A NEW championship, new coach, new dawn, but the same old dog eared script.

For coach Brian Ashton this was a first taste of what the Irish had been sampling on a regular basis against the French since 1983.

Whether understandably or unrealistically optimistic, only time will tell, Ashton clearly doesn't share the prevailing doom and gloom. Interestingly, he doesn't subscribe to the view that the Irish backs were utterly bereft of penetration, hinting that for all their endeavour and ball winning, the pack didn't provide the backs with sufficient attacking ruck ball deep in French territory.

Commenting on the lack of Irish tries, the new coaching adviser said: "We didn't really get into attacking situations close to the French line. We attacked quite effectively from a long way out but we need to develop continuity in our game. It's very difficult to score at international level from 50 to 60 yards out.

"What we need to do is develop opportunities on the opposition 22 metre line when the ball is presented from broken ball with quick ball that is usable. I think you saw today that we were able to break the defensive line. We did it close in and wide out and down the middle of the field."

The notion that the all too characteristic, last quarter defeat could be attributed to that hoary old chestnut, fitness, yielded a damning glare from a noticeably quieter Pat Whelan (who turned to Keith Wood and whispered something out of the corner of his mouth).

More likely, nowadays, is that the shortcoming is a mental one.

Ashton accepted it may be more do with concentration than fitness, and added: "In the last 20 minutes, whether it's the possibility of actually winning a game that did it or not, but we suddenly did things that we hadn't planned to do at all. And we made one or two decisions that I suppose, when one or two look back and reflect, will realise that in the particular circumstances weren't the wisest ones."

In an overall context, Ashton felt "we drifted in and out of the game in all areas at times. I felt we started off quite well up front and established a base up front from which we could work, and as the game went on that became slightly more difficult.

"In the early part of the game, because we had good set piece ball we were able to launch runners off second and third phase, and we were coming off the defenders in ones and twos, possibly not in quite the dynamic manner that they (France) do. But as the game went on we weren't able to establish this sort of authority at set piece and consequently it meant that if we wanted to take out the fringe defenders - and the French are especially good at spreading, players across the pitch - we could only put one runner off them. From that point onwards, the space that was out wide early on in the game - which I thought the backs exploited quite well - that space just disappeared."

Keith Wood, despite having his shoulder strapped and facing a lay off of two to six weeks, wasn't inclined to dwell on the negative either. "We tried things at the end that weren't exactly in our manual and that is very frustrating. But as opposed to harping on about the deficiencies you have took at the more upbeat aspects.

"I mean two weeks ago we sat here and it was dead as dead could be. You didn't even bother asking any questions. Now we're asking about more positive things. It's only a place to pick up from. We've only had a week in which we've tried to change an awful lot and imagine the improvement if we have three or four weeks to do it?"