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Ireland player ratings vs France | 2024 Guinness Six Nations

Calvin Nash of Ireland celebrates with Andrew Porter of Ireland after scoring his team's third try during the Guinness Six Nations 2024 match between France and Ireland at Orange Velodrome on February 02, 2024 in Marseille, France. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Ireland player ratings: Ireland, while not at their absolute best, capitalized on a French shortfall, managing to secure a decisive 38-17 bonus victory over their hosts in Marseille.

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France may be accused of not turning up, but the truth was once Ireland’s boot was on their neck, the men in green simply didn’t let up.

1. Andrew Porter – 6
Shipped a heavy collision with just eight minutes on the clock from Paul Willemse. Came back on after his HIA, but struggled to contain mass monster Uini Atonio at scrum time. Won a turnover to kick off the second forty, playing himself into the game after passable first half.

2. Dan Sheehan – 6
Sheehan’s lineouts were near immaculate, even if – try aside – his impact around the park was significantly below par for him. Showed resolve in the face of heavy defensive duties, which was the biggest piece here.

3. Tadhg Furlong – 5
Furlong was a mixed bag, losing key scrum battles and failing to make his presence felt in the tight. Contributed with a few solid carries and link play, showing glimpses of his capability without fully imposing his will on the game.

4. Joe McCarthy – 8.5
A revelation in the second row, the Leinsterman’s athleticism and physicality were a pivotal part of the Irish effort. Ran out of steam in the second half.

5. Tadhg Beirne – 8
Beirne was everywhere, stealing balls at the breakdown, charging down kicks, and making crucial tackles. His versatility shone brightly tonight and his 29th minute true was no more than he deserved.

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6. Peter O’Mahony – 7
Fired up. Was in the trenches early doors, winning turnovers and scrapping for everything. His experience and tactical nous kept the team focused and fierce. Stayed in the fight, with a 10 minute sin-bin break adding to his energy levels.

Points Flow Chart

Ireland win +21
Time in lead
0
Mins in lead
75
0%
% Of Game In Lead
93%
21%
Possession Last 10 min
79%
0
Points Last 10 min
7

7. Josh van der Flier – 6
Van der Flier displayed his characteristic work ethic and tenacity, albeit in a performance that didn’t quite hit the high notes we’re accustomed to.

8. Caelan Doris – 8
Doris had a relatively quiet start to the game by his own high standards. Despite a few flashes of his ability to break the line and his usual defensive solidity, the first half largely passed him by. He grew into the game though, his fitness shining through and by the end was displaying the main character energy Ireland have come to depend on.

9. Jamison Gibson-Park – 8.5
Gibson-Park’s quick decision-making and sharp passing dictated the pace of the game, keeping the French defense guessing. Took his 17th minute try with aplomb.

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10. Jack Crowley – 6
Crowley seemed lost at times at the Stade Velodrome, with poor kicking choices costing Ireland on occasion. Was a spectator for Damian Penaud’s try just before halftime, although it was as much a system failure as poor positioning on his behalf.  Against that, he showed he can mix it will ball in hand, a short pass to Beirne putting the big lock away for Ireland’s second try. His decent kicking form off the tee in the second half saved him from a 5.

Attack

119
Passes
180
93
Ball Carries
113
175m
Post Contact Metres
288m
5
Line Breaks
6

11. James Lowe – 8
One of the few Ireland players that seemed dialed in from the off, his kicking game was first class. His defensive reads and execution have improved out of sight from his early Ireland career bumbling. Didn’t see much of him with ball in hand but it was that type of night.

12. Bundee Aki – 8
Aki’s physicality in the midfield set the tone, his defensive reads and hard carries provided the backbone for Ireland’s attack. After years of Test mediocrity, he has become maybe the most effective centre in the game.

13. Robbie Henshaw – 7
Henshaw’s return was marked by a really competent outing at 13. Was a brick wall in defence, while showcasing his full range of skills in attack.

14. Calvin Nash – 6.5
A decent outing from the rookie winger, who showed promise on the odd time he saw the ball. The right place at the right time to score on debut in the 47th minute. Sadly picked up an injury in the dying moments of the game.

15. Hugo Keenan – 7
Keenan’s defence and reliability under the high ball were exemplary. Popped up in attack when required, without shining in that department.

REPLACEMENTS:

16. Ronan Kelleher – 7
In the brief period he was on the field, Kelleher showed promise, adding spark to Ireland’s forward pack and was good value for his 77th minute try which put the cherry on top of Ireland’s performance.

17. Cian Healy – 6
The veteran prop brought stability and power to the scrum in his two spells on the pitch.

Set Plays

2
Scrums
8
100%
Scrum Win %
63%
18
Lineout
13
78%
Lineout Win %
100%
4
Restarts Received
9
100%
Restarts Received Win %
100%

18. Finlay Bealham – 6
Looked solid with relatively little time to impress.

19. James Ryan – 6
Coming off the bench with limited time to make an impact, Ryan put in a gutsy effort.

20. Ryan Baird – 6
Baird’s athleticism didn’t come to the fore, with the lock failing to inject energy into the side with so little time.

21. Jack Conan – 8
Conan, introduced into the match with not enough time to fully unleash his potential, still managed to display his physicality and eagerness in both attack and defence.

22. Conor Murray – NA
Murray, entering the fray in the 72nd minute, had little opportunity to leave a substantial mark on the game, but was a steady hand at the tiller.

23. Ciaran Frawley – NA
Wasn’t given an opportunity to make a case for himself.

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Comments

3 Comments
J
Johnny 321 days ago

The author is a D4 twit who massive leinster bias just look at any of his previous articles. I’d take the Crowley rating and others with a large pinch of salt!

D
Dan 322 days ago

Always amusing and entertaining when the clueless D4 lads get a rugby column and spew utter clueless tripe.

Ian is very much one of those lads.

T
Terry 323 days ago

As an Englishman, I thought Ireland played extremely well in the cauldron of Paris. But to rate Jack Crowley as a 6 is an injustice, at least a 7 if not 7.5
Dan Sheahan was also a 7 not a 6.

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JW 6 hours ago
Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

I rated Lowe well enough to be an AB. Remember we were picking the likes of George Bridge above such players so theres no disputing a lot of bad decisions have been made by those last two coaches. Does a team like the ABs need a finicky winger who you have to adapt and change a lot of your style with to get benefit from? No, not really. But he still would have been a basic improvement on players like even Savea at the tail of his career, Bridge, and could even have converted into the answer of replacing Beauden at the back. Instead we persisted with NMS, Naholo, Havili, Reece, all players we would have cared even less about losing and all because Rieko had Lowe's number 11 jersey nailed down.


He was of course only 23 when he decided to leave, it was back in the beggining of the period they had started retaining players (from 2018 onwards I think, they came out saying theyre going to be more aggressive at some point). So he might, all of them, only just missed out.


The main point that Ed made is that situations like Lowe's, Aki's, JGP's, aren't going to happen in future. That's a bit of a "NZ" only problem, because those players need to reach such a high standard to be chosen by the All Blacks, were as a country like Ireland wants them a lot earlier like that. This is basically the 'ready in 3 years' concept Ireland relied on, versus the '5 years and they've left' concept' were that player is now ready to be chosen by the All Blacks (given a contract to play Super, ala SBW, and hopefully Manu).


The 'mercenary' thing that will take longer to expire, and which I was referring to, is the grandparents rule. The new kids coming through now aren't going to have as many gp born overseas, so the amount of players that can leave with a prospect of International rugby offer are going to drop dramatically at some point. All these kiwi fellas playing for a PI, is going to stop sadly.


The new era problem that will replace those old concerns is now French and Japanese clubs (doing the same as NRL teams have done for decades by) picking kids out of school. The problem here is not so much a national identity one, than it is a farm system where 9 in 10 players are left with nothing. A stunted education and no support in a foreign country (well they'll get kicked out of those countries were they don't in Australia).


It's the same sort of situation were NZ would be the big guy, but there weren't many downsides with it. The only one I can think was brought up but a poster on this site, I can't recall who it was, but he seemed to know a lot of kids coming from the Islands weren't really given the capability to fly back home during school xms holidays etc. That is probably something that should be fixed by the union. Otherwise getting someone like Fakatava over here for his last year of school definitely results in NZ being able to pick the cherries off the top but it also allows that player to develop and be able to represent Tonga and under age and possibly even later in his career. Where as a kid being taken from NZ is arguably going to be worse off in every respect other than perhaps money. Not going to develop as a person, not going to develop as a player as much, so I have a lotof sympathy for NZs case that I don't include them in that group but I certainly see where you're coming from and it encourages other countries to think they can do the same while not realising they're making a much worse experience/situation.

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