All week long Irish players had been talking about not allowing the French to get ahead in Stade de France and force them into a chasing game in front of the home crowd and against physically bigger players.
At the scrum, the French eight were an average of three kilos per man heavier than Ireland.
The Irish players understood how France, buoyed up by playing in Paris, would find additional energy from the vociferous home support.
But after an ice cold start that’s exactly how the match fell as the French, not at their best but aggressively imposing, made their intentions clear as early as the second minute to take the lead and hold it.
In a chasing game France could kick for territory and challenge Ireland to run the ball back at them, which they did for long periods in the second half. But by going down at the start, Ireland ended up doing what they didn’t want to have to do and they chased the match for the entire 80 minutes.
It took France just 1.09 to take charge of the game. When scrumhalf Jamison Gibson Park’s first box kick inside the Irish half went out to touch on the full, France didn’t hang about to arrange a contested lineout.
Instead, the ball was quickly thrown back into play from the wrong position and as Ireland were gathering, France had triggered another attacking move. With Ntamack in possession and running down a channel on the right, it looked like Ireland were about to snaffle him out.
But working an arm free, the French outhalf threw a deft one handed pass, which was not meant for captain Antoine Dupont but found him anyway.
While neither Dupont nor Ntamack had standout games for France, Dupont’s traditional tracking support was pitch perfect to gather and run in to put France 5-0 ahead, a conversion from Melvin Jaminet taking the lead 7-0.
By the seventh minute France had earned a kickable penalty and Jaminet duly obliged his team again and it was 10-0. The time on the clock was 6.13.
The same thing happened at the beginning of the second half. When the Irish team, 19-7 down, needed to be hot, they came out cold and within two minutes had given away their ninth penalty of the match. Jaminet again. He stepped up and kicked the three points for 22-7.
When Ireland wanted the first score of the match they were unable to get it and when Ireland needed to reduce the French lead it was extended.
That has a wearing effect on players and teams. The dynamic shifts to a chasing team needing to play a certain way. Ireland came back to 22-21 after Mack Hansen and Jamison Gibson Park had run in tries against a lazy French defence.
But the Irish team’s capacity to give France the lead at the start and allow them get the first score in the second half made for a long and arduous day.
