Fogarty sets three-point forwards’ plan to halt France

John Fogarty described his emotions about the scrum penalty decisions made by Wayne Barnes as “very disappointed” rather than angry, saying feeling the latter was not going to help the Irish cause.

PLAN IN PLACE: Ireland Scrum Coach John Fogarty has a plan in place to combat the French scrum. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Ireland’s front-row forwards have been urged to embrace the opportunity to deliver a strong platform at scrum time when the Guinness Six Nations campaign gets underway against France in Marseille on Friday night.

There are so many elements of last October’s World Cup quarter-final defeat to New Zealand which linger in the memories of Ireland supporters, players and coaches but the three scrum penalties conceded to the All Blacks pack are the ones that hurt the most for John Fogarty.