Back to front, Doherty's putting his best foot forward for Ireland

DOWN at the French base in Clarefontaine, the day before Saturday’s match in Paris, I bumped into an interesting chap called Thierry. No, not him, but someone whose job it is to help make Henry’s task easier on the pitch.

This Thierry shoots videos of opposing teams for the French side, hour-long compilations which feature individual five-minute packages on the players they’re likely to face.

As such, Thierry The Video Man, was on familiar terms with most of the Irish stars, names like Keane, Duff and Kilbane tripping off his tongue.