Ireland take on Romania in their second pool game of the Rugby World Cup this Sunday, but the eye has also been on rivals France who we meet in our fourth and final of the game of the pool.
The French beat Italy 32-10 in their opener at the weekend, before a match against Romania.
Tonight on Off The Ball, former Ireland captain Keith Wood and The Irish Times' Gerry Thornley joined us as always for Wednesday night rugby and Gerry gave his view on how the French side are shaping up.
"Ironically the French are going to be one of the least entertaining sides to watch in this World Cup which is quite remarkable. It merely confirms the impression we got in the warm-up games, mainly that after 11 weeks together as French journalists have been informing me all along, this would be the fittest French team ever at a World Cup. It may not be the most skillful but it'll be the fittest," said Gerry, who also added that Italy have a problem at out-half with Ireland facing them after the Romania clash.
Keith also talked about the challenge Romania could pose for Joe Schmidt's Ireland.
"The truth of it is they're going to be hard and physical and we need to be able to match that from the very start and look for that same level of composure," said Keith.
He and Gerry also cast an eye over the South Africa-Scotland-Japan group which saw a major shock on Saturday when the Japanese stunned the Springboks and the world, while they also talked about the huge England v Wales match in Pool A.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
