PAUL WALLACE AND MIKE GIBSON LOOK GREEN AS THE BIG GAME APPROACHES

Even today I still can’t shift the huge disappointment from last Friday and the way England failed to compete with South Africa. It is now time to put all that aside, at least for a few hours anyway, and concentrate on Le Crunch.

There have been some big games so far but surely tonight sees the biggest in this year’s tournament. For Ireland it is not quite the last chance salon but defeat tonight would leave them needing a bonus point win against Argentina next week to stand any chance of going through. And even that might mean a date with the All Blacks in Cardiff.

For France it is simple – lose and they are out. Looking ahead to tonight’s game there are some interesting team changes to conjure with. For the Irish the change at scrum half looks bold. Eion Reddan certainly has impressed at Wasps and will be more combative and aggressive in his approach. Talking to Irish legend Mike Gibson earlier today he feels that the French could well be more worried about Reddan than they would have been if Peter Stringer had been selected.

 Can the Irish come up with the big performance tonight? Certainly some of the Irish contingent I have been with today think so. I am here in Paris today with another group of VU rugby fans all licking their lips at the prospect of tonight’s encounter. With us today are Irish rugby legends Paul Wallace and the afore mentioned Mike Gibson. Both guys, although showing a few nerves ahead of the game, firmly believe the Irish will get the win they need.

Paul feels that France are still very much the favourites.  ‘The Irish have not lost yet and I would be incredibly surprised if we did not see a big performance from them tonight. The pressure is all on France. The Irish are the underdogs and that is the way we prefer it.”

Tactically Paul would like to see a shift away from the way Ireland have approached the previous two games. “I think we have been using Brian (O’Driscoll) too much from first phase ball and I think we have been far too flat when we have had second and third phase possession,” he said.

He believes the lineout will be crucial and feels the selection of Sebastian Chabal in the French second row will play into Irish hands. “He is a fantastic player, but I would have picked him the back row. It should mean that with their best lineout jumpers missing it will enable us to dominate the lineout and hopefully starve the French of the ball.”

Mike feels the inspiration for the Irish players could well be found in what the consequences of defeat will mean. Again, as with Paul, he feels the Irish have to be tactically astute, particularly with their kicking game.

He said: “We need Ronan (O’Gara) to have one of his Munster performances where he controls the game and puts his forwards where they want to be, deep in French territory. His kicking needs to be spot on as he needs to be very careful of the pace and power the French back three possess.”

Many thanks to Mike and Paul for their time. I will be there pulling for the guys in green at St Denis tonight. Whatever happens there should be an amazing atmosphere and it will be a fantastic occasion.

France out of the World Cup two weeks into the tournament? Who would have thought that before the first ball was kicked but, if the Irish can produce that big performance, we know is in there and get a foothold in the match it may just be their night.