Ireland v France: Key points ahead of RWC Pool D decider
Last Updated: 11/10/15 4:18pm
Ireland and France lock horns in Cardiff in the final game of Pool D, with the loser facing the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals.
If they manage to beat the defending champions, a semi-final awaits against the winner of the Springboks and either Wales or Australia.
This, therefore, represents an important match for both teams, who will be looking to avoid the harder of the two sides of the draw, and here we look at five talking points ahead of the Pool D decider...
Miserable memories and Michalak
Ireland have a torrid record against the French in World Cups, having faced them three times and won none of them. In fact, all three games were lost by more than 20 points.
In 1995 Emile Ntamack scored a try in the final play of their group stage game against Scotland to send the Scots packing for a quarter-final against the All Blacks and France in the direction of Ireland.
The quarter-final took place in Durban, a week before the French played a waterlogged semi-final against the host nation, and it was Thierry Lacroix who stole the show for France against the Irish as they ran out 36-12 winners. The centre scored 26 points on the day, slotting eight penalties and converting one of two tries.
In 2003 the pool stages once again shaped Ireland's path to France. They lost by a single point to hosts Australia, which meant they were faced with a France showdown in the quarter-finals.
It was a fly-half by the name of Freddie Michalak who constructed Ireland's demise that day, converting all four tries from the French to take home a personal tally of 23 points in a 43-21 win.
Michalak also starred in the 2007 pool match between the two teams, as Les Bleus dumped the Irish out at the pool stages with a 25-3 victory.
Ireland will hope that Michalak is not in one of those moods on Sunday...
Marked Leinsterman
Sexton is not unfamiliar with bruising encounters against the French.
In Brian O'Driscoll's final Test, Sexton suffered a head injury in a 22-20 victory over France in Paris, a win that secured Joe Schmidt's men the Six Nations crown.
The Irish pivot then returned from a three-month concussion lay-off to feature in this year's Six Nations clash between the two teams, enduring a difficult time from hard-running centre Mathieu Bastareaud, who starts for France on Sunday.
France prop Eddy Ben Arous has vowed that his side will target the Leinsterman in Cardiff.
"I know that he is slow in getting rid of the ball, so I am going to try to put the maximum pressure on him," said the prop, a former team-mate of Sexton at Racing Metro.
"I am going to hunt him down as often as possible.
"We are going to go after him 200 per cent because he is the strong man of this team."
Irish legends drop by
Schmidt has been pulling out all the stops this week as his team prepares for their biggest game of 2015.
Irish sports legends Sonia O'Sullivan, Barry McGuigan, Niall Quinn, Henry Shefflin and AP McCoy were all guests of the Ireland squad at dinner during the week.
The sporting stars spoke with the squad and passed down some of their experiences, in the hope of inspiring Paul O'Connell and his men at the Millennium Stadium.
Judging by the reaction from the players on social media, the move from Schmidt had the desired effect.
"Brilliant night in camp getting to meet some serious Irish icons," tweeted Tommy Bowe.
Defensive frailties
Noa Nakaitaci was involved in France's shaky start to the World Cup, as France battled to a 3-3 scoreline after 30 minutes against Romania, before running away with a 38-11 win.
The winger said the turnaround could be attributed to the team talk from Philippe Saint-Andre at the break.
"He was a bit upset," Nakaitaci said. "We knew he was going to be upset at half-time because we didn't make a good first-half performance. It was ugly."
The French can expect a tough start defensively from Ireland, as the ball carriers force defenders around the ruck and maul to commit to a series of tackles.
But it is the aerial bombardment from Ireland that will be the most telling, as Conor Murray and Sexton test the temperament of the French back three.
It's an area that has been a frailty in the past for Nakaitaci, who's main draw card is as an attacking threat, and it's there that he will be tested early.
A poor start from the winger could allow for early Irish dominance in the crunch match.
Showcasing improvement
The Italy game looked to have rattled the Irish as they battled to a 16-9 win at the Olympic Stadium.
Iain Henderson says that the team has discussed what went wrong, and how to make sure there were no repeats.
"We had a forwards meeting and Paul pointed out all the things we've got to work on," said Henderson, who drops to the bench for Sunday's game.
"That's not just from the Italy game, but from earlier in the World Cup too and even then against the French in the Six Nations.
"Everyone's quite clear-cut in what they have to do better and what they have to do more of."
There is a line of thought that Schmidt would have asked his troops to come away with the win against the Azzurri without giving too much away ahead of the French showdown.
Ever shrewd, Schmidt would have liked to keep his cards close to his chest before the biggest game of the pool, but will his side show the improvements required? Will Ireland showcase their best performance of the competition so far?
France: 15 Scott Spedding, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Brice Dulin, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde; 1 Eddy Ben Arous, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 3 Rabah Slimani, 4 Pascal Pape, 5 Yoann Maestri, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (c), 7 Damien Chouly, 8 Louis Picamoles.
Replacements: 16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Vincent Debaty, 18 Nicolas Mas, 19 Alexandre Flanquart, 20 Bernard Le Roux, 21 Morgan Parra, 22 Remi Tales, 23 Alexandre Dumoulin.
Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Robbie Henshaw , 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray; 1 Cian Healy, 2 Rory Best, 3 Mike Ross, 4 Devin Toner, 5 Paul O'Connell (c), 6 Peter O'Mahony, 7 Sean O'Brien, 8 Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Nathan White, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Chris Henry, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Luke Fitzgerald.
