Heaslip: 'France are a very beatable'
Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:56
Jamie Heaslip believes France can be beaten by England
Irish loose forwards Jamie Heaslip believes that England are capable of bringing France's Grand Slam bit to a halt and help give Ireland an outside shot at a successful Six Nations title defence.
Ireland defeated Wales 27-12 at Croke Park on Saturday to stay second in the table heading into this coming weekend's final round of matches.
But France, the only unbeaten side left in this season's tournament, overwhelmed Italy 46-20 with a six-try salvo at the Stade de France on Sunday.
And while a fifth Triple Crown in seven years will be Ireland's if they beat Scotland at Croke Park on Saturday, No. 8 Heaslip hasn't given up on the title.
"We're still playing for the championship next Saturday - big time. The Triple Crown would be great as well, " said Heaslip.
"We're going out to win and hopefully there's some silverware at the end of it because you never know what you're going to get with France.
"If England turn up they can get the win because France are a very beatable side.
"They're good and they'll punish you if you let them, but if you match them physically and shut down some of their strike runners you can cause them many problems."
The French are 50 points better off than Ireland in terms of points difference, which means Ireland will be needing very big winning margin over Scotland to still be in the hunt for the title.
Ireland should have a full complement of players to choose their most attacking line-up from for the match, as there were only a few minor injures sustained during their clash with Wales.
Gordon D'Arcy received deep bruising above the left knee during the game and is being monitored and treated by the medical team, but he is not ruled out of selection for the Scotland game at this point.
Keith Earls had tightened calves and David Wallace received an accidental scratch to his eye, but the pair should both be fit and ready for selection.
England's display in a dour 15-15 draw away to Scotland on Saturday suggests Martin Johnson's men have a mountain to climb in a short space of time if they are to stop a French clean-sweep.
Ireland responded to their bad day against 'Les Bleus' by beating England 20-16 at Twickenham before following up with a convincing victory over Wales which owed as much to committed defence as it did to their three tries.
Wales made 187 passes against Ireland, yet managed just one line break as they failed to score a try.
"All performances are based first and foremost on your defence and you will find that, in certain circumstances, it is the catalyst for tries," Brian O'Driscoll said.
"It's definitely something we have targeted, more so after the French game, because we conceded a few tries in that game.
"People individually and collectively went away (after the France match) and looked at the performances, including myself, and wanted to put that right.
"I felt that even when we were broken (against Wales), our ability to scramble and our work ethic really stood by us.
"That is one of the most pleasing things because we try and be a very hard-working team."
AFP and rbs6nations.com
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