Eoin Sheahan

I'd be very surprised if they weren't.

But in 12 months' time, if we're still doing this slot, I will be saying the exact same thing to you, Clare.

I'm not sure who's more likely to get the boot first.

We'll be saying, France are coming to Ireland and they absolutely have to win this game.

So, unfortunately, that's how this team gets judged.

It's unfortunate in a way that France were the team they had to beat in the knockout game last year in the World Cup and they lost that game and there was the biting incident and these two teams...

straight up do not like each other.

This is the defining rivalry now for Ireland in this.

It's kind of like the Mayo footballers in trying to beat Dublin in the 2010s.

It's like that Tipperary hurling team at the end of the 2000s trying to beat Kilkenny.

This is now the team that Ireland need to take down.

They are going to be defined by this France team because they're not good enough to beat England, but they are good enough to beat France.

So France is their bet noir.

Their bet noir and I don't think they did themselves justice on the scoreline at the weekend.

Now Ireland did have three tries ruled out.

You couldn't say any of them were unfairly ruled out but there was maybe a little bit of bad luck like the Fiona Chute situation when she got held up on the try line after 22 minutes.

It was kind of like Geordie Barrett holding up Ronan Kelleher in the 2023 World Cup quarterfinal.

Just a really heartbreaking moment when you see a player held up like that.

But I still think France would have had enough in the tank in the second half.

There was also that sort of appreciation from the French fans towards the players and all the French players were holding hands along the length of the pitch after the game.