FRANCE 33 IRELAND 10:IRELAND WERE always in this match and will ruefully reflect on several key moments that saw the tide turn blue rather than green. But, ultimately, there's no getting away from that scoreline. More aggressive in the one-on-one collisions, rumbling forward in mauls and scrums, France were also more clinical in their finishing.
On days like this and in this kind of mood, the French would probably have beaten any side in the world, with the possible exception of the All Blacks. There was no shame in losing in Paris yet again. Ireland have been on the wrong end of the scoreline on 19 of their last 20 visits to the French capital against les bleus – who have won 19 of their last 21 Six Nations matches at Stade de France. It was the scale of the beating that hurt.
In that, it felt like previous beatings here, even if it was perhaps more competitive than the scoreline suggests. The official match stats, whatever their exact accuracy, show Ireland had roughly twice as much of the possession, passed the ball twice more than France and made France make almost twice as many tackles.
Stats, damned lies and statistics? What it probably highlights was where Ireland played much of this rugby, and how the French executed far more accurately, especially in their finishing.
Cue Ireland’s much higher error count (19-10). Many of the errors have to be attributed to the pressure applied by the French, not least by their rush defence which, as they displayed in their autumn performances and against the Scots, put in all manner of ferocious hits.
A key difference from their defensive alignment against the Scots, though, was how they tailored things for the threat posed on the outside by Ireland, and by Brian O’Driscoll especially, for instead of pushing from the outside in, they drifted in and out more.
That said and done, Ireland facilitated them to a degree by resorting to playing catch-up almost from the outset of the second half. They spent vast tracts of this period moving the ball across the pitch and through the phases. With the French already 14 points clear, tactically and emotionally this was playing into the hands of a fired-up home side who were bossing the collisions. The hits and the turnovers kept coming.
There was fully half-an-hour left on the clock when the French had 14 blue jerseys in a defensive line around the Irish 10-metre line, with only Clement Poitrenaud lying deep, but still Ireland persisted in going through the phases until a handling error put them on the back foot again.
The steeper the mountain became, the more Ireland tried to take the longest route. It was as if the memory of their comeback here four years ago had made them think something similar might be on the cards, convinced as they were in their pre-match strategy that the best way of beating the French, a la last year, was to run at them. But this was a different, younger, fitter and more focused French side.
Scoring from 60 or 70 metres out through several phases was always unlikely, and even a belated Irish try, which the ever dangerous Gordon D’Arcy threatened to add to with a break up the line, merely strengthened French resolve. David Marty’s tackle averted that danger, and one of the game’s abiding images was of the ensuing hits by Morgan Parra on O’Driscoll and Dimitri Szarzewski, especially, dumping O’Connell.
By then, France had long since bolted.
Ireland actually started well (including quickly putting Rob Kearney’s opening knock-on behind them), matching ambition with ambition. Eating into the French lineout, Kearney, Keith Earls, Stephen Ferris and the hard-working Jamie Heaslip came up with big plays, Ronan O’Gara and O’Driscoll put in good kicks and Ireland went through the phases.
It would have been interesting to see how the game panned out if D’Arcy’s fine cut back infield off a third Irish lineout steal and kick-and-chase had yielded a try but for a cruel bounce of the ball past the upright.
Thereafter, Ireland hardly got a break in the first half.
Almost immediately, after a trademark catch and gallop by Imanol Harinordoquy, Cian Healy’s impetuous and ill-advised tug at Parra sparked the concession of 10 gruelling minutes of game time – if it felt longer for the 22-year-old that was perhaps because his time out actually lasted 14 minutes.
It was Healy’s second yellow card in three games. He’s young. It was his fourth cap. He’ll learn.
With William Servat’s close-range plunge for the line having drawn first blood, France ruthlessly struck as Ireland were down a man again when Kearney twisted his knee off the ball (O’Driscoll was at that stage trying to run off a similar complaint).
Mathieu Bastareaud exposed a chink in Ireland’s set-piece defence and, from the recycle, Francois Trinh-Duc, who varied his game brilliantly, put Yannick Jauzion over.
As Ireland mounted intense pressure approaching the break, scrumhalf Tomás O’Leary’s decision to tap a certain three-pointer meant it had to work.
Instead, he failed to find Tommy Bowe cleanly on the blindside and then O’Connell knocked-on.
France’s cutting edge remained sharper. Trinh-Duc ran through O’Gara upon the resumption – to O’Gara’s credit, he had put his body on the line all day – and played rugby in the right areas. He puts wonderful width on the ball, and, seeing O’Driscoll shoot up in trademark style, hit Bastareaud for the dynamic centre to put Poitrenaud over with a superb left-handed offload.
Ireland kept creating chances, and David Wallace’s try from good work by Ferris and O’Driscoll was the least they deserved.
But confidence was oozing through French pores, and Wallace’s try was sandwiched as neatly as a ham baguette by nonchalant drop goals from Parra – a cocky but talented playmaking scrumhalf whose only miss in a 15-point haul was a penalty off the posts – and Frederic Michalak.
No better man to bring on when you’re 30-10 up and you’re scrum and maul are upping the ante.
Mr Tinkerman is moulding a team from their phenomenal strength-in-depth.
France are back. C’est la vie à Paris.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 18 mins: Parra pen 3-0; 27: Servat try, Parra con 10-0; 29: O’Gara pen 10-3; 30: Jauzion try, Parra con 17-3; (half-time 17-3); 60: Poitrenaud try, Parra con 24-3; 62: Parra drop goal 27-3; 64: D Wallace try, O’Gara con 27-10; 69: Parra pen 30-10; 77: Michalak drop goal 33-10.
FRANCE: C Poitrenaud (Toulouse); V Clerc (Toulouse), M Bastareaud (Stade Francais), Y Jauzion (Toulouse), A Palisson (Brive); F Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), M Parra (Clermont); T Domingo (Clermont), W Servat (Toulouse), N Mas (Perpignan), L Nallet (Racing Metro), P Pape (Stade Francais), T Dusautoir (Toulouse), F Ouedraogo (Montpellier), I Harinordoquy (Biarritz).
Replacements: J Malzieu (Clermont) for Palisson (24 mins), D Marty (Perpignan) for Clerc (48 mins), D Szarzewski (Stade Francais) for Servat, S Marconnet (Stade Francais) for Mas (both 49 mins), J Bonnaire (Clermont) for Hardinordoquy (62 mins), F Michalack (Toulouse) for Jauzion (67 mins), Mas for Marconnet (73 mins), J Pierre (Clermont) for Pape (74 mins).
IRELAND: Rob Kearney (Leinster); Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), Brian O’Driscoll (Leinster, capt), Gordon D’Arcy (Leinster), Keith Earls (Munster); Ronan O’Gara (Munster), Tomás O’Leary (Munster); Cian Healy (Leinster), Jerry Flannery (Munster), John Hayes (Munster), Leo Cullen (Leinster), Paul O’Connell (Munster), Stephen Ferris (Ulster), David Wallace (Munster), Jamie Heaslip (Leinster). Replacements: Paddy Wallace (Ulster) for O’Driscoll (19-20 mins) and for Kearney (35 mins), Tom Court (Ulster) for Hayes (49 mins), Rory Best (Ulster) for Flannery, Donnacha Ryan (Munster) for Cullen (both 61 mins), Eoin Reddan (Leinster) for O’Leary, Jonathan Sexton (Leinster) for O’Gara (both 69 mins). Not used: Sean O’Brien (Leinster). Sinbinned: Healy (17-27 mins).
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England).
