Ireland A 15 France A 9: The victory will have satisfied the players and management team, a reward for a dogged, wholehearted performance in difficult, wet conditions at Donnybrook last night. It was also hugely beneficial to Irish rugby.
This match was a benchmark to evaluate a handful of promising Irish players and to a man their response was encouraging.
The outstanding Ulster secondrow Matt McCullough was the pick of an excellent forward effort. Roger Wilson and Shane Jennings also impressed, while Alan Quinlan struck a blow for "senior citizens".
Kieran Campbell and Paddy Wallace were a lively and largely enterprising halfback partnership that probed through the air and on the ground.
The three-quarter line lacked the sort of quick ball to really stretch their opponents, but Tommy Bowe and Bryn Cunningham - the latter prior to his departure through injury - invariably beat the first tackler.
The nature of this one-off contest for Ireland and the limited preparation meant there was never likely to be more than a modicum of cohesion and fluency in the patterns. There are only so many pages of the playbook that players can learn so quickly. Once the Irish team went through three of four recycles, attacking gambits were more off-the-cuff than structured, so the Irish players were isolated at times.
But there was much to admire about the pace and execution of Ireland's patterns in the opening 40 minutes, but, crucially, they were denied definitive breaches of the French defence. There were several half-breaks, most frequently from Bowe, but nothing that proved calamitous for the visitors.
Another slight problem for Ireland was that they were committing too many bodies to rucks in order to win the ball, thus denying them numbers to attack the French when they did secure possession.
The pack provided a flawless supply of lineout possession in the first half, winning seven on captain Bernard Jackman's throw and forcing the French to cough up four turnovers out of touch. The scrum was largely solid and Bob Casey, McCullough and Jackman carried with purpose. It was just that momentum was more lateral than forward.
Ireland led 12-3 at the interval, with Paddy Wallace posting four penalties from as many attempts, two from long range.
The French were always going to be more prominent when they turned to enjoy the wind and this, allied to a more abrasive forward effort, saw them enjoy the majority of possession.
Benjamin Boyet had kicked a penalty in the first half, and fullback Jean-Baptiste Dambielle tagged on a second as the visitors wrested the momentum.
The sinbinning of Ray Hogan on 58 minutes seemed a case of mistaken identity. Shane Jennings had transgressed at the previous ruck, and if referee Wayne Barnes instead penalised him for not retreating 10 yards it was a harsh decision. The French kicked that penalty to touch, and when Ireland were penalised again seconds later the visitors this time elected for a training ground routine from the tap.
But on both occasions Ireland's defence was superb, initially in the trench warfare of the forward collisions, inches from the line, and then farther out. Indeed replacement fullback Shaun Payne was a fingernail away from an interception.
Having initially shown indiscipline, the home side showed great resolve under extreme pressure.
When the siege was lifted, Dambielle was collared in possession, conceding the penalty, but Paul Burke, just on for the injured Paddy Wallace, could not convert from 30 metres.
The Munster outhalf proved more accurate with an easier opportunity on 73 minutes to nudge Ireland 15-6 ahead only for the home side to concede a penalty, which Boyet kicked.
Ireland ran down the clock courtesy of an excellent driving maul, controlled and well directed. The French did force a couple of turnovers at the death but the lack of precision that had undermined their limited back-play all night rescued Ireland in the final throes of the match.
The match reinforced Eddie O'Sullivan's suggestion that Ireland must compete at this level to provide a demanding testing ground for potential Test players. It was a good exercise and a worthy victory.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 2 mins: Wallace penalty, 3-0; 12: Wallace penalty, 6-0; 16: Wallace penalty, 9-0; 24: Boyet penalty, 9-3; 26: Wallace penalty, 12-3. Half-time: 12-3. 42: Dambielle penalty, 12-6; 73: Burke penalty, 15-6; 77: Boyet penalty, 15-9.
IRELAND A: B Cunningham (Ulster); T Bowe (Ulster), K Lewis (Leinster), D Quinlan (Leinster), A Horgan (Munster); P Wallace (Ulster), K Campbell (Ulster); R McCormack (Ulster), B Jackman (Connacht, capt), S Best (Ulster); M McCullough (Ulster), B Casey (London Irish); A Quinlan (Munster), S Jennings (Leinster), R Wilson (Ulster). Replacements: R Hogan (Connacht) for Best (40 +2 mins); S Payne (Munster) for Cunningham (40 +2 mins); P Burke (Munster) for Wallace (63 mins); B Gissing (Leinster) for Casey (69 mins); P Shields (Ulster) for Jackman (69 mins); D Wallace (Munster) for Wilson (78 mins); B O'Riordan (Leinster) for Campbell (79 mins).
FRANCE A: JP Dambielle (Auch); J Arias (Stade Francais), JF Coux (Bourgoin), G Bousses (Biarritz), J Candelon (Narbonne); B Boyet (Bourgoin), N Durand (Perpignan); V Debaty (Perpignan), R Terrain (Pau), G Menkarska (Pau); R Millochluski (Toulouse), L Nallet (Castres); J Vallee (Montpellier), M Dridi (Toulon), P Rabadan (Stade Francais). Replacements: R Froment (Castres) for Vallee (h-t); P Capdevielle (Brive) for Menkarska (h-t); J Pierre (Bourgoin) for Milochluski (51 mins); M Blin (Stade Francais) for Terrain (56 mins); N Laharrague (Perpignan) for Candelon (73 mins); P Bomati (Perpignan) for Arias (74 mins).
Referee: W Barnes (England).
Yellow cards: R Hogan (Ireland) 58-68 mins; J Pierre (France) 73-83 mins.
