Stormers soar and France fry Ireland as I get it all wrong

This was a first. I called every game wrong. Congratulations Dobbo’s Stormers. Equally the French who silenced the Irish, writes Mark Keohane.

To every punter, WTF, I can only say sorry.

Back of the queue for me this week.

I never realised just how awful the Lions actually are and just how limited Ireland are when they have to leave Dublin.

I sensed the Bulls are in trouble without a tight five but now I know it and, well, Scotland are always good for that one big game at home.

I got seduced in the past week and I made schoolboy errors in my previews.

I thought the Lions actually had discipline, respect for each other on the field and a bit of quality. They have none of these qualities and even less when it comes to conditioning and appreciation of conditioning and defence.

To Dobbo, coach of the Stormers: Congrats on the win but I have watched your team play so well and lose, whereas today you thumped a team and didn’t play particularly well.

This said, big win in the context of the league.

The Stormers forge ahead and that is good for SA in the URC.

The Bulls have regressed in the URC and were poor against the Sharks. They never looked like beating the Sharks and the better team won. The Bulls must invest in a tight five. What they currently have is not good enough as a collective.

It was a weird game.

The Sharks should have buried the Bulls by half-time given the red card advantage.

They didn’t and they were hanging on in the final five when they should have been giving each other high fives.

As for the Six Nations big game.

I believe Ireland and France are the two most overhyped teams in world rugby, especially when they have to play away from home.

I enjoyed watching France’s 30-24 win against Ireland, but never felt I was watching the World Cup final 2023.

I don’t see either team making it to the final in 2023, let alone the last four.

It was an entertaining game but neither side would beat the Springboks in one-off, no matter where that game was played.

France will be buoyed by the win, but with each win comes expectation and with that comes an inevitable French meltdown.

For Ireland, it was a reality check. They have never made it past a World Cup quarter-final and in Paris we again saw why.

Stormers in for a shock, Ireland set to rock