Despite being disappointed they hadn’t won, Tommy Bowe said:

“We can take an awful lot from the tournament. We played some good rugby, and we scored good tries.  Myself and Keith Earls were the top try scorers in the tournament so there is a lot to take out of it.”

Geordan Murphy makes a welcome return after returning from injury and Jonathan Sextion will start at outhalf.

John Hayes wins his 100th cap as part of a front row that contains Rory Best in replacement for Jerry Flannery. Donncha O’Callaghan makes a welcome return alongside Paul O’Connell.

Ireland Team & Replacements (v England, RBS 6 Nations Championship, Twickenham, February 27th, 16:00)

15 – Geordan Murphy (Leicester)
14 – Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 – Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
12 – Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 – Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
10 – Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
9 – Tomas O’Leary (Dolphin/Munster)
1 – Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 – Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
3 – John Hayes (Bruff/Munster)
4 – Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 – Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
6 – Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
7 – David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)
8 – Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)

Replacements:
16 – Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht)
17 – Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
18 – Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster)
19 – Shane Jennings (St.Mary’s College/Leinster)
20 – Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
21 – Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
22 – Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)

Tries in the first half by Servat and Jauzion, and a second half one from Poitrenaud were added to Morgan Parra’s 15 points to see of Ireland who really looked rather flat!

David Wallace grabbed one try at a stadium they’ve not won at since 2000, and O’Gara kicked the rest of the points.

There were positives for Ireland, a strong lineout and an opening try for O’Driscoll was disallowed ruled as a dead ball when it hit the post. Madness ensued after that resulting in Cian Healy heading to the bin for a tackle on Parra (without the ball). Parra slotted the penalty to give France an undeserved lead. Flannery was lucky not to join him soon after after injuring Palisson, who was replaced by Malzieu.

The French made the extra man count taking the score to 10-0 before O’Gara answered with a penalty just before the half hour. The French now proved how up for it they were taking it to 17-0 on 31 minutes. Ireland had had enough and campled on the French line, desperate to break it before half time and failing.

The second half started as the game was to go on, with Trinh-Duc running 30 metres after O’Driscoll missed an intercept, only to knock-on just before the line in a tackle. The pressure was showing and France took full advantage punishing Irish mistakes.

It was purely a consolation try when David Wallace went over and O’Gara converted with just 10 minutes left to go. All it took was tfor Frederic Michalak to drop-goal close to the final whistle to really show Ireland up.

15-Rob Kearney,
14-Tommy Bowe,
13-Brian O’Driscoll (captain),
12-Gordon D’Arcy,
11-Keith Earls,
10-Ronan O’Gara,
9-Tomas O’Leary;
8-Jamie Heaslip,
7-David Wallace,
6-To be confirmed,
5-Paul O’Connell,
4-Leo Cullen,
3-John Hayes,
2-Jerry Flannery,
1-Cian Healy.

Replacements from:
Rory Best,
Tom Court,
Donnacha Ryan,
Sean O’Brien,
Kevin McLaughlin,
Eoin Reddan,
Jonathan Sexton,
Paddy Wallace,
Andrew Trimble.

O’Gara had been recalled and became the first player to score 500 points in the tournaments landing all of his six kicks on goal – this is likely to be an ongoing competition between Ronan and Johnny Wilkinson for some time we think!

Jamie Heaslip and Tomas O’Leary both got first half tries, and Italy squeezed on over just before half time (despite being down to 14 men with Gonzalo Garcia in the sin-bin) with Kaine Robertson charging down Rob Kearney’s kick.

It was 23-8 by the break.

Italy scored shortly after on the 44th minute and there was no way Ireland were going to let them get another, even with a massive lull in play and a poor kicking session with O’Gara being the main culprit.

Paddy Wallace came on to take over kicking duties and got another penalty to tie up the game 29-11.

O’Driscoll said:
“It’s not easy to click immediately having only been together for two weeks and not having played together since November,”

Much improvement will be needed for the rest of the tournament!

Declan Kidney was keen to stress that there were three priorities with this squad, Ireland A fixtures, the opening Six Nations game against Italy and the Rugby World Cup.

Nine uncapped players feature in the squad, along with a couple of returns in Rory Best and Marcus Horan.

IRELAND Squad (2010 RBS 6 Nations Championship):

Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
Isaac Boss (Ballymena/Ulster)
Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Ian Dowling (Shannon/Munster)
Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
Declan Fitzpatrick (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)*
Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster)
John Fogarty (De La Salle Palmerston/Leinster)*
John Hayes (Bruff/Munster)
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)
Chris Henry (Ballymena/Ulster)*
Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster)
Shane Horgan (Boyne/Leinster)
Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Shane Jennings (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster)*
Kevin McLaughlin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)*
Johne Murphy (Leicester)*
Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
Mick O’Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster)
Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Tomas O’Leary (Dolphin/Munster)
Sean O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster)
Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)*
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
Dan Tuohy (Ballymena/Ulster)*
David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)
Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)
Brett Wilkinson (Galwegians/Connacht)*

* Denotes uncapped player

Today rugby authorities announced the fixtures for the 2010 6 Nations tournament and it is clear that it promises to be another incredible competition. Ireland are to play three home matches as they strive to keep the trophy on home soil.

They start their series of home games against Italy at Croke Park, followed by a game against Wales in Dublin and then their final game at home in Dublin against Scotland. Their two away games will be again France and England.

RBS 6 Nations Championship 2010 Fixture Schedule
Saturday 6 February
14:30 – Ireland v Italy
17:00 – England v Wales

Sunday 7 February
15:00 – Scotland v France

Saturday 13 February
14:00 – Wales v Scotland
16:30 (17:30 local) – France v Ireland

Sunday 14 February
14.30 (15:30 local) – Italy v England

Friday 26 February
20:00 – Wales v France

Saturday 27 February
13:30 (14:30 local) – Italy v Scotland
16:00 – England v Ireland

Saturday 13 March
14:30 – Ireland v Wales
17:00 – Scotland v England

Sunday 14 March
14:30 (15.30 local) – France v Italy

Saturday 20 March
14:30 – Wales v Italy
17:00 – Ireland v Scotland
19:45 (20:45 local) – France v England