland will have to re jig the 23 to face Wales as Ringrose will most likely miss out due to suspension and that will mean a change to the makeup of the Irish bench.

Players from the extended squad will be called upon, Most likely Bundee Aki will partner Robbie Henshaw but that will leave an opening on the Ireland bench. Will Calvin Nash earn a recall in the 23 jersey or will someone else benefit from Ringrose’s misfortune.

Simon Easterby has seen Ireland behind to both England and Wales and find a way back into the contest and then go on and win both games. The lapses in concentration in both of those games will be ruthlessly exposed by France if you let them. Yes Ireland have a strong recent record against France beating them in Dublin in 2023 and then on night one of the 2024 campaign in Marseilles.

France put Italy to the sword yesterday in Rome showing no mercy winning 73-24, that was a statement of intent from Fabien Galthie’s men. They took the South African approach of a 7/1 split on the bench and married it perfectly with a ruthless attacking display that saw them score 11 tries.

Ireland you feel won’t allow the time and space on the ball that Italy afforded France in particular in that second half. Ireland’s win in Cardiff along with the ruthless display from France in Rome means it is all to play for in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday week. It is all to play for hold on your hats and enjoy the ride for 80 minutes the next day….

Ireland A faced England A in Bristol yesterday where England A came out on top winning 28-12. This game was played in the wind and rain and although Ireland began brightly leading 5-0 early on, England grew into the game and there accuracy in attack alongside a faltering Irish line out helped turned the tide and they saw the game through scoring a solid and deserved 28-12 win.

Ireland A and Munster in particular will be left counting the cost of that game yesterday with Diarmuid Barron leaving the game early for a HIA and not returning. Then Shane Daly suffered a serious looking leg injury when trying to tackle Ollie Hassell Collins.

Late on in the second half Oli Jager was withdrawn after coming in early on in the second half to replace Jack Aungier.

It will be game that will be forgotten by Ireland A but is still something that can be used to bridge the gap between the senior international side and the group of players just under the main group of internationals.

Ireland get back into 6 Nations action on Saturday afternoon in Cardiff where they face Wales who are bottom of the table heading into Round 3. Matt Sherratt is the interim head coach taking over from Warren Gatland who was let go last week. Sherratt has brought in a number of players to prepare for the game this weekend.

Ireland have assembled a 40 man squad with another squad of 29 preparing for the A international in Bristol next Sunday where they face England A. Ireland have brought in the likes of Diarmuid Mangan, Gavin Coombes and John Hodnett to the main squad.

There are question marks over the availability of the likes of Caelan Doris, Ronan Kelleher with Ulster players Iain Henderson and Cormac Izuchukwu already ruled out through injury. Ireland will have replacements in mind where men like Gus Mc Carthy will step in to take the place of Ronan Kelleher is ruled out through injury.

The Emerging Ireland Tour of 2022 and late 2024 are now coming into focus which has given us another group of potential internationals to call upon. The A international will do similar even if it is only the one game this year.

The age profile of the Ireland squad has been a topic for discussion in recent weeks where a number of the current 23 is over 30. Ireland will have to develop that next group and the tour next summer will help that development continue.

We do have a number of players over 30 but it is surely the job of the next generation to push on and force the hand of the coaches at provincial and national level to pick them rather than those players aged over 30…

The lack of depth at scrum half has also been questioned but those few that spoke of that issue didn’t seem to see the likes of Craig Casey who is currently sidelined, Matthew Devine of Connacht, Ben Murphy of Connacht and Ulster’s Nathan Doak.

So the supposed lack of depth at scrum half doesn’t look as bad when you sit back and take note of the options. All of these men played recently with the Ireland Under 20s.

 Amazing when you sit back and take actual note of the options you see there is plenty of choice to step in if Jamison Gibson Park, Conor Murray or Caolan Blade are ruled out through injury. Simon Easterby will know he will need to get another level of performance from Ireland and also make sure that his selected 23 won’t be complacent.

This game can’t and shouldn’t be taken lightly, yes Welsh rugby is at a low point at the moment but this weekend is ripe for an ambush if the level of the Welsh performance can go up a few notches from the two previous rounds.

Ireland have started strongly in the games vs England and Scotland and will want to do the same on Saturday. Training will be very competitive this week given you have the A squad in preparing for their own game against England A in Bristol.

As I mention, Ireland A under head coach Mike Prendergast will face England A on Sunday at 1pm which is live on RugbyPass. Plenty of guys in that 29 man squad will be looking to put their best foot forward to the senior coaches. Three good games to whet the appetite, the Under 20s will be looking for a second win of the when they face Wales. All roads lead to Wales this weekend with a pit stop in Bristol on Sunday….

Warren Gatland has left his role as Wales Coach after nearly 3 years back in the role. To say his time in charge was a success second time round would be an understatement. Wales are struggling at the moment be it at underage level as well as club level where the tension between the regions and the club sides within Wales continues to undermine any small progress being made.

The WRU for example is struggling to get its house in order to help put the game back on an even keel. It will be a long road back for Welsh rugby but let’s hope there is the will within the game past and present to get around the table to discuss the issues and see can long term solutions be found.

The WRU took the chance to let Gatland go in the middle of the current campaign with Matt Sherrett being brought in on an interim basis to look at the squad for the final 3 rounds of this year’s Championship.

In the short term there may be more pain for Welsh supporters but maybe as has been suggested bringing in one or two players from outside the current squad may assist the side if only on a short term basis.

 I am sure Matt Sherrett and his coaches will do what they can over the next number of days to help the group get sorted and ready for a big game against Ireland on home soil on February 22^nd. You can be certain there will be a response from Wales after two defeats over the first two rounds. The big question will be how strong that response will really be.

There is too much pride within the group to let the current poor form continue after 14 straight losses. There will be an appetite within players as well as supporters to see can they pull off a big win against high flying Ireland and no better place than at home in the Principality Stadium on Saturday week.

Warren Gatland leaves the role after guiding Wales to a number of Grand Slams as well as the semi-final of the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.

He had an uninspiring period in charge of the Chiefs in New Zealand and it will be interesting after a break away from the game and a period of refection where he may pop up again as one thinks this is not the end of his coaching career.

Wales will now assemble a group of possible candidates to take on the Welsh head coach role and this will take time as they will need someone that knows the club game inside out and can work within a very rigid system with the coaches at regions level, national level with underage coaches within the Welsh national system and the WRU board.

I am sure, coaches from overseas will be considered like previously when both Graham Henry and Steve Hansen had periods in charge of Wales. This does seem to be a job for a coach who is already based in Wales and with real knowledge of the set up. This is a long term project as it won’t be fixed in one year.

The WRU is under pressure to sort out the issues and also the long term outlook for Welsh rugby. There are good people and some good minds inside and outside Welsh rugby.

Might be an idea to bring in some of the so called “golden generation” to help assist with ideas and also the way the game could be developed over the next 5 years.

In the short term, all eyes will be on the game vs Ireland on Saturday week. You can sure there will be a reaction to recent days….