Ireland v France: Three pivotal head-to-heads
ELITE COMPANY: Antoine Dupont of Toulouse and France is tackled into touch by Jamison Gibson-Park of Leinster and Ireland. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
"Yeah, that's interesting,” Ireland interim head coach Simon Easterby mused when the showdown between the two best scrum-halves in the world was brought up on Thursday afternoon.
Remarkably, this will be their first Six Nations meeting since 2022 with Gibson-Park injured for Aviva Stadium classic the following year and Dupont absent for the 2024 championship opener in Marseille having stepped away to take the Paris Olympics by storm.
The Frenchman completed a unique double having led his country to the Sevens gold medal, adding World Rugby’s player of the year award for the code to add to his twin wins as 15s player of the year and it is a measure of his Irish counterpart’s rise to prominence that Gibson-Park is now being considered as something of a rival. While Dupont is lauded as the greatest player in the game, the Ireland number nine is running him close as the best scrum-half playing the game.
There is a difference, Gibson-Park’s influence on the Irish collective and the way they play with ball in hand in their structured attack is astonishing while Dupont’s brilliance is based on individual flair and heroic moments of magic that can propel France to great heights.
“Two fabulous players playing at the peak of their game,” Easterby concluded, “yeah, it's going to be pretty special."
Another personal battle played out at the highest levels of club and international rugby, pitting Leinster and Ireland skipper Doris against a familiar foe in his Champions Cup rival at La Rochelle.
Each is a standout player for their teams, excellent all-rounders at No.8 capable of making huge impacts at the breakdown and with ball in hand, and ever-willing to contribute hugely in terms of workload and Doris is a big fan of his opposite number, saying: "He's got a very varied skill set, he's got the ability to keep the ball alive through off-loads.Â
"He's very strong in his carry and has an ability to stay on his feet for quite a while at a low carry angle, which is hard to get under him sometimes.”Â
Easterby is relishing the match-up: “If you've got two of the best nines playing against each other, you might have two of the best eights at the moment playing against each other on Saturday so I think that creates another little sub plot, a little battle in the game that will go a long way to see who gets on the front foot, who gets momentum and potentially goes on to win the game, those little battles between players like Alldritt and Caelan.”Â
Romain Ntamack’s return from a three-game suspension following a red card in France’s opening-round win at home to Wales gives Ireland’s inexperienced Prendergast an excellent yardstick to judge his progress in Test rugby.
The France fly-half will be reunited with his Toulouse soulmate Dupont to bring just that extra little bit of cohesion to their side.
And strength, according to Ireland boss Easterby who said of Ntamack: “He's probably a lot bigger than people consider, he's actually got a big stature and he has the ability to play the game with his Toulouse team-mate and that sometimes gives them an advantage as a team.
“That sometimes gives them an advantage as a team but he's kind of got an all-court game in terms of his kicking, his ability at the line, his ability in his passing game.” Prendergast’s excellence as a playmaker is not in question but his abilities as a defender have come under scrutiny and he has the dubious honour of leading the 2025 Six Nations with 15 missed tackles.
“He's fully aware of the need for him to step up in that area and I'm sure we'll see a physical side to Sam on the weekend that will maybe put a few sort of question marks to bed,” Easterby confidently predicted.
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