This is the starting 15 for Saturday.
15. Ramos ; 14. Huget, 13. Bastareaud, 12. Fickou, 11. Penaud ; 10. Ntamack, 9. Dupont ; 7. Iturria, 8. Picamoles, 6. Lauret ; 5. Lambey, 4. Vahaamahina ; 3. Bamba, 2. Guirado (cap.), 1. Poirot
My thoughts on that XV (if anyone cares) :
15 Ramos : very good club player. Kicks very well... but he's too young, this is only his 2nd cap and his 1st start. And he's way too light. I guess it could work if he had good defensive wingers but Huget and Penaud are terrible. That back three is gonna get crushed once again.
14 Huget : never been good, never will be. There was a time when people thought he was a decent player but that was because the other players around him were even worse
13 Bastareaud : put him at 8 for god's sake ! He is not fast or technical enough to play centre.
12 Fickou : too soft for international level.
11 Penaud : he is talented, not a good player yet but he will be. But please, he's a centre, not a winger.
10 Ntamack : every year the French coach decides to "break" a youngster during the Six Nations. Last year it was Belleau, two years ago it was Serin. They are thrown into a terrible team with way too many responsibilities and get trashed by the press afterwards because they failed. They usually never recover. He's too young, too light, give him time, come on !
9 Dupont : our most talented player by far but he still has to prove that he is the number one at this position. Same as the others, he's young, he should be a number 2, not a starter yet.
8 Picamoles : overrated. Big guy who can't do much with the ball, especially if he doesn't have any players to back him up when he charges.
7 Iturria : decent young player with potential but his real position is at lock. Young player, not playing where he should be = not good
6 Lauret : every team needs a player like him in defense. He's our McCaw or our Sam Cane... except these two are 10 times the player he is.
5 Lambey : lol. He doesn't even look like a rugby player. Very average, even at club level. No idea what he's doing here.
4 Vahaamahina : good club player who still has a lot to prove at international level. He waited a very long time before being a starter in this team, there's a reason for that. He still has to be much more regular.
3 Bamba : plays in French second division lol. Big dude, that's about it. Too young also.
2 Guirado : heart isn't enough to make you a good rugby player. Technically very weak.
1 Poirot : very average club player. Too light in scrums and brings nothing special in the game.
Ireland asking for the roof open knowing the weather would be awful, a desperate wildcard attempt to throw off a strong Welsh team is my only guess. Bad idea when every Welshman has played in the rain for most of their lives, famously super rainy country 
