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Published 16:02 19 Aug 2019 BST
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"It's going to be great for Ireland if Scotland are a bad as they showed there. They were really, really poor."Ireland's opening World Cup group game is against Gregor Townsend's Scotland on Sunday, September 22. [caption id="attachment_205268" align="aligncenter" width="1761"]
(PASCAL GUYOT/AFP/Getty Images)[/caption]
"I thought France were phenomenal. I thought Penaud and Dupont were phenomenal," Flannery began, "but I don't know if France were... I don't want to get lulled into a [sense of], 'Wow, France are going to be amazing at the World Cup', because that's so easy to do because the World Cup is so close.
"If you watch the Top 14 in France, it's slow. It's so slow and a lot of players are unfit. So there's a lot of logic to what you're saying [about them being better with a full pre-season together]... so if they can pull all those together from across the league, get them fit and get them aligned to one purpose. There are a lot of good young players coming through so hopefully it's not just a flash in the pan." "They do have some very good players," Flannery added, "but it's about getting them aligned, because they were a disgrace in the Six Nations."Trimble believes that many rugby supporters are 'closet France fans' who want to see them back to their best, but he feels one good game does not prove that they are back. That said, Les Bleus play Scotland in Edinburgh next Saturday and another decent outing may convince the former Ireland winger that something positive may well be brewing. "If they can back it up," he said, "then it may be worth having that conversation again."

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