Andy Farrell hailed the composure of his side as Ireland coped with the Stade Vélodrome cauldron, responding calmly to two power plays by the French with tries of their own, before ultimately subduing home team and crowd alike to emerge with a stunning bonus point victory.
The 38-17 win was the biggest winning margin ever achieved by Ireland against Les Bleus on French soil and was also the highest points tally ever registered against France.
Asked what impressed him most about his team’s performance, Farrell said: “As a team, certainly our composure because it wasn’t all-singing, all-dancing. A French side was always going to pose questions and the crowd was always going to get behind them at times, but we managed to silence them quite a lot through good composure with how we played the game.
“I suppose the main thing for me would have been our ability to just stay on it for the full 80 minutes and keep attacking the game. I think when you’re playing against 14 men for a long period, sometimes subconsciously you tend to shut up shop a little bit more. I thought our intent was pretty good and we were pretty ruthless when we needed to be.
“Then obviously on top of that I thought our lineout in attack and defence was outstanding,” added Farrell, after a perfect return from their 13 lineouts, while stealing four on the French throw, righted some of the wrongs from the World Cup.
Ireland responded with particularly impressive composure after conceding a 53rd minute try which trimmed their lead to one score at 24-17, while also seeing captain Peter O’Mahony yellow carded, thereby leaving both sides on 14 men after the 32nd minute dismissal of the French lock Paul Willemse.
They saw out that 10 minutes with the first of two lineout maul tries to secure their bonus point and hammer home their supremacy.
“It’s something, as you’ve heard us talking about over the last couple of years, we continue to work on, making sure that we don’t get too ahead of ourselves or too down on ourselves.
“I thought we were excellent in that regard, [except for] probably a 10-minute period before half-time where there was a knock-on effect from a couple of penalties that were given away. And we lost our way a little bit at the start of the second half, whether it was our fault or not with regards to the penalties that didn’t go our way, it was a five or six-minute period.
“But all in all, I thought we were really good. Even the players talked about it at half-time and after the match there, their composure was great, able to get onto the next moment and keep on building our game.
“So I don’t think we became too fazed, albeit it wasn’t perfect.”
What made the team’s composure even more striking was that three players were making their first starts in the Six Nations, namely Joe McCarthy, Jack Crowley and Calvin Nash, who scored Ireland’s crucial third try.
“Obviously delighted for them but it’s not something that surprises us as a group because these lads have been involved in and around the group for a number of years,” said Farrell.
“Some have been waiting for their chance, some have played so well that you can’t keep them out of the squad. The best thing about this team at this moment in time is exactly that, it’s a team, and we all pull in the right direction.
“So therefore it doesn’t matter whether you’re Pete [O’Mahony] touching 42, 43,” joked the Irish head coach, with his captain alongside him, “or you’re young Joe McCarthy who’s a young buck trying to make his way. Everyone is in the same boat, pulling in the same direction, so it doesn’t surprise me that those young guys or the inexperienced guys have performed, because they tend to feel comfortable within their own skin within the environment.”
Crowley tried to perhaps do a little too much at times in the first half, and missed one straightish 35 metre penalty, but that only made the manner he played thereafter all the more impressive, and he sealed the deal with three touchline conversions.
“He typifies exactly what we’re talking about. There’s no doubt that a young kid playing in a position like Jack is at 10 with the responsibility of that but then obviously all week, and rightly so, everyone was talking about how were we going to deal without having Johnny at the helm, and Jack was going to be the first one to have a shot at filling the shoes.
“It definitely creeps in. You’d be a liar if you said it didn’t but he gains his strength from knowing that his teammates are prepared and there to help. I thought his composure at the line was great. He made some really nice decisions and some poor ones as well, and he’ll know that more than anyone else.
“The strength of character in regard to his goal-kicking when he missed the one in front, albeit from a longer distance, to then knock two on the trot over from the sideline showed immense character really.
“So, it’s a good start for him, it’s a good start for us as a team and hopefully he’ll get better and we’ll benefit from that as well.”
McCarthy, man of the match, was outstanding in injecting Ireland’s carrying game with real oomph, making 32 metres off his nine carries as well as nine meaty tackles.
“He had some great moments in the game and the moments you need to get rid of, he did that,” said O’Mahony. “He moved on from [giving away] a penalty in the second half but just got on with the game and continued to get better and better.
“That’s something we have to hang our hat on at the moment and you saw it from young guys and old guys alike, just playing the game and I thought he was outstanding tonight.”
Asked where this win ranked, O’Mahony said: “I don’t think it gets any better really. With the stress of the last couple of days I’d have given the whole lot up for a win tonight. Away from home, first game up, Friday night, Marseille, the Velodrome, I’d have been a happy man packing the whole lot in tomorrow morning if you’d given me the chance to take a win.”
At which point Farrell interrupted: “Are you trying to say something eh? Are you going to pack it all in?”
“No, I’m not,” said O’Mahony. “No, it has to be right up there. I said inside it’s the biggest margin that we’ve beaten France by. I remember as a young fellah, watching Irish teams, and you’d be hoping that they’d hang on in there, whereas it’s a different animal now.”
