France and Ireland A new edition of will be opened Six Nations This Friday. You can watch the confrontation between the two teams, which will be held in Marseille Live from 16:50 onwards star+ And ESPN 3.
How do they go there: After the disappointment of both teams being eliminated from the quarter-finals of the 2023 RWC, France and Ireland open the Six Nations in one of the best matches world rugby has to offer currently.
Fabian Galthie and Andy Farrell are embarking on a new phase after the successful tournaments that preceded the World Cup, and now Australia 2027 and the start of a tournament that makes them favorites to win the title looms on the horizon. Ireland are the defending champions, Grand Slam winners and successor to 2022 champions France.
They both arrive with heavy losses in the duel in Marseille. The locals are missing Antoine Dupont, the great star of the French national team, who will prepare to compete in the international sevens circuit starting from the Vancouver and Los Angeles stages, in order to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with the sevens team. Roman Ntamack is also not on the list, as he has not yet recovered from the injury that ruled him out of the World Cup.
As for Ireland, the career of its great authority, the experienced Jonathan Sexton, has ended, who announced after the loss to New Zealand in the World Cup that he was retiring from playing with the national team. Tribulle's top scorer left his legacy after an exceptional career. Mac Hansen will also suffer a major loss as one of the Green Team's strikers, after suffering a shoulder injury at his club, Connacht.
What they are after: With 26 titles for France and 24 titles for Ireland in the history of the tournament, they arrived in control of this edition of the Six Nations, led by Wales and England, with 40 and 39 victories respectively, since that first edition in which the English and Scots participated. Played in the first crash of 1883.
Both are the most recent winners of the tournament, France in 2022 and Ireland in 2023, and come from a tournament that saw them top the standings, alongside South Africa and New Zealand.
The last World Cup left them in the quarter-finals in very close games and with a notable draw that left them fuming. The beginning of a new era begins in Marseille, between two teams emerging as the best candidates to win the championship title in 2024.
background: One hundred and two matches have been played in history since that first match in 1909, with the Irish winning in Dublin by 19 to 8. France lead in matches against each other, with 59 victories, most recently at the Stade de France in 2022, by 30 to 24.
Ireland achieved 36 victories, the last of which was achieved last year at home at the Aviva Stadium, with a score of 32 to 19. They tied seven times, most recently in 2013, with a difference of 13 points. Both have won the last two editions of the Six Nations and in both cases a Grand Slam title.
The Stade Velodrome in Marseille will host the match for the first time in history. France hosted Ireland in Columbus until 1972 and then used the Parc des Princes stadium from 1974 to 1998.
The Stade de France, the scene of the World Cup finals in football in 1998 and in rugby last year, will not host the best European rugby game in this edition, as it will be designated to prepare for the Olympic Games between July and August. .
an exercise
France: 15 Thomas Ramos, 14 Damien Benaud, 13 Gael Fico, 12 Jonathan Dante, 11 Joram Moivana, 10 Mathieu Jalibert, 9 Maxime Loco, 8 Gregory Alldret (c), 7 Charles Olivon, 6 François Cros, 5 Paul Willemse, 4 Paul Gabrielagos . , 3 Owiny Atonio, 2 Beto Mofaka, 1 Cyril Bailly
Alternatives: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Dorian Daghiri, 19 Bussolo Tuilagi, 20 Paul Bodehint, 21 Cameron Walkey, 22 Nolan Le Jarric, 23 Louis Piel-Biare.
Ireland: 15. Hugo Keenan (36); 14. Calvin Nash (1), 13. Robbie Henshaw (67), 12. Bondi Aki (52), 11. James Lowe (26); 10. Jack Crawley (9), 9. Jamison Gibson Park (30); 8. Kaylan Doris (36), 7. Josh van der Flier (57), 6. Peter O'Mahony (Cap) (101); 5. Tadhg Byrne (46), 4. Joe McCarthy (5); 3. Tadhg Furlong (72), 2. Dan Sheehan (21), and 1. Andrew Porter (59).
Alternatives: 16. Ronan Kelleher (26), 17. Sian Healy (125), 18. Finlay Pelham (36), 19. James Ryan (59), 20. Ryan Bird (15), 21. Jack Coonan (41), 22 Connor Murray (112) and 23. Ciaran Frawley (1).
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