France 36; Ireland 14
After the golden years of the Andy Farrell era, there is now a real fear that such a rich vein of green form is something that is rapidly returning to base metal Six Nation returns.
Against France in the first game of the Six Nations series last Thursday night in Stade de France, the home team looked world beaters in the first half while at the same they made us look like an Irish team from the good old, bad old days when our lot in Paris was invariably a trouncing against Les Bleus.
Yes, we did show some character by coming out for the second half and scoring two tries to reduce their lead to 29-14 and were desperately unlucky to be whistled back for another try close to the post which would have put us eight points in arrears. But the truth is we didn’t deserve any better and once the game restarted, it was as inevitable as daylight after dawn that the French would spoil the night by getting in for another seven points.
The truth is that while yours truly and many more are big fans of Head Coach Farrell, the reality is that on this occasion, he compounded Ireland's indifferent form of the past 18 months by picking the wrong team and the wrong tactics for this occasion.
It was hardly a coincidence that when we brought on the likes of Lions star Jack Conan and fellow Lion James Ryan that there was a noticeable solidity about the Irish control of the ball around the gain line.
Then with Sam Prendergast overcoming a torrid first half where he was at fault for two tries to actually use his soft hand to puncture holes in the French defense by orchestrating a running game, we seemed to be getting somewhere.
Astonishingly, after getting results from a change in tactics which led to tries for replacements Nick Timoney and Mick Milne, the half-back reverted to the up and under kicking game which France had thrived on in the first half, and this time, guess what, they thrived on it again and turned the game which we had threatened to usurp, back into their favor.
Farrell’s decision to drop some players and replace others backfired and while he was handicapped by missing four first-choice props, as it turned out the scrum wasn’t where our problems were. It was the backline which didn’t function and played second fiddle to an inventive French group who mixed speed and skill with muscle and intent. Yes, it was more than that as our aerial game was grounded by the brilliance of the French while our turnovers, 19 in this game, were exactly what we needed to avoid if we were to put any doubt into their minds.
France’s Theo Attissogbe scores his side’s fifth try at the Stade De France, Paris, last Thursday. [Inpho]
Farrell was somewhat stunned to explain why the team were blitzed in the first half - the best he could come up with was “a lack of fight.”
Louis Bielle-Biarrey hit us for six with two semi-gifted tries, either side of dot downs from outhalf Matthieu Jalibert and the impressive Charles Ollivon. After our ties which Prendergast converted, the French finished their night’s work through Theo Attissogbe, with the top class full-back Thomas Ramos kicking 11 points.
Explained Farrell: “Obviously France were playing a different game to us in the first half. I suppose you make your own luck in this game and rightly so, with the way they went about their business.
“We created a few chances of the back of scraps on the floor or high balls, but that's the game. You've got to show a bit of fight and intent and we lacked a bit of that in the first half, which is very disappointing. Congratulations to France. They were on a different level at times.
“There was a bit of a response - more than a bit of a response - in the second half, but they were worthy winners, that's for sure,” he emphasized.
Asked why Ireland had improved with the changes, he added: “It wasn't rocket science. It was about going forward and a bit of grunting, the way they went about their business, and we got a couple of tries on the back of that. It's a pity that we couldn't get a few more in the end because every point matters in this competition, as we know.”
For skipper Caelan Doris it was a huge disappointment on top of his enforced absence through injury from the Lions touring party to Australia.
“It's definitely not what we hoped or foresaw the start of our campaign going. We left ourselves too tall a mountain to climb in the first half — lacking a bit of bite definitely. Some class from them, but not good enough from us.
“We didn’t shut them down early enough. We allowed them to play some of their flowing, attacking rugby. Not good enough from us in the collision, our kick-chase let us down. Some grit and determination in the second half and a good impact from the bench, but not good enough overall,” was his overall assessment.
Ireland v France: J Osborne; T O'Brien, G Ringrose, S McCloskey, J Stockdale; S Prendergast, J Gibson-Park; J Loughman, D Sheehan, T Clarkson, J McCarthy, T Beirne, C Prendergast, J Van der Flier, CDoris (capt) Replacements: Kelleher, M Milne, F Bealham, J Ryan, J Conan, N Timoney, C Casey, J Crowley.
