ANALYSIS: Ireland's Grand Slam triumph now sees them turn their eyes towards ending World Cup hoodoo
That run includes back-to-back wins over the All Blacks in New Zealand, by the way, and has the Irish sitting on top of the world rankings.
Ireland was, somewhat incredibly, the only team not to be shown a card in the tournament too — and given how ruthless top teams are at exploiting numerical advantages and the likelihood of that run continuing to be diminishingly small, how the Irish adapt to that adversity in a perilously tough Pool B may well be the difference.The Irish have never progressed past the quarter-finals at any of the previous nine World Cups.
Player-for-player, there is an argument that France is better than anyone in the world for skill level, led by half-back pairing Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack, who can have proven adept at unleashing the full power of France's mighty impressive back line.Aside from first-up opponents New Zealand, Pool A contains Italy, Uruguay and Namibia, meaning progression should be a doddle.Finn Russell has steered Scotland around the park superbly.
For 55 minutes against Ireland at Murrayfield, Scotland was more than an equal to their world number one-ranked visitors before fading after a multitude of changes were made. Only two teams get out of the group, and it could come down to the final group match against the Irish at the Stade de France as to who will get through.There can be no hiding how poor England were in their record defeat against France.There's no easy fix for England either, who made the gamble to remove Eddie Jones and now looks like a team trying to rediscover itself.
Smith proceeded to play a blinder for Quins in that game — at Twickenham, no less — and was parachuted straight back into the side to face France, with Farrell dropped to the bench.England's subsequent horror show could not have come at a worse time, as France turned on the style in a big way to record their biggest-ever win at Twickenham.
But once the top teams come calling, the lack of inventiveness will see Borthwick's troops come unstuck.
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