‘World-class’ Irish are favourites to capture Six Nations glory again

Ireland are in “pole position” to pull off a Six Nations grand slam, according to France prop Uini Atonio.
Ireland's Jonathan Sexton during the 6 Nations match at Aviva StadiumIreland's Jonathan Sexton during the 6 Nations match at Aviva Stadium
Ireland's Jonathan Sexton during the 6 Nations match at Aviva Stadium

Ireland saw off Les Bleus 18-11 in Dublin on Saturday to set up a potential Six Nations decider with England at the Aviva Stadium on March 1.

England eased past Italy 47-17 at Twickenham, leaving Stuart Lancaster and Joe Schmidt’s sides the unbeaten teams in the tournament.

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Hulking France prop Atonio, the Six Nations’ heaviest player at 155kg, clambered off the bench to hand Ireland a second-half fright that ultimately came to nought for Philippe Saint-Andre’s men.

The 24-year-old La Rochelle star believed France almost turned the tide against Ireland, but says Schmidt’s side can now complete a European clean sweep.

“They won the tournament last year, so they are capable of doing that again,” said Atonio. “And they are in pole position to do the grand slam I think.

“To be honest, I’m not looking down on them but I hope they could lose one game, because that would still give us a chance of winning the tournament.

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“It’s such a tough competition, so if you’re not on your ‘A’ game you’re going to lose. I know we’ve still got a chance, but Ireland are the front-runners now.

“All of us front-row replacements came on in the second-half and it’s our job to change the pace of the game.

“I think we did that, and Romain (Taofifenua) scored a good try as well.

“If we’d played another 10 minutes we would have won – but hats off to Ireland because they played a great game.

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“We saw the way they’ve played, they’ve moved up the IRB rankings and they are a world-class team.”

Fit-again fly-half Johnny Sexton scotched fears for his safety with a peerless performance on his return from an enforced 12-week concussion lay-off. The 29-year-old copped a wide cut and a hefty black eye after two clashes of heads with France’s Mathieu Bastareaud, but landed 15 points with the boot in a classy performance.