France v Ireland Analysis:The tone was set from the opening kick-off which Rob Kearney spilled as Ireland's opening 40 minutes in the Stade de France was pockmarked by error. It's not that they played really poorly; it's just that the mistakes were to prove hugely costly both in terms of the concession of soft scores and also in undermining potentially decent attacking opportunities.
The end result was to invite France into the contest and give them the sort of confidence fillip that would spell trouble for any opponent. The visitors needed to be precise and composed but instead those niggling errors and some poor decision making scuppered their best intentions.
It’s not that Ireland didn’t create chances, they did, but lady luck was looking the other way when Gordon D’Arcy’s coruscating break and beautifully judged chip was denied a try by the bounce of a ball. There were a couple of other opportunities as Ireland pressed the French line but flawed option taking and passes put to ground left Ireland empty handed.
Ireland’s kicking game wasn’t good enough or more accurately the chase wasn’t coordinated. Cian Healy’s sin binning – the decision was correct – saw France grab 10 points, scrumhalf Morgan Parra kicking a penalty and converting a try from William Servat.
At this point Brian O’Driscoll was hobbling and the situation was about to get worse when Rob Kearney limped off. The lack of cover for the back three necessitated an appreciable shuffle in the backline that saw Keith Earls switch to fullback, D’Arcy to wing with Paddy Wallace coming on in the centre.
Ireland kept trying to play but more so as individuals than having the collective cohesion. Jerry Flannery was excellent; so too D’Arcy, Stephen Ferris, David Wallace. Tommy Bowe and Leo Cullen worked extremely hard, while O'Driscoll's second half display on one leg was remarkable. Work ethic wasn’t going to sufficient because of the spiralling error-rate. The only facet of the game in which the visitors enjoyed the upper hand was the lineout where they dominated the French throw.
D’Arcy, Ferris and Bowe were beating the first up tackles but no line was gambling in running support lines. Instead Irish players were getting isolated and as the game slipped away with further French tries from Yannick Jauzion and Clement Poitrenaud. The French simply had to hang around, be disciplined and capitalise on the inevitable Irish mistake: this they accomplished with typical ruthlessness.
The home side’s line speed in defence was impressive – they won virtually all the collisions – and this facilitated in forcing Irish turnovers while France also possessed the game’s two outstanding players in Imanol Harinodoquy and scrumhalf Morgan Parra.
Ireland did show one brief glimpse of what they’re capable of with a try from David Wallace but could not manage to rid themselves of the basic errors that were negating both territory and momentum. Everything that possibly could go wrong pretty much did for the visitors, a final pass that could have yielded a couple of tries just not going to hand.
That will really rankle with this Irish side. France had 30 points on the scoreboard but they really did not have to work hard for that dominance. To their credit Ireland kept playing, kept trying only to be undone largely by their own hand. It was that sort of day, one that has become all too familiar in Paris.