Rugby World Cup 2023: Ireland beats France ahead of this year’s RWC

Ireland has ruined France's 14-match winning ride with a 32-19 bonus-point win. Over their main rivals for the France Rugby World Cup in a breathless game. Between the world's top two sides that lived up to their hyping. A fascinating first half on Saturday presenting four tries three of them to Ireland, including an amazing one-handed finish from James Lowe gave way to a more attractional but equally fascinating second half.

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France hung on poorly until centre Garry Ringrose went over for the match-closing 73rd-minute effort. France, the defending champions, lost for the first time since November 2021 against a squad they'd beaten in their last three gatherings. The top-ranked Ireland RWC side is now a firm pick for a first Six Nations title since 2019, having unlocked the contest by collecting five points for beating Wales 34-10.

Ireland Rugby World Cup and Six Nations coach Andy Farrell

It was a gigantic game, two great squads going at each other, Ireland coach Andy Farrell said. The hostile spirit was great but we also played some great mess. Both sides scored fabulous tries, with Damian Penaud getting France's with a strength that began with the winger packed out of his own 22, swapping passes with flanker Anthony Jelonch, and then holding off two would-be tacklers to dash over the line.

Lowe's was different and might have been even improved. Short of room in the left corner, the New Zealand-born winger took off in the air under an encounter from Penaud and achieved to ground the

ball one-handed near the flag with his body virtually horizontal over the touchline. The footage seemed to suggest one of his feet had rubbed the grass while out of trace but the try was given.

Lock Tadhg Beirne and important five-eighth Johnny Sexton went off wounded in the second half for Ireland, who have a two-week pause before their third game, away to Italy. France, who won in Italy in round one, host Scotland next with their motivations of back-to-back grand slams having been dowsed. The Irish played like they had an idea to prove, with France the only main nation they had not crushed since Farrell took over as coach after the 2019 RWC. Rugby fans can book Ireland Rugby World Cup Tickets on our website at exclusively discounted prices.

France did not allow any more points without Atonio

Either side of Lowe's try was notched by fullback Hugo Keenan off a clever passage from a ruck where Australian prop Finlay Bealham was a first receiver and deceived the France player with an inside pass to Keenan and the other prop Andrew Porter, who hurried over in the 27th. Porter's try came while France was down to 14 after Uini Atonio was yellow-carded for an unsafe tackle on Rob Herring, whose face was struck by the shoulder of the French prop as he came roaring in for the tackle.

France did not concede any more points without Atonio but that was only because of some inspiring last-ditch defending, particularly from Antoine Dupont, who showed amazing strength to hold Ireland's other Aussie Mack Hansen away from the try line regardless of being off-balance. Thomas Ramos kicked over a penalty to trim France's debit to 19-16 before Atonio returned only for Sexton to kick his own with the last action of the half to rebuild Ireland's six-point lead.

France and its 6,000 travelling Rugby World Cup team fans

That was the pillow Ireland had heading into the final 10 minutes after Ramos's 62nd-minute plunged goal before Ringrose shrugged off a French tackler in a storming run down the left flank and rolled over

to kill off the hopes of France and its 6,000 travelling fans. In the other game of the day, Scotland beat Wales 35-7 at Murrayfield to start the contest with back-to-back wins for the first time since 1996.

It was the Five Nations without Italy, who joined in 2000. The final game of the second round will be tomorrow morning Australian time when England and Italy rugby national union teams will try to earn their first win of the competition when they meet at Twickenham.

Scotland beat Wales to start the tournament just before Rugby World Cup 2023

One of the more astonishing Six Nations stats is that Scotland has never kicked off a contest, in its current appearance, with two wins. Since 2000 Scotland has won their opening game six times but in every event, they have gone on to fluff their lines and lose in round two. This is their best gamble yet to put it to bed. There would have to be a grim upturn in Wales’ show and a drop-off in Scotland’s in the space of a week for Gregor Townsend’s men.

Townsend’s biggest test this week would have been to keep everyone’s feet on the ground after the euphoria of the Calcutta Cup win but given what has changed before, you’d like to think satisfaction won’t be a problem. Wales’ pack has a much more active and youthful feel to it following Warren Gatland’s rearrangement and it’s hard to not see them put up more of a contest than they did against Ireland. Rugby fans can book Scotland Rugby World Cup Tickets on our website at exclusively discounted prices.

Alun Wyn Jones and Justin Tipuric have been evacuated from the squad

Taulupe Faletau has been released to the bench while the world’s most-capped players, Alun Wyn Jones, and Justin Tipuric have been exiled from the squad altogether. The first two are logical calls but

anyone that has watched Tipuric in action for the Ospreys this season will be doubtful that he has been given the chop after one silent game. Tommy Reffell gives Wales’ back-row a tigerish class but with him and No.8 Jac Morgan in the back row together.

A lot of the heavy-duty booming will fall on the shoulders of the young and innocent Christ Tshiunza. Also, other than the actual captain, hooker Ken Owens, the Wales pack looks very light on management and you do wonder how they’ll cope, expressively, if Scotland’s set-piece 100% against England last week turns the screw in the early connections. Gatland rejects this Wales team choice signalling a changing of the guard.

But his thinking already seems to be more long-term than short-term with a win over Scotland at Murrayfield something Wales admirers have become familiar with in recent times perhaps being viewed as a bonus. Scotland, meanwhile, has made just the one change to their starting XV with Zander Fagerson coming in at tight-head for WP Nel, who drops to the seat.

Big players playing fine and with assurance before RWC

With the benefit that continuity of workers brings, their big players playing well and with sureness, this is the time for Scotland to set the record straight and take the game to Wales. Only once in the last 10 gatherings has Scotland counted 25 points or more. But you’d bank on them creating sufficient scoring chances. If they can get anywhere near parity in the control and territory stakes, tries should be approaching.

After all, they counted 29 points away to England despite only playing 29% of the game in the hostility half and with just 43% of the ball. To expect them to be as clinical as they were alongside England is a big ask but going over 24.5 points should be within their skills against a Wales defence still altering to the new techniques of Mike Forshaw.

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