Ireland squad proves full of aces as misfortune plays best cards

Sometimes the mistakes don’t matter because those imperfections are superseded by the integrity of application and unflinching belief.

It takes courage to shrug off errors and not retreat mentally or physically, ignoring the temptation to seek refuge in the safety of risk-averse options. It also requires character not to buckle when misfortune appears to dog a team at every turn.

Ireland lost three leaders – captain Paul O'Connell, outhalf Jonathan Sexton and flanker Peter O'Mahony – but the team was relentless and unblinking in pursuit of the stated goal. Iain Henderson, Ian Madigan and Chris Henry took up the cudgels on behalf of their fallen team-mates in a physically brutal encounter.

Relentless

When misfortune threatened to overwhelm them, the green shirts kept coming. They were relentless.

If there were nerves in the stands, there were none on the pitch. Jamie Heaslip assumed the captaincy, Madigan took responsibility as Ireland's playmaker, and Henderson came on and reinforced suspicions about the enormity of his talent.

One of the elder lemons was Rory Best and he produced another outstanding performance in every facet of the game. Afterwards he reflected first on O'Connell's loss and how the team coped.

“If he is out of the tournament, then obviously it’s a huge loss. He spoke so well, not only all week but before the game: how much it should mean. Knowing your role and knowing your plays isn’t enough to beat a team like France. It’s got to mean more; it’s got to about commitment and passion.

"That's obviously a massive loss, but it is what it is. He'll be looking to us to push on and move on without him if we have to. Jamie stepped up at half-time. He's captained Leinster, he's captained Ireland, he knows the score and he's a brilliant player.

“It’s I suppose a bit of a burden we all share – we’re going to have to step up and give it a little bit more. I don’t know how many times over the last two odd years we’ve talked about squad, the bench coming on and making a big difference to us.

“We won the Six Nations because of the points that we scored off the bench. Johnny goes off, Mads comes on and has a cracking game. Paulie goes off and Hendy comes on and does well. Chris Henry was brilliant.

“Obviously you don’t like to lose players but a lot of people wrote Wales off whenever they got injuries. The reason you build a squad, and the reason you blood people, is for this.”

Quiet purpose

Ireland wing Dave Kearney said the overwhelming feeling on the pitch despite the casualty list was one of quiet purpose. "Nothing was really said. You never like to see leaders like the lads go off but those that came on did exceptionally well, especially Mads.

“He came on and straight away he was composed on the ball, got the attack going and a couple of nice kicks in behind. He looked really sharp. For him it was just a case of fit into the game and that’s what he did.”

Kearney also had a word for the supporters. “I can’t explain how incredible it was. I have played some big games before but I have never experienced anything like that today.

"From Ireland's Call, it was incredible and in the last few minutes the Ole, Ole, Ole was a different level. Driving to the game, watching the crowds on the streets was just amazing."

Same again next week would do nicely.